This is the third and final part of The Coffee Society’s home brewing guide, which should get you at least part of the way to becoming an artisan home barista! The final piece of the puzzle is the brewing itself. There are such a large number of brewing methods to choose from that this can be somewhat of a minefield. The brewing method can impart many different nuances to your final cup, so it’s an important choice. As a start, here are our two favourites.
The Kalita Wave is a pour-over type brewer, developed in Japan. The design of the Wave and its filter creates a more evenly extracted and clean cup of coffee than comparable brewers such as a Hario V60. However, to brew with a Wave, you will need a purpose-built pour over kettle such as a Hario Buono, and a bit of technique and know-how to coax the best from your coffee.
When it comes to high quality at-home brewing, the Aeropress is taking the world by storm. The concept was developed by Alan Adler of Aerobie, the man behind the famous frisbee which the Aeropress now outsells two to one. Its huge popularity is mainly due to its simplicity and flexibility, and the fact that it doesn’t require any other specific equipment or in-depth coffee knowledge to create a great cup.
On the other hand, the Aeropress is such a versatile brewing method that there are now National and World Championships dedicated to creating the best Aeropress brew possible. For anyone who fancies themselves as a budding barista, the Scottish Championship takes place March 4 in Glasgow!
Stafford based coffee roaster HasBean do great, easy to follow brew guides for both of these brew methods, at hasbean.co.uk/blogs/brew-guides. If you have any more questions, get in touch with us on Facebook or Twitter. Happy brewing!