There are several different types of brewing equipment that can be used to make a good cup of coffee and choosing the right one all depends on what type of coffee you prefer or wish to make, in this article I will describe the differences between the equipment and how to use them and what you will get out of them.

French Press/Plunger

Coffee Plunger aka French Press

This is a coffee plunger or sometimes known as a french press. These are great for a quick cup of great tasting coffee, these work on the basis of letting the coffee brew in the water for 3-5 minutes to extract the great flavours in the coffee you’re using.

To use a french press/plunger you need coarse ground coffee (check out my page on Grinding Coffee for more info). The reason for a coarse grind is that you will be sitting the coffee in the water for a reasonably long amount of time so you don’t want a fine grind as this would expose too much of the coffee to the water and result in a foul taste.

The rule of thumb with quantities of coffee to water for these is roughly 14 grams of coffee to every cup-250mls of boiled and filtered water. These devices allow you to alter the coffee according to your taste so if you like a fuller flavoured coffee simply either add a bit more coffee, if you prefer weaker coffee use a bit less coffee or use more water. They really can be trial and error until you find your preffered mix.

When the 3-5 mins have passed after pouring the water over the grinds, you can press down the plunger, this separates the coffee grounds from the water and essentially stops the brewing. You can then pour out the brew and enjoy it black or with milk – however you prefer.

Drip Filter

Drip Filter Coffee Maker

The drip filter gives a similar result to the coffee plunger, just delivered in a different manner. Personally I prefer the taste of a plunger coffee over drip filter but again thats just my personal preference. The drip filter is great if you want to serve a largernumber of people and usually has the ability to keep the coffee warm via a warming plate that sits under the glass pot.

These operate by passing water which is heated by the machine

through coffee which is placed inside a paper filter. This then slowly drips down into the glass pot to sit there and wait for you to have a drink.  Again the drip filter uses a relatively coarse grind coffee for the same reason as the plunger – the coffee spends a long time in contact with the water – and you want to use the similar rule of thumb with regard to coffee to water ratio as you do for the plunger.

An important thing to remember with these is that you don’t want to let the coffee sit in the pot for any more than probably 20-30 minutes as after this amount of time it will lose its appealing taste and start to taste a little foul.

Stovetop Espresso

Stovetop Espresso

The stovetop espresso maker is a great way to make good espresso. Before I go on I should explain what the difference between espresso and type of coffee I have spoken about on this page so far. The types of coffee that I have explained about on this site so far are made by steeping the coffee grounds in hot water to extract the flavour, espresso is essentially a method of extracting the coffee and can only be achieved by passing water through coffee grounds at high pressure. This high pressure forces out more oils from the coffee and the end result is a small amount of very strong coffee. A good espresso will also have a layer of tan/golden coloured ‘foam’ on top, this is called crema. Crema is good, it shows that you have good fresh coffee and that the extraction was successsful – it is what gives straight espresso a nice smooth mouthfeel.

These devices are essentially made up of three compartments, once you unscrew the device fill the bottom chamber with filtered water to just below the valve (not on or above it otherwise the extra pressure can’t escape). In the middle section you place the medium ground coffee. You have to fill this section with coffee or you won’t have the right ratio of water to coffee. Then screw the top back on, sit the whole device on a stove hotplate over medium to medium-high heat with the lid down. The stove will boil the water which creates steam, this build up of steam forces the water up through the coffee and out through to the top collection section of the stovetop espresso. It is important to turn the heat down/off once the boiling starts or you may burn your coffee. Wait for the liquid to finish bubbling into the top and serve! You may like to heat a pot of warm milk to mix with the espresso for a flat white style drink, top up with hot boiled water and enjoy a long black, or if you feel like being a real coffee snob you could even go for the straight espresso!

Espresso Machine

Espresso Machine

The last type of machine that I will look at here is the Espresso Machine. This is truly my favourite way of making coffee. There are a few different styles of coffee machines that you can buy and they range from automatic (do everything for you) machines, semi-automatic (usually there is an amount human interference needed) or fully manual. As there isn’t really that much involved in using an automatic machine I won’t discuss these at all here. – here I will state that there are  cheap systems that operate on steam pressure, and honestly they aren’t worth the bench space they are sitting on. If you are going to get an espresso machine spend a little extra and get one with a pump you will get much better coffee.

Personally I believe that if you have a little patience and a little love for coffee than the manual systems are the way to go because you can fully control every aspect of what type of coffee you are creating. I will describe here how to get a good extraction from an espresso machine.

There are four things to remember and if you can get these things right you will be set for a great coffee everytime.

• Crema – this is made up of the coffee oils which are a result of extraction at high pressure, good crema will be caramelly in colour, thick, aromatic and will not dissipate quickly.
• Pour - this refers to the way the coffee comes out of the spouts on the group handle (the part where you put the coffee grounds). Essentially you are looking for and even fall of espresso from the spouts and should closely resemble honey coming off the back of a spoon. If the pour drips out then the coffee will be over extracted (take to long to extract), if it runs out really quickly it will be underextracted (will not have the full flavour of the coffee).
• Timing - An extraction of 30mls of espresso should take somewhere between 23-27 seconds. If it is taking longer than this then you need a coarser ground coffee, if it is too quick then you need a finer ground coffee.
• Biscuit/Puck – this is a term that refers to the grounds once the extraction is finished, mainly because if it is a good extraction the coffee will come out in the shape of a hockey puck or biscuit. You should aim on every extraction to have a firm, dry biscuit. This means that the coffee was extracted well.

These are the essentials of making a great coffee on an espresso machine, but they are a very complicated way of extracting coffee than the other machines discussed here so I will devote a whole page to coffee machines to explain in full what they are all about.

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