I like how Mr. Howell so patiently gives instructions. He appears not to be in any hurry, and this is also what I seek in my coffee-making experience, a peacefulness.
Thanks George. Hope everything is going well for you. I seen you in a few different shows and videos now, and have learned a lot. Its the least I can say. Thanks
George I believe you hit the nail on the head. Every time I hear someone complain about coffee somewhere my first question is what’s the water any good? Was it filtered?
I actually watched this presentation twice and took notes . There is a lot to remember . I bought myself the Fellow Stagg pour over kettle , it keeps the ideal temperature in between the pours. I am sick of bad coffee . I am ready to get started !
Excellent 👍 excellent job. I hate to come across like I'm bashing the people at Seattle Coffee gear but their videos aren't nearly as good as this because they treat you like you already know the whole topic whereas this video explains every detail and answers every question
Have loved all these videos, so informative with great tips that are practical, direct, and make me feel much more capable of making a good cup - finally!
Most people know and understand how it works, but since it's rarely used in everyday life it's not internalized. A European might know what a kilogram feels like, but might not know what a pound feels like. The reverse would be true of an American. Most of American industry uses imperial units, so it's just easier for Americans to continue using what they think of as standard. I've started to internalize the metric units associated with making coffee, but I'm not going to start looking at the km/h part of my car's speedometer, because all the road signs say mph.
Appreciate your guidance and suggest perhaps show metric equivalents at the bottom or top of the screen for those of us who do not live in the USA. Thanks and kind regards. Len, Johannesburg South Africa
What is the ideal contact time of hot water on the grounds for pour over coffee? If that's a given, wouldn't that help you figure out how coarsely or finely to grind the beans?
Hi George. Your grinder looks like a Baratza which is the one I use. What setting did you use? Was it 15 as Baratza recommends for V60 or did you go coarser. Also, if I used say 15 Grammes instead of 24 would the brew time be reduced? Thank you
Hey, there George! Many thanks for putting all these up. This is generosity at its ultimate level. I have a question; What types of roast is good for this type of brewing? Is it dark and from what region? Many thanks
If I may dare answer for George, you should look up the coffee he sells on his website. I'm sure all of those would be pour-over worthy. You could even email the site about a specific roast they recommend for pour-over.
Pour-over, I found, is not really the golden rule to get a full and evenly extracted and great tasting coffee. Immersion combined with continuous stirring to prevent agglomeration and let it steep for 4 minutes and drain completely is the best. It is less sensitive on grind particle size, I use a medium course. This is how I use my Moccamaster with the valve closed. French coffee without chewy sediments. Always stir your freshly brewed coffee.
David Ashenbrener it's already ground, so either he brews a bit more coffee, a stronger cup, or tosses it. It's not a big deal. If you have 250g of coffee in a bag, and you brew with his ratios, then you'll have 10g of coffee leftover. It's good to run a bit through your burr grinder before each grind to clear up any stale bits stuck in it.
George, my favorite coffee is Ethiopian Mocha Harrar. May I have your opinion on this specific coffee? I simply would like an expert's opinion. Thank you.
See young fella, here's the thing, we older folk, tend to know both, as we had to learn both back in our time. Maybe educate yourself, so you don't get easily confused?! ;)
Only if you're a proper snob with your nose pointed to the sky as you sip you cup with your index finger and thumb properly grasping your cup handle. Only then can you tell the differece!
Folding the tab over ensures a consistent flow through the slurry. If you don't fold the tab over, the filter will be held away from the side of the filter near the tab and you will get channeling along the tab.
Unless you more clearly define 'better,' you're not going to find the exact answer you're looking for. So, I'll give you two answers: 1. A drip is 'better' if you want to make many cups en masse. It is better if you want more automation. Flavor-wise it should be more consistent, because it ideally brews the same way every time. 2. The pour-over is better if you seek to control exactly how the water is hitting the beans. A drip machine does not have a finely-tuned mind or a hand that can aim the water just so. One more way drip can come up short: the exact model MUST be capable to doing a couple of the things George mentioned. A. Temperature. Believe it or not, the majority of drip brewers are not finely tuned to a standard. They do not brew the coffee in the 195-205 degree sweet spot. B. Pre-wetting the grounds. Remember how George wet the grounds and waited 30 seconds for gas to escape? Only a few drip machines are programmed to do this. If you want to be certain that your coffee is Exactly as you wish, use the pour-over method. If that degree of precision is more complicated than necessary, you should get a drip machine. But you must be sure to purchase one that is accurate temperature wise and pre-wets the grounds. The only brewers that for sure do this are certified by the SCA, which is short for Specialty Coffee Association. They review all brewers sent to the them and only recommend the ones that fulfill the standards that produce excellent cups of coffee. Good luck choosing!
