Five Popular Methods for Brewing Coffee

Posted on April 26 2021

Pour Over/Drip: Coffee Cone

One of the oldest and fastest ways to brew coffee is the drip method using a coffee cone and paper filter. Hot water is poured evenly over coffee grounds in a paper filter. With gravity, the brewed coffee drips slowly and directly into a cup or pot.

Grind Beans: medium-fine to coarse
Quantity of Coffee: 3 tablespoons of coffee (21g)
Brewing Time: 1-5 minutes
Produces a single cup of coffee
Easy to clean
Portable
Requires paper filters that match the cone

Pour Over/Drip: Chemex

Chemex is a elegant pour over glass flask. It uses a special Chemex paper filter that is 20-30% heavier than other filters. Similar to the coffee cone, hot water is poured over coffee grounds in a paper filter. The brewed coffee drips into the bottom of the flask which doubles as its own carafe.

Grind Beans: medium-coarse
Ground Coffee: 6 tablespoons of coffee (42g)
Brewing Time: 4 minutes
Different sizes yields up to 6 cups
Harder to clean and requires special brush
Portable but fragile
Requires Chemex paper filters

Plunger/Press: French Press

The French Press is widely considered as the best and easiest method for brewing superior and consistent coffee. It extracts more superior flavors than any other method. In a press pot, ground coffee is soaked, steeped and strained in hot water; therefore, coffee’s flavourful essential oils, caffeine and antioxidants are better diffused and preserved leaving the purest flavours of the coffee. It is well suited for coffee drinkers that enjoy a luscious, expressive and complex taste experience.

Grind Beans: coarse
Ground Coffee: 2-2.5 tablespoons of coffee (14-17g) for one cup
Brewing Time: 4 minutes
Various sizes producing up to 8 cups of coffee
Easy to clean
Portable
No filters required

Plunger/Press: AeroPress

Relatively new, the AeroPress is plastic and comes in 3 parts. A filter sits in a coffee basket at the bottom of the brew chamber. Coffee grounds rest in the brew chamber where hot water is added then steeps the coffee. To extract the coffee, a plunger is pressed down creating air pressure to force brewed coffee through a filter and into a cup.

Grind Beans: fine-medium
Ground Coffee: 2.5 tablespoons of coffee (17g)
Brewing Time: 1-2 minutes
Produces a single cup of coffee
Easy to clean
Portable
Requires AeroPress paper filters or a fine metal filter

Percolate: Stovetop Moka Pot

Stovetop style coffee makers use steam pressure from boiled water in the lower section to pass through coffee grounds in the mid chamber of the pot. Brewed coffee then sits in the higher chamber. A well-designed stovetop pot will created better pressure.