Posted Wed Mar 19, 2008, 11:37am Subject: I think I found my perfect pour-over method and recipe
Alright.. I think I found my perfect pour-over method and recipe. It even makes store bought beans taste pretty darn good.
Using a Baratza Maestro (40 setting version), set on 27 clicks from "On". The numbers on the dial don't mean anything to me. Just lay the hopper in the machine, then turn the machine on, then turn the hopper till the machine starts running. That "On' spot is click 1. Now count 26 clicks from there. This only works with the 40 setting Maestro, Maestro+, and Virtuosos probably do it too.
Between 15 grams to 17 grams of fresh beans to 10 ounces of water. I use a digital scale to measure this out. I got beans that are three weeks old that still taste good using this method. THe beans I use vary from Guatemala, Cafe Puru, and Costa Rica beans fresh roasted from Olympia, WA, Seattle's Best Henry's Roast, and Peets Major Dickason Blend.
I use Melitta natural brown flavorpore filters in a Melitta 2-cup cone. This recipe works with cloth filters and permanent filters too, but causes more sediment to get through, which doesn't really alter the flavor, just makes a fuller mouth feel.
Water's fresh filtered from the tap, and 200F degrees off the boil.
I gradually fill the cone while stirring, and keep filling while stirring till I hit the 10oz mark. Then I just stir until all the water has gone through into the cup. Brew time is around 2 minutes total from first pour to finish.
I don't really like my coffee boiling hot when I drink it, so I let it sit and cool down, letting the coffee develop more flavor as it rests. Once it's at a point where it's drinkable without burning my mouth, that's when I drink it. I can even swish it around in my mouth with no unpleasant flavors. The only problem I've noticed is a fowl aftertaste (I call it 'coffee mouth') around 10-20 minutes after I've finished drinking the coffee.
As for the flavors and mouth feel.. I'd say the body is nice and smooth, the brightness is right where I like it, not too bright, sugars are present, and there's a nice deep rich coffee flavor. Some of the roast flavor is there too.
The recipe can be increased or decreased depending on your own tastes. I've gone down to 10 grams of grounds to 10 ounces of water and it's still pretty good, just weaker.
Anyway, if anyone else can re-create this, and get good results from it, I'd like to hear about it. :)
Posted Fri Mar 21, 2008, 12:47pm Subject: Re: I think I found my perfect pour-over method and recipe
I just did a successful 4 cup pot of coffee using a cloth filter, and my melitta 10-cup cone. Used 60 grams of grounds to 40 oz. of water. Stirred during the brew, then stirred the finished pot. Tastes just like the 1-cup recipe above does.
Has anyone else tried this recipe for their pour-over yet?
Btw, these are 10 ounce cups. They're a bit bigger than the standard cup. It's actually about 7 to 8 regular cups.
I've heard this too. One of my local roasters told me that Melitta first came out with the brown (unbleached) filters as an alternative to the bleached, which may have added a chemical taste according to some people. But now the white filters are oxygen-bleached, so no chemical taste, and some people apparently taste a resin residue with the brown filters.
All paper in its natural form is brown in color. In order to become white, it must be processed. Many cheaper filter papers are bleached with chlorine in order to achieve its white color. Melitta coffee filters are 100% Chorine Free, as they are whitened naturally using oxygen.
Natural Brown
Natural brown filters are not processed to achieve a whiter color. With premium filter paper, such as those by Melitta, there is no difference in taste from using white versus natural brown versus bamboo. The choice is only a matter of preference
I was a little nervous the first time I went to buy more filters and saw they'd changed to "flavorpore" with what looked like bigger holes. But the coffee's still good, so I got over it. :)
BTW, has anybody tried their new (60%) bamboo filters?
