What's In The Water: Brewmance

Coffee hooks you young.

As simple as it might seem to just brew a cup of coffee since the invention of automatic drip brewers, the amount of ways that you can brew a black cup o' coffee is staggering. At Pour Jons, we like toys, and we also like coffee. Thus, when we spend our free money, it usually goes to new, fun ways to make coffee.

Originally, the only way to brew coffee was by smashing it into powder, boiling it, and hoping all the chunky bits fall out. With the invention of paper, metal, and cloth filters, as well as plastics and molded glassware, the ways to combine water and bean are greatly diversified. Let's just look at a rundown of a few.

Pour Over:
This is the handmade version of a drip coffee brewer. It uses a cone-shaped paper filter in a spiraled ceramic bowl with a hole in the bottom. Because paper absorbs a lot of oil, pour overs have lighter mouthfeel, and really highlight the sweetness and acidity of a coffee.

French Press:
This is a great way to get all of the characteristics, and is kind of a "raw" brewing technique. Coarsely chopped coffee is fully immersed in hot water, then a metal plunger with a metal filter is pressed down, removing the grinds.

Espresso:
Completely lacking the letter "x", espresso is coffee brewed with water pressure, attempting to maximize the amount of coffee squeezed into less water. There is a higher coffee to water ratio than in other brews, but contrary to popular belief a double shot of espresso does not have as much caffeine as a larger cup of coffee does. It emphasizes the high, sharp notes of coffee.

Siphon Pot:
This is the one that looks like a chemistry experiment. It uses a cloth filter and suction to brew a very even cup of coffee, balancing both highs and lows. It costs a little more because we use butane to heat the water, but it's worth the effort.

Chemex:
Chemex is very similar to a Pour over, except that it uses a much thicker filter.

Turkish Coffee:
This is one of the oldest ways to make coffee, brewed by boiling powdered coffee with cardamom pods, making a thick, rich draught. Don't drink the sludge in the bottom of the cup. The rest is delicious, though.

This is far from all the ways there are to make coffee, but they highlight some of the main methods used today. More importantly, all of them are available from Pour Jons! Come in and try something new. "Plain" coffee just doesn't exist.

~P.J.