Hey guys and welcome back. I hope you all had a good time practicing your milk texturing and that it’s paring beautifully with your perfectly extracted espresso.
Right, time for a change in brewing techniques but that’s a good thing right!? So I’m sure most of you would have seen or heard about the brewing method V60! It sounds intimidating but it’s really not. Let’s get to know more about this brewing method.
So the name, where does it come from? Well it’s really simple, V – due to its V shape, and 60 – due to its 60 degree angle. This is a paper filter brewing method that develops really clean and exciting brews that do a lot of justice to the origin and roast of the bean. This is one of my favourite manual brewing methods, which is consistent when all brewing parameters are followed. There are a few bits that you will need to get started, here they are:
Coffee scale
Burr grinder
Hario V60
V60 paper filter
Jar to hold brewed coffee
Swan neck kettle
This brewing method is brilliant for medium roast single origin beans, which display beautifully. It is important to use good quality water when brewing as this makes up just over 98% of the brew. A home filtration system or good mineral water will do the trick.
When doing manual brewing a simple brew ratio of 60g per litre is followed to ensure a good balance of strength and extraction. So now that we understand the basics, let’s look at the steps to make a great V60.
- Fold filter along the seam, open and insert into the V60.
- Place V60 onto cup/jug and pour some hot water through it. This will wash away any paper notes as well as heat up the device.
- Grind coffee freshly, between medium andfine, then add 15g of beans into the filter.
- Level out the coffee bed by giving it a small shake, this will ensure water passes through the coffee evenly. Add a small amount of hot water (no more than three times the dose) and leave this for 30-45 seconds. This stage is called the blooming stage, which allows the carbon dioxide to escape from the bean and will in return give us a better developed coffee.
- Continue pouring the water in a circular pattern making sure a steady steam is maintained. Add the remaining water and focus on the time of the extraction.
- By now the coffee should be brewed and ready to be enjoyed.
V60 takes roughly 2-3 minutes to extract. If it’s taken more than that, then you are probably going to have to grind a bit coarser. By grinding finer, we start to expose more surface area of the bean, which in return gives us more strength. It’s a good thing to play around with grind size until the flavour is just right.
Now go and grab yourself a bag of beans and get your brew on!
Next month’s blog will be on my experience at the Roasting Guild of Europe Camp in Estonia.
Cheers!
Dean