kilgoretrout321 BUNN is all you need for a drip machine. Consistent water temp every time (water is kept, pre-heated, in a tank inside the unit), shower head to ensure proper agitation of grounds, and you can manually pre-wet the grounds if you so choose. And it makes a full pot in 3-4 minutes. And it’s $99 at Walmart. I do pour-over on the weekends when I have the time, but for work mornings, the BUNN gets it done for me.
I've seen blind taste tests where the tasters couldn't tell the difference between a burr grinder or blade grinder. The trick? Shake the blade grinder while it grinds and give only in 1-2 sec bursts.
OMG this is painfully fussy. Yes I'm sure the results are superior. But for those of us without obsessive disorder his demonstration is more entertaining than it is useful.
mjinba07 I agree. I have taken away the basics for a good cup of coffee, and left behind the theatrics for the coffee aficionados, who somehow remind me of purist dry fly fishermen. IMO, a cup of fresh ground coffee is a treat, but nothing to obsess over. My palate lacks the sophistication to appreciate the minuscule nuances in taste or temperature, and at age 68, I just want a nice cup of freshly ground and brewed coffee.
mjinba07 I draw the line at grinding. No way am I going to start roasting coffee beans. That’s the ultimate giveaway that a person has no life. I’m an amateur bread baker who makes outstanding bread, but they can put the wheat berry grinding machine where the sun don’t shine, JMHO, YMMV
@@joevalencic5275 I have no life !! Thanks for the heads up. Here I thought dedicating 10 minutes of my time for two weeks of custom brew was a sure sign of superior living. Truth be told, watching YT videos and responding in the comments section is probably a truer indication of having no life. Ah, well.
I am inclined to agree with you, but George is not alone with this disorder. I suppose they have to create a slightly mysterious allure of creating something terribly special. In fact , its good marketing. Personally, being a French collector of stop over coffee pots from all over Europe where pour over filter coffee was particularly appreciated until the 60s - blast those electric cafetieres ! - I use rule of thumb and lot's of experience to create good coffee.
Nothing personal, but this presenter is misguided. The best water is DISTILLED dummy! And this is how to make the best coffee ever - in just 10 seconds: Have your distilled water ready at correct temperature. Now take a cafetiere with TWO mesh filters attached to the plunger. The 2 filters help reduce the sediment. Now place your ground coffee into the cafetiere and add the required volume of hot distilled water. Now take a high speed battery powered whisk (at least 12,000rpm) and spin the brew for 10 seconds. You are creating a 'centrifusion' effect that extracts far more of the flavours and anti-oxidants from the coffee compared to any other method. Distilled water also attracts (leaches) more minerals from the coffee - assuming it is Organic/shade grown - compared to using mineral/bottled or tap water. You are ensuring there is no chlorine, fluoride, drug residues, antibiotics, growth hormones, birth pills, micro-plastics etc etc in your beverage. Press down the plunger after 10 seconds and pour into your favourite cup or mug... simples! Note: when you centrifuge water you are creating a vortex which introduces oxygen and improves the taste significantly - plus you now have a HOT cup of coffee. This method should be standard in every home.
@Adam NYou said: ..."a certain amount of minerals and chemicals in it". You are deluded, are you qualified in anything? Baristas all agree that the more dissolve solids - e.g calcium carbonate - that is contained in hard water will interfere negatively with the taste of the brew - you should know that! The point being that coffee is full of minerals, antioxidants and other health supporting nutrients. This means you should ideally use bottled or filtered water with a very low level of dissolved solids, or use pure (distilled) water that will leach out those healthy compounds from the coffee grounds. We recommend Organic coffee specifically because you want to avoid the chemicals, pesticides and other toxins that NON-ORGANIC coffee contains. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about. Are you a child?
You may be correct but you can't assert until you try the method depicted. Have you done so? Can you put a number, say a percentage, on the perceived added benefit? I use distilled and add various minerals including calcium, which I reverse engineered from Third Wave, but Third Wave is better and easier than my conditioning. Dissolved solids are good - jut not too much and the right kinds. Do you really want less sediment from two filters, maybe not? And could those microplastics and hormones and fungi et al contribute to good taste? You do not actually know. Do you really want to leech more minerals from the coffee, maybe not? An electric whisk may extract too much. If speed and heat and extraction are your priorities, just use 212 F water. Organic coffee (food too) has a negligible amount (0.01%) more toxins than non-organic: google "Bruce Ames 99.99%" for the study.
