Coffee at Home Part Seven: More Brewing Methods: Moka Pot and Syphon
If you’re still here after six installments then congratulations. I truly hope you’ve learned something about making kick-ass coffee. We’ve explored three terrific brew methods of varying degrees of difficulty and cost. However, like all things, the more you know, the more you know you don’t know. You’ve gone this far down the rabbit hole, so now let’s talk about some brewing methods that don’t necessarily fit the criteria I set for the ones featured in the previous weeks. I won’t provide specific instructions on these methods, but if you are interested, a web search will reveal much:
Moka Pot/Stovetop “Espresso” Maker:
The stovetop is available in many iterations, pretty much a everywhere, from the simple Melitta style shown above, to complicated contraptions with portafilters and steam wands. The common thread is that they go on your stove (although a few electric models are available) and use the heat to push hot water through a bed of coffee. It is not possible to make real cafe style espresso using one of these devices. However when used carefully, the stovetop can produce a good cup of tasty, near espresso strength coffee. The key with the stovetop is, counterintuitively, to use a course grind approaching what one would use for a press pot. A fine grind will resist percolation of water through the ground coffee until the water approaches boiling, resulting in a burnt tasting cup.
The Moka pot isn’t terribly hard to use, it is relatively cheap, and pretty fast. However what sets it apart from the methods I described in earlier posts in the difficulty in making a really good cup. The Moka pot requires constant attention to make sure the coffee is not burned, and it’s all to easy to ruin a cup. Ideally, the water should be preheated then put into the Moka pot, and at the end of the brew, a chilled towel should be used to stop extraction. This is quite a bit of work for what is rarely an exceptional cup, and in my opinion your effort is better spent using a manual drip, press pot, or Aeropress.
If you decide to purchase a stovetop brewer, go for stainless steel,rather than aluminum. Aluminum conducts heat to readily, making it to burn the coffee.
The vac pot has achieved near mythical status and is perceived as esoteric and mysterious brewing device, in spite of the fact that it was for some time one of the most popular home brewing methods in the United States. It has a reputation for producing coffee with outstanding flavour clarity and acidity. Recently the method has achieved a resurgence among baristas attracted to the prospect of terrific coffee married to an intriguing and often flashy presentation.
For the home barista, the extent to which syphon brewing appeals depends on one’s willingness to put up with the method’s eccentricities. Syphon brewing demands a fairly high level of commitment and attention to the process, and requires somewhat more thorough cleanup and preparation than most other methods. However, for all this, it provides arguably the greatest reward of any method.
Steep and Relase/Clever/Ibid:
<a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonx/4418129887/” title=”clever by tonx, on Flickr”><img src=”http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/4418129887_4a944bf10a.jpg” width=”375″ height=”500″ alt=”clever” /></a>
Steep and release brewers combine immersion brewing (eg. press pot) with filter brewing (eg. pourover). They resemble a pour over cone, but with a stopper at the bottom. Coffee and hot water are added to the cone (lined with a paper filter), then allowed to brew for a set period, after which the cone is set on a cup or other vessel, releasing the stopper and allowing the coffee to percolate out of the grounds. These brewers are very easy to use, and more simple than a standard pourover as the barista does not have to worry about about the flow rate of water through the grounds.
I didn’t include steep and release brewers in prior posts have I have little experience with them, however I encourage anyone looking for an easy and effective method to research these brewers. If you own a pourover cone, you can approximate this method by brewing in a separate vessel, then pouring the brew into the cone (with a filter of course) to filter it.
There are of course many other coffee brewing methods and devices available to you -from flip pots to bag coffee, to cupping, to cold brew methods, to Turkish- though most are permutations of the ones covered in this series.
If you would like to further research coffee brewing methods and methodology, there are a number of online resources to be found:
Coffeegeek is probably the best known consumer coffee site, featuring years worth of equipment reviews, tutorials, and discussion on everything coffee related.
Brew Methods features compiled brewing tutorials aimed at everyone from beginners to professional. The tutorials are sourced from a wide variety of web sites, and are a terrific gateway to the wider world of coffee nerdery.
