General Coffee Brewing Guidelines
We Are always learning new and better ways to brew. head over to our blog for more details on brewing!
Use a burr grinder. You will get more consistent, better tasting coffee. A blade grinder is OK. If you get your coffee pre-ground, seal and freeze it, and don't let it thaw before brewing.
Use bottled water with neutral pH (no alkaline water) and minerals (avoid deionized and RO water). Filtered tap water can work too.
If using filters, rinse brown filters thoroughly as they impart a taste.
A digital scale will help you make coffee consistently and a timer can help you improve your coffee game. 1.8 grams of coffee to 1 oz/28 g of water is a good ratio. If you don't have a scale, 1 Tablespoon is about 8.5 grams of (whole bean) coffee, so you can do 2 slightly heaping Tablespoons per 10 oz of water.
For Best Results You will need:
• Coffee brewer
• Fresh-roasted Penstock Coffee
• 200-208°F mineral water
• Burr grinder
• Scale
• Ceramic Penstock mugs
• A friend to share it with!
Chemex (6 cup)
Heat water to boil. In the meantime, weigh out 36 grams of coffee and rinse your filter with hot water. Preheat your brew carafe and cups. (Don't forget to empty the water before adding coffee!) Use a paper filter grind (medium/sea salt), and add the coffee to the filter. Pour 100g of water into the middle of the bed of coffee. Allow the coffee to bubble up (“bloom”) for 1 minute. Slowly pour an additional 300g of water making sure all the coffee is saturated. Allow the coffee to drain down for 45 seconds. Add an additional 200 grams of water making sure no grounds adhere to the sides of the Chemex. Allow to drain. (Adjust your grind finer next time if it took less than 4 minutes; adjust your grind coarser if it took more than 4 minutes.) Serve and enjoy!
Pour over (Hario v60)
Heat water to boil. In the meantime, weigh out 18 grams of coffee and rinse your filter with hot water. Preheat your brew carafe and cups. (Don't forget to empty the water before adding coffee!) Use a paper filter grind (fine salt), and add the coffee to the filter. Pour 20g of water into the middle of the bed of coffee. Allow the coffee to bubble up for 1 minute. Slowly pour an additional 100g of water making sure all the coffee is saturated. Allow the coffee to drain down for 45 seconds. Add an additional 100g of water making sure no grounds adhere to the sides of the pour over cone. Allow to drain for 30 seconds. Add the remaining 65 grams of water and let drain down. (Aim for 3-4 minutes. Adjust your grind finer next time if it took less than 3 minutes; adjust your grind coarser if it took more than 4 minutes.) Serve and enjoy!
POUR OVER (KALITA WAVE)
Heat water to boil. In the meantime, weigh 21 grams of coffee and rinse your filter with hot water; preheat your brew carafe and cups. (Don’t forget to empty the water before adding coffee!) Use a paper filter grind (kosher salt), and add the coffee to the filter. Pour 50g water in a concentric circle over the bed of coffee; wait 30s for the coffee to “bloom;” aggressively pour in concentric circles up to 150g. At 50s, aggressively pour in concentric circles up to 250g. At 1:10, aggressively pour in concentric circles up to 350g. Allow to drain. Ideal brew cycle should be between 2:15-2:30. If your brew goes too fast, or tastes a little sour, try grinding a little finer; if too slow, or tastes a little bitter, try grinding a little coarser.
French Press
Heat water to boil. In the meantime, weigh out 30 grams of coffee and grind. Preheat your press and dump rinse water. Add ground coffee to the press. Pour 500g of water into the middle of the bed of coffee. Stir to ensure all the grounds are saturated.
IF A LIGHT ROAST: Allow the coffee to brew for 12 minutes.
IF A MEDIUM ROAST: Allow the coffee to brew for 10 minutes.
IF A DARK ROAST: Allow the coffee to brew for 8 minutes.
Add the plunger to the brew and slowly press. Pour and enjoy! (Protip! If you cover the plunger with a filter, you can grind finer and brew faster (as fast as a 1 minute brew at espresso fine grind)! You also won't have to take apart your plunger and get grounds out.)
Aeropress
Heat water to boil. In the meantime, weigh out 18 grams of coffee and rinse your filter with hot water. Preheat your brew carafe and cups. (Don't forget to empty the water before adding coffee!) Use a very fine grind (table salt), and add the coffee to the filter. Place your aeropress on your sturdy mug. Pour 50g of water into the middle of the bed of coffee. Allow the coffee to bubble up for 1 minute. Slowly pour an additional 210g of water and stir to ensure all the grounds are saturated. Allow the coffee to brew for 1:30 seconds. Add the plunger to the brew and slowly press until you hear a bubbling noise. Compost your filter and grounds and enjoy! (Add 30 seconds to the brew if the coffee is not strong enough; if it's bitter, take 30 seconds off your brew.) Serve and enjoy!
Espresso
Espresso is a tricky way to brew coffee. If using a Penstock Coffee Espresso roast, aim for 2-2.5g of coffee liquid for every 1g of coffee dosed; for single origin PS Coffee, aim for 3g liquid out for every 1g of coffee dosed.
Adjust your espresso machine to 200F. Dose out your coffee into your preheated portafilter. For espresso roasts, start with 19g; for Single Origin, start with 16g. Use a fine metal whisk to break up any clumps, then ensure the bed of grounds is flat using the Stockfleth method of distribution or a distribution tool. Apply pressure with your tamper. Use 40 lbs of pressure (a bathroom scale can help calibrate your sense of pressure). Insert and lock your portafilter and brew. Weigh your coffee liquid to hit your target weight. If the coffee is bitter, make your grind coarser; if your coffee is sour make your grind finer.If you can't chase away the bitterness or sourness, adjust your dose: more coffee in the same amount of time will reduce bitterness; less coffee in the same amount of time will reduce sourness. If that doesn't help, adjust your temperature: hotter water reduces sourness, cooler water reduces bitterness.
Cold Brew
Coarsely grind 1lb of coffee to 1 gallon of room temperature/cold water. Place the grounds in a large pitcher, and pour the water directly over the grounds. Alternatively, place the grounds in a paper, cloth, or nylon filter; this way you won't have to filter out coffee grounds later.
When brewing a light roast, sit the pitcher on the counter or in the refrigerator for 48 hours; a medium roast for 36 hours; and a dark roast for 12-24 hours.
After the suggested brew time, pour coffee through a filter (if you haven't used a filter in the previous step), and then dilute it to your desired strength.
Serve and enjoy!
If you have any questions or just want to geek out on brewing and or questions about our coffee roasts, connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, through the website, or even on the phone (yes, we have one of those :) ! We’d love to hear from you.