Easy Filter Coffee Recipes
Caretta Coffee is a Specialty coffee blog which focuses on educational, informational and recommendation based content which enables everybody to be able to make a great cup of coffee at home.
We are here to inspire you to dive deep into the world of specialty coffee without over complicating it.
Each week we will post an article either recommendations or information that will help you make equipment and coffee roasters decisions or help you work out how to make recipes and understand the processes of creating a beautiful cup of coffee.
Sometimes people think specialty coffee is for snobs and nerds but we’re here to show you it’s for everyone. To show you how easy it is to make a good cup and to save your money on that commercial yuck we call chain coffee or grocery store coffee.
So today we’re going to help you with the easiest and most basic recipes for home friendly filter coffee brewing. We will include pour over, aeropress, French press and moccamaster or home batch or dripper.
They’re simple enough to understand, and if you have any questions or issues, feel free to give us an email here: hello@carettacoffee.com
So let’s get started:
So why are we drinking specialty coffee?
In a simple sentence. Its taste is superior and in the process of buying and brewing it you’re helping a family of coffee farmers and processors in less fortunate countries than yourself make a living, you’re supporting an industry which from farm to cup cares about quality and is there to create a delicious beverage that come in all kinds of different tastes which change every year. So Specialty Coffee is an investment into hard working people and you get the pleasure of drinking something tasty and amazing.
Cafetiere (French Press)
The number one recipe in our opinion is the James Hoffmann recipe which we have an article here which goes in depth but here is a simple version of that recipe.
Step 1
Boil your water. While the water is boiling, you can prepare everything else needed to make your brew.
Water quality does matter, so try to use soft, filtered or bottled water for a tastier brew. Remember, if your water doesn’t taste good neither will your coffee.
Step 2
Weigh and grind your coffee.
For James’ method we will use 30g of coffee to 500g of water, but if you want a stronger brew, up your dose to about 35g and if you want a weaker brew do about 20-25g.
If you don’t have a scale, around 3.5-4 tablespoons should be enough.
Then grind your coffee to a medium to coarse grind. You can use pre-ground coffee, but it’s recommended to use freshly ground coffee. If you don’t have a grinder, have a look here and you’ll be able to find one that’s great quality but won’t break the bank. Medium-coarse coffee is the desired grind size for French press brewing, but I always say play around with the grind size and see how you can make your brews better and tastier.
Step 3
Put your French press onto your scale and tare it out to 0.0, then add your ground coffee. Tare it out again then add 500g of boiling water onto the coffee grounds making sure you cover all of the grounds with water, leaving no dry spots and start your timer.
Step 4
Wait 5 minutes.
This would be a great time to start prepping your morning breakfast or lunch for work or feeding your dog or cat, whatever you can get done in 5 minutes just while your delicious brew is steeping.
Step 5
Stir the coffee grounds.
After the five minutes is up, grab a spoon and stir the coffee grounds. You’ll notice a small crust will form on top of the coffee. Give it a nice gentle stir, ensuring all the coffee can steep nicely and evenly.
Step 6
Scoop the bits that have formed on top of the coffee, grab the two spoons and scoop the foam and any gritty-looking bits of coffee grounds that may have formed, then discard them.
Step 7
Wait another 5 minutes.
I know it may seem like it’s taking a while to brew, but this part is crucial. This is where the coffee grounds sink to the bottom of the French press and it’s still most likely too hot to drink anyway.
Step 8
Plunge the coffee.
Now it’s time to plunge, but for this recipe make sure you only plunge to the top of the liquid. This is so we don’t mix up what’s been settling and steeping for the last 5 minutes. It will make your brew smooth, clean, crisp and grit-free.
Step 9
Pour and Enjoy!
Our next easy filter coffee recipe method will be Aeropress.
Aeropress Recipe
Rinse your paper filter in your aeropress cap
Ground 16g or 1 scoop of medium-fine ground coffee
Add the 16g of coffee to the aeropress chamber
Pour 60g or up to the number 1 on the chamber of off the boil water or 94 degrees on top of the ground coffee
Then stir 10 times.
Wait 45 seconds
Pour up to number 4 or 200g then wait a further 1:30 minutes
Plunge your coffee
Enjoy
Leave it to cool for a minute or so, and it will taste much nicer, trust me!
We have a more in-depth aeropress recipe guide here if you’re looking to step up your aeropress brewing game.
Next we’re going to go with our favourite pour over recipe.
Pour Over Recipe
20g of coffee
300g of water at 90 degrees.
We like to use the tetsu or 4:6 method.
And an origami or Hario v60 dripper.
Rinse your paper filter
Tare your scale and add your 20g of medium-coarse ground coffee.
Gently pour up to 60g
Wait until 30 seconds
Then gently pour in a circular motion up to 150g
Once the coffee has drawn down (soaked up all the water)
Then pour to 300g
Give it a few swirls
Once the brew has finished (we should be aiming for a 3:00-4:00 brew time. But it all depends how you grind your coffee, your water temperature and how you pour your water.
For more detailed information on pour over, please see our pour over article here
Batch Brew Filter Recipe
Last up we’ve got the batch brewers, mocca master or home filter dripper:
This is the easiest of them all, simple, sweet and delicious
Add 60-62g of medium to coarse coffee to your paper filter tray
Add your filter
Press your start button and enjoy.
This recipe is for 1 litre of coffee.
If your batch brewer makes more than 1 litre, just use the basic recipe of around 60g of coffee per litre of water.
And give the grind size an experiment, go finer or coarser and see the results you can get.
And that’s it.
I enjoyed writing this one
I hope it’s helped and as I’ve said feel free to check out our other articles for a more in depth information about different brewing methods.
Until next week.
We will catch you on the next one.
Check out our other articles below which go more in depth about different recipes for home filter coffee brewing:
We are also in the process of preparing a special release of Caretta Coffee QR code merchandise so be sure to stay tuned here or on our social media @geo.brews
