Brew Guide
How long should coffee brew?
It depends on the method. Press it too soon and the cup is weak and flat. Wait too long and you're extracting the bitter stuff nobody wanted. Here's the short answer — then the details on each method.
| Method | Brew time | Water temp | Grind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pour over | 3–4 min | 200°F | Medium |
| French press | 4 min | 190–200°F | Coarse |
| AeroPress | 30–60 sec | 200°F | Fine |
| Auto drip | 5–6 min | 195–205°F | Medium |
| Percolator | 7–10 min | 200°F | Coarse |
Choose a brew method
Pour Over
Try the classic pour-over method if you want the real essence of coffee — smooth and rich. Begin with two tablespoons of freshly ground coffee. Heat water to 200 degrees. Fill the brewer about half full of water and stir gently so the grounds are immersed. Allow the coffee to bloom for 30 seconds before adding more water to complete the pour.
French Press
Coffee nerds like it freshly pressed — press pot coffee is like pop with double the fizz! Use two tablespoons of freshly ground coffee and water heated to 190–200 degrees. After adding the water, gently stir. Press after four minutes. (Experiment with pressing at two or three minutes — it extracts more of the front-end flavors.)
AeroPress
Smooth and easy. Begin with coffee ground pretty fine — much finer than a French press grind — and one level scoop. When the kettle reads 200 degrees, pour water over the grounds and stir a couple of times. Press the coffee into a cup within about 30 seconds. Add hot water if the brew is too strong. Drink and repeat.
Percolator
Must you? If you're making coffee for a crowd, then perhaps you must. For a 30-cup pot start with two cups of beans; one of those huge 100-cup pots takes six to seven. Serve as soon as the brew cycle completes — the longer it sits, the more aroma it loses. It isn't quite real coffee, but sometimes a crowd demands it.
The science, briefly
Extraction simply means taking the wonderful flavors out of the ground coffee and transferring them to the water. To do it well you need good beans, a consistent grind, and water heated to the correct temperature.
Water temperature. Most coffee lovers agree the ideal brewing window is 190–205°F. Cooler, and desirable flavors stay in the grounds rather than your cup. Too close to boiling, and the bitter compounds come out to play.
Grind quality. Short extraction times (espresso) want a fine grind; longer extractions (French press, percolator) want it coarse. Too fine a grind for the method causes over-extraction — and over-extracted coffee is noticeably bitter.
Caffeine. Content is about the same regardless of roast — caffeine is stable at roasting temperatures, and it's extracted early in the brew cycle. And decaf? U.S. regulations require at least 97.5% of the caffeine removed, so let's just say "most."
Ready to put any of this to use?
See the Current Roasts