Brewing your best cup!
When it comes to different types of coffee brews, the opportunities are endless! Cold brew, French Press, Pour Over, Espresso - the list goes on and on! Each of these brewing methods are very different, and therefore require different coffee grind sizes. Are you using the right one? Not sure? That’s ok! We’re here to help!
Different brew methods call for different coffee grind sizes. However, it’s important to note that your personal taste should determine how coarse or fine you grind your coffee beans – these are just some basic guidelines! Kick your feet up, grab your cup of Velo, and read on!
Cold Brew
For a cold brew coffee, a coarse coffee ground is most suitable for this immersion and brewing method. Using a more coarsely ground coffee will make the filtration process easier and your coffee taste less bitter! A coarse grind is also ideal for cold brew because finer ground coffee can clump together and the water needs to be able to circulate through the ground coffee for best extraction!
French Press
For your French Press, an ideal grind would be a coarse grind as well, but not as coarse as for your cold brew. The coffee grounds should look similar enough to sea salt! The French Press is another immersion method of brewing, which means the coffee grounds are immersed completely in water. You’ll want to use the coarser grind to slow extraction and avoid a bitter brew.
However, with the French Press, the type of coffee grind is not as important as the extraction time! The French Press is one of the most popular and common ways of brewing coffee because there is more flexibility with this method. If you have a more coarse coffee grind, simply add more time for your coffee grounds to be saturated in the water. If you have a finer coffee grind, then decrease the amount of extraction time! French Press is just one type of brewing where saturation is more important than the type of coffee grind!
Pour Over
The Pour Over method is different from the French Press because it is a percolation method, not an immersion method. The Pour Over method extracts the flavours of the coffee, while leaving many of the oils in the filter. This also prevents the coffee grinds from becoming oversaturated with water.
The Pour Over method uses a medium-coarse grind, so a bit finer than for a French Press. This grind is slightly smoother than a French Press would use, but not as fine as an espresso grind.
Still with us? Ok, good!
AeroPress
The recommended grind for an AeroPress is a medium-fine grind. Similar to the French Press, the type of grind for an AeroPress is not as important as the extraction time. You can use a wider variety of coffee grinds in an AeroPress and adjust the time before plunging the coffee.
Finer coffee grounds brew more quickly than coarser ones, so make sure you lessen the amount of time the grinds sit in the water so you don’t end up with bitter tasting coffee. If you have coarser coffee, allow for a longer extraction time to keep more of the flavour in the coffee!
Espresso
“Espresso yourself!” You are looking for a fine grind for your espresso, slightly finer than granulated sugar. The coffee needs to be fine enough to increase the pressure required to push the water through the filter and create a good crema, but if the grinds are too fine the filter can get blocked and no coffee will come out (nobody wants that).
Turkish
Turkish coffees are very unique in the way they are brewed. This type of coffee uses a grind so fine, it feels like a powder! The coffee is actually boiled twice in this method, and it is not filtered. Before serving this coffee, make sure to allow the remaining powder to settle.
Ready? Set? Brew!
The most important thing to take away from this is that grinding coffee is NOT a perfect science! There are brewing methods that allow some level of flexibility with the type of coffee grinds you use. These are all merely recommendations and guidelines for brewing your perfect cup of coffee. Changing up your brewing method is really an act of trial and error until you find your ideal coffee grind and method. We at Velo encourage you to take your time and figure out what works best for you. After all, the best cup of coffee is the one that you enjoy!