Wow....So ..what I get out of all this....There are a lot of ways to ruin a simple cup of coffee..this is just to much effort first thing in the morning..perhaps I'll make some instant coffee in micro wave be fore I start on this early morning project
Well, taking a shower might be even more complicated, there are so many steps to mess up: like if you forget to undress, or fail to open the water, or make it super-hot. Even not drying with a towel can lead to problems, although it's not strictly essential. In short, one probably needs to be a total snob and washing geek to perform such an elaborate routine each morning.
Problem with that is you end up with lukewarm coffee especially if you first drip into a cold jar and then transfer into a cold cup (In UK we call that cold coffee). Then you say you use 14 fl.oz of water! That's not far off half a litre! You seriously drink that much in one dose?
Brewing jar is preheated during filter rinse. He used 390 grams of water to 24 grams of coffee; that's a 16.25:1 ratio which is perfectly acceptable for pour over. 48 grams of water will stay in the grounds (2x the weight of the dry grounds), so he produces about 340g of coffee, or 11.5 fl.oz or 0.33 liters. What's wrong with that?
The closer something is to your body temperature, the more nuance in flavors you can taste. While some may like burning their mouth, they won't be tasting much. Pour over is about showcasing clarity and breadth in the flavor of a coffee. It's similar to Gelato versus ice cream. Gelato is often served at 10-25° F versus ice cream which is often served closer to 0°F. As you increase quality of ingredients, you want to be able to taste the difference. I do agree that for temperature stability he should have preheated his decanter, but otherwise I agree with his approach.
@@wetpaperbag1346 I disagree. They say coffee tastes best at 140 F; I assume they are correct. I'd think things taste best at some particular temperature that does not depend on body temperature, like beer for example.
I like how Mr. Howell so patiently gives instructions. He appears not to be in any hurry, and this is also what I seek in my coffee-making experience, a peacefulness.
Thanks George. Hope everything is going well for you. I seen you in a few different shows and videos now, and have learned a lot. Its the least I can say. Thanks
Bloody fascinating. Very informative and watchable.
George I believe you hit the nail on the head. Every time I hear someone complain about coffee somewhere my first question is what’s the water any good? Was it filtered?
I actually watched this presentation twice and took notes . There is a lot to remember . I bought myself the Fellow Stagg pour over kettle , it keeps the ideal temperature in between the pours. I am sick of bad coffee . I am ready to get started !
Excellent 👍 excellent job.
I hate to come across like I'm bashing the people at Seattle Coffee gear but their videos aren't nearly as good as this because they treat you like you already know the whole topic whereas this video explains every detail and answers every question
Going to try this method for the first time this week, thanks.
Have loved all these videos, so informative with great tips that are practical, direct, and make me feel much more capable of making a good cup - finally!
Hidden gem for sure !
The coffee oil is good for heart
Great job, Sir George! Thank-you!
very well explained video...each action had a reasoning and explanation...
Clear and concise. Love the useful tips. These are just great!
Sulawesi is in my country Indonesia.. We have very distinctive kind of coffee from east to west
Wonderful video!
Excellent vid, George. I appreciate the insight. Keep up the good work.
Yeah, I'm really gonna be doing THAT first thing in the morning, lol!!! I'd need the coffee just to focus!
I feel ya...my sentiments exactly.
Thank you for some great information!
Cant believe the USA doesn't know the metric system! Incredible
Most people know and understand how it works, but since it's rarely used in everyday life it's not internalized. A European might know what a kilogram feels like, but might not know what a pound feels like. The reverse would be true of an American. Most of American industry uses imperial units, so it's just easier for Americans to continue using what they think of as standard.
I've started to internalize the metric units associated with making coffee, but I'm not going to start looking at the km/h part of my car's speedometer, because all the road signs say mph.
They also carry guns like the Wild West
Appreciate your guidance and suggest perhaps show metric equivalents at the bottom or top of the screen for those of us who do not live in the USA. Thanks and kind regards. Len, Johannesburg South Africa
Thank you!
Great info!
Nice Coffee i like this one
Thank you.