JD, your recipe sounds a little strong to me, but I'm not so good at estimating weights & measures. FWIW, here's mine: Baratza Virtuoso, set to about 11. (Though I've been using my dad's Maestro lately.) About 1 rounded tablespoon of grounds in a white 2-cup Melitta filter & plastic cone (a heaping tbsp if I'm going for a travel mug), and sometimes a pinch more if I feel like it's gonna be one of those mornings. Then 1-1/2 to 2 cups filtered water, nuked in Pyrex to the sweet spot - it's usually at between 195-201 F by the time I pour, usually at the lower end. I'm a bit sloppy, but I try to follow CG canon and wet all the grounds first, then slowly fill the cone before stirring. This almost never works. :P I almost always have more water than will fit in the cone, so I stir and wait, scraping a little at the bloom/foam on the sides and stirring it back in with the brew, then pour more water. When I'm done pouring, I give it one more stir and leave it alone.
If I've made a "normal-size" (i.e. ~ 8 oz.) cup, like at work, the filter will usually have grounds sloping nicely up both sides from the bottom. But when I make a big mug in the morning, I usually have a substantial flat plain of grounds built up on the bottom, due to the amount of coffee I've used. Do I need to move up to a 4-cup filter?
HRR Senior Member Joined: 19 Aug 2008 Posts: 8 Location: Greenwood Village, CO Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Wed Aug 20, 2008, 7:21am Subject: Re: I think I found my perfect pour-over method and recipe
I apologize for the double post, but in searching for an answer it seems this would be the best place to have asked this question in the first place. I have decided on the Newco OCS-12 as a replacement for my previous (now deceased) machine. I had been using a #4 cone filter, and had finally arrived at a grind and amount of coffee that more or less consistently made "good" coffee to my taste. I realize that I will have to experiment with my new machine, its hotter water temperature, etc., but generally speaking, with the flat bottom filter, should the grind be the same, or finer, or coarser than what I used for the #4 cone filter?
Posted Thu Aug 21, 2008, 6:08am Subject: Re: I think I found my perfect pour-over method and recipe
I'm an old pour-over connoisseur and I've been committed to letting the water flow in one pass through the grounds, rather than stirring along the way.
My experience has been that stirring actually brings the water into longer contact with spent grounds, which for me has always increased the bitterness of the brewed result.
The unattended one-pass method has, for me, maximized the best flavors from the grounds while minimizing the influence one can get from over-exposure to spent grounds.
But in the end it's a matter of personal taste (and we all know there's no accounting for personal taste). I also may use a bit more coffee than the above to compensate for not having to stir.
ntvandehey Senior Member Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 15 Location: Minneapolis, MN Expertise: Just starting
Posted Thu Oct 2, 2008, 8:39am Subject: Re: I think I found my perfect pour-over method and recipe
Where do you get a Melitta 2-cup pour over cone (not the filter)?
I've seen a number of posts saying to just go to the supermarket, but I've had no luck. It seems silly to buy it online (at least for now) when I could save the shipping and buy it locally, but then again, I may wast that shipping money in gas costs in this crazy hunt.
Here is a list of places in Minneapolis that do *not* carry at simple 2-cup pour over cone:
Target Wal-Mart CVS Pharmacy Cub Foods Rainbow Grocery Store Schneider Drug (Neighborhood drug store)
So for now, I'm putting the filter (#2 cone) into my mug, adding ground coffee, adding hot water, letting it sit ~3min, then slowly removing the filter while letting the coffee drip out of the filter.
This way, the bloom reaches the top, and upon pulling out the filter, I have grounds stuck to the side, as someone has described above.
I don't have a overly capable palate, but to me it tastes great.
Notes: I'm using fresh Sumatran Italian Roast (Peace Coffee, Mpls, MN) and a blade grinder.
Posted Thu Oct 2, 2008, 3:03pm Subject: Re: I think I found my perfect pour-over method and recipe
Hi ntvandehey,
You should be able to find one at Target. I've bought a couple there over the past couple years. At one point they were next to the french presses and then they got moved to above their coffee machines with all the filters (or is it the other way around?). Anyway, they should be there. I like giving these things away as an inexpensive way for people to start experimenting with better coffee. I've also found them at a local restaurant supply store and an Italian market.
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