Brewing Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated

Brewing Doesn't Have to Be Complicated

After I had really good specialty coffee, I wanted to know how to make it at home. I started looking at what I had and what I needed.

Then the internet got involved.

Suddenly I needed a special kettle. A scale. A timer. Water recipes. A particular filter. A certain pouring pattern. Three different brewers. A grinder that costs more than their coffee maker. Then something for travel.

Somewhere along the way, making coffee starts to sound like preparing for a chemistry exam.

I've learned a lot about coffee over the years.

Ironically, most of it has made my mornings simpler.

At home we have a Breville coffee maker on the kitchen counter that grinds coffee and has a timer.

My wife likes coffee ready when we wake up.

So do I.

It fits our life.

The coffee is already waiting when we wake up.

I pour a cup, take it to the sunroom, sit with the dog for a few quiet minutes, and start the day.

Later, when I'm in the shop, coffee becomes something different.

That's where I cup new coffees.

Experiment with brewing.

Compare roasts.

Try strange ideas.

That's where I learn.

Those are two completely different kinds of coffee.

Neither one is more "real" than the other.

One serves our home.

The other feeds my curiosity.

That distinction took me longer to learn than it probably should have.

When I first became interested in brewing, I tried all the methods.

A Clever Dripper.

A Hario.

A French press.

Different temperatures.

Different recipes.

Different grind settings.

If someone on the internet had a new idea, I wanted to try it.

The problem wasn't curiosity.

The problem was that I kept changing everything at once.

I could make different cups of coffee, but I wasn't learning why they were different.

Things finally started making sense when I stopped trying to improve everything simultaneously.

I picked a starting point.

A ratio.

A timer.

One brewing method.

Then I changed one thing at a time.

I learned what too coarse tasted like.

What too fine tasted like.

What stronger meant.

What weaker meant.

I stopped chasing perfection and started finding the boundaries.

Somewhere along the way I settled on a brewing method that almost nobody else uses.

It looks odd.

Maybe even a little complicated.

To me it's simple.

I understand it.

It's repeatable.

It's easy to clean.

Most importantly, it consistently makes coffee I enjoy.

That's the point.

Not that you should brew the way I do.

That you should find the method that fits your life.

Maybe that's a programmable brewer you prepare the night before.

Maybe it's a Mr. Coffee you found on Facebook Marketplace.

Maybe it's a French press every Saturday morning.

Maybe it's cold brew in the refrigerator during the summer.

Maybe it's decaf after dinner.

There isn't a prize for making coffee the hardest way possible.

The goal is coffee you enjoy.

Consistently.

One thing that genuinely helped me was understanding a ratio.

I settled on 15:1. Not because it’s a magical number.

It gave me a place to start.

I weigh my coffee.

I weigh my water.

I set a timer.

That's enough precision to make today's cup look a lot like yesterday's.

The measurements aren’t there to impress anyone.

They simply give me a place to begin.

When something tastes better—or worse—I have some idea why.

One thing I've noticed is that professionals often make things look simple.

People assume that's because they're skipping details.

It seems like it's the opposite.

They understand the important details well enough that the becomes appears surprisingly calm.

I’m learning that on the roaster too.

The more I understand it, the simpler it becomes to control.

I make fewer corrections now, not because I care less, but because I understand more.

Complexity and care aren't the same thing.

Sometimes the most thoughtful thing you can do is have good coffee waiting for your wife before she's fully awake.

Sometimes it's taking the time to learn a new brewing method because you enjoy learning.

Both are worthwhile.

If you're just getting started, don't worry about mastering every brewing technique you see online.

Start with good coffee.

Grind it well.

Use water that tastes good.

Find a recipe that works, for you.

Repeat it long enough to understand it.

Then change one thing at a time.

I spent years not knowing there were better ways because I stopped looking.

Sometimes good really does become the enemy of great.

You don't have to know everything about coffee to make coffee that makes people smile.

You might be surprised how close you already are with what you have.

There will be times I'll dive into the weeds because that's how I am. But you don't have to. Unless you want to.