Pour Over Question

[SC_Dave]

Hello all! I hope I'm posting this in the correct place. New here and new to pour over. I am trying not to buy twice, can someone recommend a pour over kit or the parts to make a kit? Also what grind is best for pour over? Thanks very much for you help.
David

 

[PinkRose]

Hello David,

Welcome to the Coffee Forums website.

I'm not sure what you meant when you wrote, "I am trying not to buy twice"

Are you thinking of buying something, and you don't want to make a wrong choice and end up having to buy something else?

We have a lot of members on this Forum who use the pour over method of making coffee. I'm sure you'll receive some replies to your questions soon.

Rose

 

[SC_Dave]

Hello David,

Welcome to the Coffee Forums website.

I'm not sure what you meant when you wrote, "I am trying not to buy twice"

Are you thinking of buying something, and you don't want to make a wrong choice and end up having to buy something else?

We have a lot of members on this Forum who use the pour over method of making coffee. I'm sure you'll receive some replies to your questions soon.

Rose

Thanks Rose, What I mean is that I don't want to buy a particular pour over kit only to realize I bought the wrong thing and have to buy again I'd rather hear from the experience here before I buy.
David

 

[peterjschmidt]

Will it be one cup at a time? What will you use to heat and pour you water? Do you prefer paper filters or prefer a metal screen?

 

[SC_Dave]

Will it be one cup at a time? What will you use to heat and pour you water? Do you prefer paper filters or prefer a metal screen?

Thanks Peter, yes it will be one cup at a time. I intend to heat the water with a kettle unless I learn different here. I am learning this new method. I would also prefer paper filters.
David

 

[peterjschmidt]

One of the big differences in the filter holder will be the amount and size of the holes at the bottom which regulate the flow rate.

I have a BeeHouse pourover set with both the filter holder and a small matching carafe. It works very well and is very straight forward. But I rarely use it because I don't like how paper filters out the oils in the coffee and it comes out tasting too clean for my tastes. I should just sell the thing.

I also enjoy full-immersion brewing, i.e., press pot. The Clever Coffee Dripper is a pourover, but is a full immersion brewer. To me, that comes about as close to fool-proof as possible.

 

[chast]

French Press

 

[SC_Dave]

One of the big differences in the filter holder will be the amount and size of the holes at the bottom which regulate the flow rate.

I have a BeeHouse pourover set with both the filter holder and a small matching carafe. It works very well and is very straight forward. But I rarely use it because I don't like how paper filters out the oils in the coffee and it comes out tasting too clean for my tastes. I should just sell the thing.

I also enjoy full-immersion brewing, i.e., press pot. The Clever Coffee Dripper is a pourover, but is a full immersion brewer. To me, that comes about as close to fool-proof as possible.

thanks Peter. I was thinking paper filter because of easy clean up. Maybe the mesh filter would be better. I'll check out the CCD. What grind should I use?

French Press

Thanks chast, I have a French press that my brother gave me some time back, I think I'll locate it and try it out. What gind should you use for a French press?

ET AL
The best cup of coffe I ever had was on a camping trip. We brought the water to a boil, dumped the ground coffee in a pot and poured the water in. Let it set till the grounds settled and gently poured off the coffee. Cowboy coffee if you will. It was hands down the best cup I ever tasted.
David

 

[chast]

Course for a French Press. What I do is pour a little hot water on the grounds and them them bloom for 30 seconds, then pour the rest, stir and put the plunger on and wait 4 minutes then push the plunger down. Different ways for different people but I had great results that way. Little bit of labor involved but makes a great cup for short money. If you get to much silt then strain through a filter into your cup if desired

 

[PinkRose]

The best cup of coffe I ever had was on a camping trip. We brought the water to a boil, dumped the ground coffee in a pot and poured the water in. Let it set till the grounds settled and gently poured off the coffee. Cowboy coffee if you will. It was hands down the best cup I ever tasted.
David

If you enjoyed cowboy coffee, you'll probably enjoy coffee that's made with a French Press. It sounds like a few grounds in your coffee won't bother you one bit.

 

[SC_Dave]

If you enjoyed cowboy coffee, you'll probably enjoy coffee that's made with a French Press. It sounds like a few grounds in your coffee won't bother you one bit.

Very true. I think I'm going to try the French press first.
David

 

[Redswing]

Since nobody is standing up for the pour over, I must! There are all different types, and you get used to all of them. But I use the Hario V60 and like it a lot. I definitely prefer the pour over to the press, I like the clean mouthfeel.

A decent set up would consist of:
1)freshly roasted beans
2)any digital scale that weighs in grams
3)a decent burr grinder. you can skip the debate and just get the baratza encore. about $130 and everybody around here seems to agree that it's the most economical grinder that can do what it needs to do.
4)a kettle...I use (and like) an electric kettle, along with a swan neck kettle for pouring the preheated water over the grounds.
5)a timer...keeping tabs on your brew time is critical for consistency.
6)paper filter (I like to use a bleached paper filter, and I always prewash it with 4 or so ounces of the hot water...gets everything warm
7)pour over dripper.

best of luck. don't give up on the pour over. leave it to the good folks around here to steer you away from what you came for and towards what they prefer!

 

[shadow745]

Nice reply Redswing... I've never used a manual pourover, but do use an automated version to brew black tea. Unit I chose and it works extremely well is the Bunn Phase Brew. Every brew cycle is perfect brew temperature/flow rate. **Even though many may look at this machine as being a typical drip brewer, nothing could be further from the truth.

 

[KaoJaiCoffee]

I agree with Redswing on this one as well since my preferred brewing method is for sure pour over. I'm a loyal Chemex fan and have found that it makes a much "cleaner" cup than coffee brewed full-immersion. A small, 3 cup maker is $35 and 100 filters will run you about $9. There's also a reusable filter out there, but I've yet to purchase it since I still have a pack of paper filters. One quick tip with any pour over of immersion brew method is to let it "bloom." So basically when you start just pour enough hot water in to wet the grounds and let it sit for 45 seconds or so to release the most delicious aspects of the bean.

Hope that helps!

 

[Musicphan]

My pour over setup is the following and I'm very happy with the setup...

Baratza Virtuoso - Overall pretty happy with the grinder
Hario V60
Hario 600 Server... not necessary but nice to have and I used to make Japanese style cold coffee (drip over ice)
Hario 120 Kettle... I wouldn't want anything smaller