Slow coffee brewing (or filter coffee brewing) has made a come-back in the past decade thanks to the specialty coffee movement. This gentle extraction method makes it possible to produce subtle coffees by hand, clearer than espressos, and more aromatic in terms of taste.
This method is great for people who love mild and tasty coffee, but do have a little time to devote to the preparation of their favorite drink, as this method is after all, "slow"
Choosing a manual filter coffee maker means choosing a very specific extraction method, the fundamentals of which you need to know to obtain a good result. This cannot be improvised, but it is very easy to learn at home and the satisfaction is great when you succeed in reproducing coffees that you would drink in your favorite coffee shop.
Slow coffee can be made in several ways, but what are the main filter coffee differences?: pour over with a Chemex, dripper with a V60, cold brew, machine filter brew, etc. Let s see!
The strengths of filter brewing
More traditional methods
Making your own coffee
Obtaining different results depending on the extraction time, the coffee chosen, the grind, etc.
Its weaknesses
Use of different grinds depending on the chosen method
Respect of a precise recipe to obtain a successful coffee
Use of already ground coffee or coffee beans to be ground afterwards
Chemex image source :Instagram @the_chemex
Here we will describe 3 ways to make your slow coffee: Chemex, Hario V60 and electric brews. The first 2 are more time consuming, as they are manual, and the last one allows you to do something else while your brew is being prepared.
Chemex
With its polished wooden necklace and leather bracelet, the Chemex has a superb design. You could argue it looks like an instrument that would be used in a chemist lab! Well, you would not be far off, since it was invented in 1941 by Peter Schlumbohm, a chemist who came to the United States from Germany in 1936. Star slow coffee coffee maker, it can make up to 6 cups of very good quality filter coffee. Practical and easy to use, it is ideal for obtaining a coffee that is both very mild and has unrivaled aromatic power.
Its strengths:
Simple and elegant design
Ease of use and maintenance
Ideal for mild coffees, close to infusion
Its weaknesses:
You can only use Chemex filters
Capacity of 6 cups maximum
2. Hario V60
On the same principle as the Chemex, the V60 is a manual coffee maker which allows gentle, progressive and controlled extraction.
It gets its name from the 60-degree angle created by the cone shape. It was invented by the Japanese company Hario in the 1950s.
It is a glass carafe topped with either a transparent plastic dripper or a ceramic one, through which the coffee is gently brewed. With the V60, we obtain slightly more powerful coffees, with a pronounced body. The V60 Hario kit that we sell in our store includes the glass carafe, the dripper , 40 coffee filters and a measuring spoon. You can make up to 4 cups of coffee.
Its strengths:
Original design
Trendy equipment in coffee shops, with many design and color variants
Easy to use: each ridge of the glass corresponds to 1 cup (200ml)
Its weaknesses:
Many recipe variations can make it hard to find the one that suit you
Capacity of 4 cups maximum
3. The electric coffee maker
Less traditional than the manual filter coffee maker, the electric filter coffee maker is very complete and can offer many options allowing you to make a tailor-made coffee with each cup. The big plus? There are models for all budgets and all needs: integrated or non-integrated grinder, pre-sets or personalized settings, keep warm function, insulated carafe, timer, etc. In our coffeeshop, we love to use the Moccamaster Techniworm, for its ease of use, durability and because it has a thermal insulated jug which allows the filter coffee to stay warm for an entire morning or more. Furthermore you can take several elements apart to clean them very easily.
Its strengths
Best coffee machine for making large quantities of coffee at once (without needing to reheat it)
Pre-recorded settings (aroma selector, coffee strength, grind size)
Existing models with an integrated grinder and programmable timer
Its weaknesses
Less precise extraction
More bulky than a manual machine
More maintenance than a manual machine (need to decalcify more often)
Next week we will take you through one recipe of slow brew coffee using the same method that we use in the coffeeshop when we brew a V60. Stay tuned!
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