Scott Rao’s incredibly thorough book Everything But Espresso is a terrific, if somewhat intimidating reference for professionals and home baristas featuring step by step walkthroughs of most common brewing methods, and tips for troubleshooting brews.
Finally, if you have any suggestions or further questions about home brewing don’t hesitate to ask away by leaving a comment or sending me a tweet or email!
Equipment Review: Kaffeologie K165 Syphon Filter
Late last year my attention was drawn to Kaffeologie, a Washington company doing some very cool things for coffee brewing. I caught their blog post about a new product they were developing: A metal mesh filter for Hario and Yama coffee syphons. In inquired about a review sample and received one in the mail a couple weeks ago.
Since that time I’ve had the chance to use the filter for several brews on my five cup Yama syphon.
Syphon brewing is a lost art that seems to be catching on once again in North America. At one point, the coffee syphon was the brewing device of choice in many a kitchen. In recent years the syphon has staged a comeback of sorts in cafes, and is now a mainstay in some cafes in cities like Vancouver and Portland. However,it seems like home syphon brewing is still consigned to the lunatic fringe of coffee lovers. After all, considerable effort is required, as the process is a bit labour intensive and has the reputation of being pretty finicky. The rewards of a well made syphon however, are well worth the effort. These include intense aromatics and crystal clear flavour definition that have much in common with the delicate notes of a finely brewed tea.
I hadn’t used my syphon in some time, as I was frustrated with maintaining the cloth filters usually used with the device. While the filters help produce a sediment free brew with the aformentioned terrific clarity, they are also very hard to keep clean over an extended period. A dirty filter, even one that does not look dirty, will completely ruin a pot of coffee. I’ve heard it recommended that a cloth filter not be used more than a few times. Even cleaning the filters leaves them susceptible to contamination from mildew or mould as they dry.
When I saw Kaffeologie’s design i was really intrigued. The filter is a fine metal mesh cut and crimped around a standard Yama filter assembly (frame and spring), fastened with metal wire. The web site describes it thus:
“The filter is folded tightly and stitched with non-tarnish Argentium silver around the frame. As a final step, we crimped the edges of the mesh to ensure a perfect seal against the glass lip of the siphon.”
After receiving the filter I proceeded to use it for several brews over the course of the last couple weeks, using a variety of coffees including a Kenya, a New Guinea, and a Guatemala. As I expected, the Kenya was the best, with terrific flavour definition and all the promised notes of fruit and citrus. What surprised me was in fact the clarity. I expected more of a heavy press pot style brew, but this was very close to what I was used to with a cloth syphon filter.
The following brews were similarly terrific. Another benefit for me was a speedier and more predictable drawdown, something I had been frustrated with in the past.
What had originally gotten me so excited about the filter was the potential ease of cleaning. A simple rinse would do the do the job with metal mesh, or so I thought. This is in my mind the sole problem with this filter: It isn’t really easy to thoroughly clean. At first I thought I had cleaned it well with a simple rinse under the tap, but on closer inspection I saw many grounds trapped between the mesh and the filter frame. I worked the mesh and rinsed several more times to get rid of them, but a few always persisted. I didn’t wish to remove the mesh, as it was carefully sewn onto the frame, so I just resigned myself to having a few maverick grounds in there. I have no idea whether or not those grounds affected the taste of subsequent brews. Of course, this is no cloth filter. I didn’t have to scrub or soak or wring it out. I don’t have to worry about mould or mildew. I can reuse this filter indefinitely.
The ideal would be for the design to be modified so that the mesh can easily be removed from the frame, then the whole thing rinsed and cleaned in a matter of seconds. Whether this is easy to accomplish or not is a question I don’t know the answer to.
Overall, I was really impressed with this filter. It is an innovative device at a very good price. In fact I think it’s a real step forward for syphon brewing and deserves to find a home in any cafe that frequently brews syphon coffee. The cleaning issue is the only flaw, but one that shouldn’t be tough to address and won’t even likely be a big deal for anyone who is not a bit obsessive compulsive about their syphon.
