COFFEE
The Kalita Wave is our favourite method for pour-over coffee, and it is also one of the most consistent. We use the Kalita in our cafe, as its flat bottomed shape provides an even extraction of the coffee, resulting in consistent and clean brews. Â
Pour-over coffee consists of brewing coffee through a filter paper using a slow, steady stream of water, and letting gravity do the work. The water passes through the coffee, drips into the vessel below, and gives you an incredibly smooth and tasty cup of coffee.
In this method, we will be guiding you through making a single cup, but please refer to the tips section at the bottom if you would like to adjust the method to make two cups.Â
You will need:
Let’s get brewing!
1. Rinse the filter with boiling water. This will heat up the brewer and your vessel. Discard the water.
2. Grind 15g coffee for a single cup. Place in the filter and shake until the grounds are flat.
3. Start the timer (0.00) and pour 30g of water over the grounds. Aim to cover all of the coffee quickly and carefully. This is called the bloom*. Swirl the brewer once you have reached 30g.
4. At 0.30, top-up to 100g. Gently stir the slurry with a spoon.
5. At 1.00, add 50g every 20 seconds until you reach a total brew weight of 250g. With the addition of the final 50g, gently swirl the brewer again, and leave to finish dripping through.
6. Total brew time will be around 2.30.
7. Discard the filter, and drink up!
TIPS
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* The ‘bloom’ stage is where the coffee degasses and releases CO2. You may see fresh coffee expand and bubble a little, and this is the gas being released. This is arguably the point in the brew where the sweeter notes are extracted from the coffee.Â
* When pouring, use a slow and gentle spiral motion, working from the middle of the filter to the outer edges, and back in again. Avoid pouring down the side of the filter paper. A gooseneck kettle comes in handy here for precision pouring, but if you only have a regular kitchen kettle to hand, try to pour as slowly and as carefully as you can.Â
* When stirring the slurry, do so in a way that is as repeatable as possible, to ensure consistency, i.e. clockwise twice, or back and forth twice.
* Maintain the same ratios when brewing one cup or two cups. Coffee to water is 60g per 1000g and bloom is 1:2. With this in mind, brewing a two cup would be 30g coffee, 500g water, and a 60g bloom.
* If your coffee is super fresh (brewing within 7 days of roasting), extend your bloom for another 10-20 seconds. This helps to bring a bit more viscosity and sweetness to a freshly roasted batch.
* Brew time is subject to grind and taste. If coffee is tasting bitter and dry and takes a long time to brew, try grinding coarser. If coffee is sour and thin and brews very quickly, try grinding finer.
