Immersion & Pour-Over

Immersion and Pour-Over

There are only two main approaches to brewing coffee actively used in our time, and, in turn, each of the approaches has a set of coffee brewing methods. In this article, we will try to describe the most popular coffee brewing methods that you can also try at our coffee shop.

Immersion Immersion involves submersion. This is the case when we use the entire volume of coffee, mixing it immediately with the entire volume of water. Numerous popular coffee brewing methods fall under this type of coffee preparation, such as:

• Turkish coffee or cezve

• Coffee in a cup

• French press

• AeroPress

• Siphon

Let's start by examining, perhaps, the finest grind. To make coffee in a cezve, a grind to powder is used, or slightly larger. However, since the cezve is called a Turkish coffee pot worldwide, I will use the second name. The recommended cezve size for preparing coffee in the Eastern style varies from 80 to 250 milligrams. As for the recipe, you can choose it yourself, but the recommended coffee-to-water ratio is 1 to 10. You can also use spices, but add them at the very beginning so that they have time to unfold. The brewing time in this method is 4-7 minutes until the first lift. The coffee is ready as soon as the coffee "crust" starts to rise, but keep in mind that you need to remove the cezve before the water starts boiling under the mentioned "crust".

American Press

This is one of the new methods of brewing coffee. The distinctive feature is that coffee is placed in a separate capsule, which has a filter on both sides. The foundation of this method is based on immersion with gradual filtration. In the American Press, a seal is used that prevents brewed coffee from mixing with water, allowing for a cleaner extraction.

The capsule passes through all the water, and at each stage, the coffee enters fresh water and brews again. The filters here are metal, but you can add a paper filter from an AeroPress.

Preparation:

1. Fill the coffee capsule.

2. Pour water into the container.

3. Gradually pass the capsule through the water.

4. Total brewing time is 3-4 minutes. The first pause is 60 seconds, and the rest are 30 seconds each.

AeroPress

A popular brewing method in our time. There are two main approaches to making coffee with this device: the direct and the inverted brewing methods.

During extraction, heavy compounds settle to the bottom, while lighter ones rise to the top. In the direct method, more heavy compounds end up in the cup. You can also adhere to the classic ratio of 60g of coffee per 1 liter of water. By the way, these proportions work for almost all methods of making coffee.

Contact time between coffee and water during brewing with this method ranges from 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the recipe you follow

Clever

Unlike the pour-over, the Clever has a valve but looks very similar to the pour-over.

The Clever is convenient because you can easily test and experiment with new coffee brewing recipes. For this, you'll need a timer, kitchen scales, and a notepad with a pen to record how much time the coffee was in contact with water, at what intervals you opened the valve, what grind size was used, and the resulting coffee. This way, you can more accurately adjust the recipe to your taste.

Brewing coffee in the Clever:

1. Set up the system.

2. Place the cup.

3. Prepare a paper filter that should fit perfectly against the walls of the cup.

4. Moisten the paper filter with hot water, thereby warming the vessel where our coffee will be later.

5. Pour out the excess water.

6. Close the valve.

7. Add coffee in a ratio of 60 grams per 1 liter of water.

8. Pour water. The contact time of water with coffee is about 4 minutes.

9. Then stir and open the valve. The total time is about six minutes.

French Press

For the French Press, the coarsest grind is used. The granularity is close to crushed buckwheat, but the drawback of a coarse grind is that it is less uniform, which can negatively affect the final taste of the drink. Nevertheless, the French Press is considered the simplest and most suitable method for home coffee brewing after regular cup brewing.

The main issue with this brewing method is the presence of a metal filter, which is why baristas may not prefer this brewing method. A paper filter is considered better, as it performs the filtration process more effectively. It allows fewer fine particles and lipids to pass through, making the coffee less oily, which is not considered a desirable characteristic for any coffee beverage.

Pourover

There are already many of them. Therefore, we will only talk about the methods that have gained popularity. Pourover is the passage of water; it passes under its own weight through coffee particles, the filter, and then into the container for the finished drink - a server or a cup.

V60 or V-shaped I think this is the most popular brewing method, which is already present in any coffee shop. Especially, the trend can be found in third-wave coffee shops specializing in Specialty Coffee. The V60 has grooves, and when the filter gets wet, it adheres to the walls. The grooves themselves create air channels that help accelerate water passage. This feature allows even a fine grind to be used. However, a very fine grind is not recommended for the pour-over. Depending on the number of these grooves, the speed of water passage may vary. Other methods are almost the same, differing only in the number of grooves, the paper used for the filter, and some variations in shape, but the essence is the same - pour-over.

Kalita

This method has almost the same cone as the V60, but it uses a curved paper filter. In this case, the air channels are created by the filter itself. The only nuance is that there will be much fewer air channels than in the V60 method. Under the same conditions: the same coffee, grind, amount of coffee, and water, the water will pass more slowly. Accordingly, the Kalita requires a coarser grind than the V60.

Chemex

The walls are smooth, and because of this, water will pass even more slowly, requiring a relatively large grind. Unfortunately, water passes unevenly due to the spout, which forms an air channel only on one side. It's also worth noting that the larger the grind, the less uniform it is. In turn, this significantly affects the taste of coffee, and not for the better. The accessory itself looks very stylish. The presentation of coffee sometimes captivates, especially in coffee shops, but it is used less and less. I am sure that there are still fans of this brewing method, but the Chemex is gradually fading away from the scene.