making coffee at home – dragonsandflowers

How To Get Your Pourover Brew Tasting Perfect

June 18, 2020 Ashe

I love learning new techniques. Makes me twice as excited to make a cup of joe in the morning.

The pourover is one of the most user-friendly ways of brewing coffee at home. That doesn’t mean it still can’t be improved! The Perfect Daily Grind has a great five-minute read on how to improve your pourover technique. They go into the scientifics behind blooming, stress the need for filtered water and explore different pour methods. Some of the most common problems facing pourover users are incompatible filters or the wrong water temperature. You don’t want to burn all the flavor out of your beans, right?

I’ve used my pourover dozens of times since I got it a few months back, so I can safely say I’m improving. For instance, I can literally see the difference between using hot water and boiling water. Hot water lifts a delicious, amber crema from the coffee, clinging together even as you keep pouring. Boiling water, on the other hand, results in a more bubbly crema with a weaker color. When I’m spending anywhere between $15 to $22 on a bag of coffee, I’ll be damned if I don’t pull the best possible extraction.

coffee

Travel Around The World Without Leaving Your Room: Atlas Coffee Club Subscriptions

June 4, 2020 Ashe

Coffee is such a trip sometimes, both metaphorically and literally. It’s a taste of somewhere else right in the palm of your hand.

The coronavirus has added a few caveats to the day-to-day coffee experience. Cafes are a health hazard. Grocery stores are much the same. Homebrewing is an increasingly popular option…provided you have a little disposable income left for equipment, that is. Atlas Coffee Club is one of many coffee subscriptions to crop up over the past year, though with additional incentive: they want to give you a worldwide tour through single-origin, specialty coffee delivered to your doorstep. Nicaragua, Uganda, Ethiopia, Colombia, Mexico, the list goes on.

That’s not the only appeal. They offer two coffee sizes — 6 oz and 12 oz — if you don’t want to over-commit to a blend you’re not quite sure you’ll love. You also get different shipping frequencies depending on your coffee drinking habits. It takes me between two to four weeks to get through a 12 oz bag, as I switch off between coffee and tea. I originally wasn’t interested in a coffee subscription due to preferring direct orders, as well as concerns about freshness. It just seemed like another middleman without the benefits of being selective.

Reading this, though, really has me reconsidering. This could be both cheaper and much more fun in the long run. …Also, the packaging is gorgeous. I could look at these bags all day.

coffee, guide

From Part-Time Barista To Making Coffee At Home: My Homebrewing Coffee Journey (Part Two)

June 1, 2020 Ashe

The coffee journey never ends. Anyone who pretends to know all there is about this ancient bean is a liar…and an unsuccessful one, at that.

At-home coffee. Homebrew coffee. Making coffee at home. Whatever you happen to call it, this method has taken a front seat for many in the wake of the coronavirus. Myself included! After many a year deprioritizing this beloved fascination in favor of more immediate concerns, I’ve since purchased a manual coffee grinder, a French press and some decaf beans to start my homebrewing coffee journey. Not content with just a few options on the table, I’ve decided to try out the pourover, as well. You can find the first part of the series here.

How are all these different brew methods faring? Let me count the ways.

I recently got my Hario pourover and Malita filters from Seattle Coffee Gear (as you can likely see, they’re my go-to for online coffee supplies). I bought my French Press off of Amazon, however…and let me say, I do not generally recommend this. It’s best to buy your coffee supplies from either a specialty supplier or the original business, as the site is loaded with fake sellers that either sell knock-offs or used versions that slipped quality control. Fortunately for me, my French Press arrived in mint condition.

My very first personal French Press coffee, though…wasn’t great.

Continue reading →

coffee, guide

From Part-Time Barista To Making Coffee At Home: My Homebrewing Coffee Journey

May 18, 2020May 19, 2020 Ashe

A former barista and longtime coffee lover just now starting a homebrewing coffee journey? It’s more likely than you think.

Let’s take a few steps back. My priorities were already being shuffled around long before the pandemic stepped in and shook us for all our loose change. From moving to a new apartment to figuring out a career shift, my desire to have an omnipresent home cafe in the corner of my kitchen was a lovely dream, but just that. A distant dream of making coffee at home, constantly pushed onto the back burner and growing ever loftier with every new excuse. If I wanted to enjoy a good cup, there was always a great cafe (or three) just a walk away. I live in the heart of Washington: throw a stone.

These days it’s too risky to even go to the low-activity cafes or roasteries, on top of everyone’s wallets being burned out. Now that things are both more stable and entirely unstable for me, my love for coffee has been resuscitated beyond said coffeehouse trips (and endless poring through coffee industry reports). It’s time to save money in the long run and create a homebrewing coffee set-up, at my own pace and with my preferences front and center.

While living with my mother I’d bounced between using her little red Keurig and her French Press (buying specialty beans had also been low-priority). After I moved, my roommate also happened to have a Keurig on standby. One collecting dust, at that. I’d proceed to use it a few times a week with grocery store coffee staples like Peet’s and Signature Select, giving me another coveted taste of the homebrewing experience (as well as a reminder of why I don’t want to rely on unsustainable coffee pods in the future).

One day my roommate was cleaning up the place and asked if I wanted to sell her Keurig, flicking on the lightbulb in my head that I have a prime opportunity to finally, at long last, upgrade.

Don’t let my procrastination turn you away: putting together your own coffee corner is a ton of fun. I’m going to share my homebrewing coffee journey in this ongoing series, from the equipment I’ve bought to the beans I’m grinding. I’ll also share recipes I’m trying out, homebrewing coffee resources and my thoughts on coffee culture. If you have a coffee set-up you’ve been thinking of starting, or just enjoy the thrill of the journey, read on.

Continue reading →