Brewing Coffee Manually

Better coffee. One cup at a time.

Month: January 2016

Travel Coffee- How to Make Great Coffee While Traveling Light

January 26, 2016 / / 6 Comments

How to brew a great cup of coffee while traveling light is a subject that has vexed many manual brewing enthusiasts over the years. Is it possible to make a great cup of coffee in a hotel room (bedroom, hostel, train station) without bringing your entire manual brewing arsenal in your suitcase?

Would you believe I can fit everything I need to brew a great cup of coffee into the nylon storage bag that came with my Aeropress (with the exception of my Hario Slim Mill and a bottle of water)?

Below are a few travel coffee musings as well as my on-the-road coffee packing list. My travel coffee kit is self-contained and will hold up in nearly every scenario (save the loss of electricity). It is compact, fairly inexpensive and durable. From the curious traveler who has just sworn to never drink another hotel K-cup to the seasoned road brewer, there is a little something for everyone.

Travel Coffee Musings- Everything Boils Down to Hot Water

I’ve been thinking a lot about making coffee away from home (whether coffee outside or traveling) lately and I’ve concluded that the most limiting factor for making a good cup of coffee on the road is hot water. Without a source of clean water and a way to heat it, your options are cold brew, café or settling (or some combination of the three).

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The Moka Pot Tutorial and Brew Guide

January 18, 2016 / / 8 Comments

The Moka Pot (sometimes referred to as a stovetop espresso maker) is a classic brewing method with strong Italian roots. Patented in 1933 by inventor Luigi De Ponti, the Moka Pot has spent over three quarters of a century as one of the most recognizable and championed at-home coffee solutions (especially in Europe).

What is a Moka Pot

A Moka Pot is a brewing device that uses steam pressure and an external heat source to create a strong coffee concentrate (usually about a 1:7 coffee to water ratio).

They are most often made of aluminum and consist of three major parts: a boiler, a filter basket and a collection chamber. There are also a few minor parts including a gasket and a removable metal screen.

Are you are interested in a stainless steel Moka Pot? Minos Living makes several varieties with a sleek and appealing design. You can read my review of a Minos Moka Pot here.

It is a fairly fool proof brewing method that is easily accessible to the masses. The Moka Pot comes in a variety of sizes, brands, material composition and designs but the most popular and iconic model is the Bialatti Moka Express.

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A New Year and a New Coffee Regimen- Saving Money by Brewing Coffee Manually at Home

January 11, 2016 / / 2 Comments

It’s the beginning of January which means nearly every blogger, podcaster and planner under the finance umbrella will be touting their lists of ways to trim the fat and save money in 2016. One of the items that is sure to turn up on practically every list is the old “save money by making coffee at home” suggestion.

It’s tired, overdone and an easy target but I thought it would be interesting to look at this popular exercise from a manual brewing perspective (and as someone who values financial scrutiny as well as a great cup of coffee).

If someone wanted to give up their daily trip to Starbucks, how would they go about making the switch? What equipment would they need? How much money could they save? And, perhaps most interestingly, how much of a quality increase could they expect for the same amount of money?

High Upfront Costs- What equipment do I need to start brewing coffee at home?

If you are starting from scratch, there is going to be a bit of an investment to begin making coffee at home (whether brewing manually or with an auto drip machine).

As the average price of an automatic coffee maker continues to climb, I believe manual brewing is the thriftier way to go. You should also be able to get a higher quality cup of coffee from manual brewing.

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