It's coffee from my country, Indonesia.. Sulawesi! is that Toraja?
so great
Charles Grodin lives!
What is the ideal contact time of hot water on the grounds for pour over coffee? If that's a given, wouldn't that help you figure out how coarsely or finely to grind the beans?
Hi George. Your grinder looks like a Baratza which is the one I use. What setting did you use? Was it 15 as Baratza recommends for V60 or did you go coarser. Also, if I used say 15 Grammes instead of 24 would the brew time be reduced? Thank you
so refined
Hey, there George! Many thanks for putting all these up. This is generosity at its ultimate level. I have a question; What types of roast is good for this type of brewing? Is it dark and from what region? Many thanks
If I may dare answer for George, you should look up the coffee he sells on his website. I'm sure all of those would be pour-over worthy. You could even email the site about a specific roast they recommend for pour-over.
Pour-over, I found, is not really the golden rule to get a full and evenly extracted and great tasting coffee. Immersion combined with continuous stirring to prevent agglomeration and let it steep for 4 minutes and drain completely is the best. It is less sensitive on grind particle size, I use a medium course. This is how I use my Moccamaster with the valve closed. French coffee without chewy sediments. Always stir your freshly brewed coffee.
Americans are good at business
Thanks.
Some brewer experts recommend stirring the pot to mix the brew evenly before pouring some in a cup to drink. Is it not critical?
OMG! Completely over the Top!
That sip gave him a head rush lol
Damn. Forgot to have your pinkie extended.
Tiny farmers
I can't believe you tossed that perfectly good gram of coffee...!
David Ashenbrener it's already ground, so either he brews a bit more coffee, a stronger cup, or tosses it. It's not a big deal. If you have 250g of coffee in a bag, and you brew with his ratios, then you'll have 10g of coffee leftover. It's good to run a bit through your burr grinder before each grind to clear up any stale bits stuck in it.
Yep. Weigh first grind second. Save them beans!
George, my favorite coffee is Ethiopian Mocha Harrar. May I have your opinion on this specific coffee? I simply would like an expert's opinion. Thank you.
If you like it Stephen, then that is all that matters, who cares what some "expert" has to say about it?! Enjoy!
Go Metric all the way please! A little confusing when using both metric and imperial units. Hm, 202 F. = 94 C
See young fella, here's the thing, we older folk, tend to know both, as we had to learn both back in our time. Maybe educate yourself, so you don't get easily confused?! ;)
(do we need agitate in kalita wave?(in blooming
This is the 100th comment.
I had one cup of freshly ground black Sumatra coffee today, sadly, my stomach and bowls are weak.....sigh....gurgle...squirt...sigh....
Do you have a link for the coffee beans?
7:25 You can taste the difference of one extra gram of coffee?
Yea, sure. It won't be huge but if you like a certain strength you will notice when your coffee is weaker/stronger than you prefer.
Only if you're a proper snob with your nose pointed to the sky as you sip you cup with your index finger and thumb properly grasping your cup handle. Only then can you tell the differece!
what grind size'
Question for anyone: Why does he fold the filter over? What is the grind size? Thx
Folding the tab over ensures a consistent flow through the slurry. If you don't fold the tab over, the filter will be held away from the side of the filter near the tab and you will get channeling along the tab.
Slurry and channeling man. Pls try to keep up in this quest for achieving coffee snobery!
Is this method better than a drip machine?
Unless you more clearly define 'better,' you're not going to find the exact answer you're looking for.
So, I'll give you two answers:
1. A drip is 'better' if you want to make many cups en masse. It is better if you want more automation. Flavor-wise it should be more consistent, because it ideally brews the same way every time.
2. The pour-over is better if you seek to control exactly how the water is hitting the beans. A drip machine does not have a finely-tuned mind or a hand that can aim the water just so.
One more way drip can come up short: the exact model MUST be capable to doing a couple of the things George mentioned.
A. Temperature. Believe it or not, the majority of drip brewers are not finely tuned to a standard. They do not brew the coffee in the 195-205 degree sweet spot.
B. Pre-wetting the grounds. Remember how George wet the grounds and waited 30 seconds for gas to escape? Only a few drip machines are programmed to do this.
If you want to be certain that your coffee is Exactly as you wish, use the pour-over method. If that degree of precision is more complicated than necessary, you should get a drip machine. But you must be sure to purchase one that is accurate temperature wise and pre-wets the grounds. The only brewers that for sure do this are certified by the SCA, which is short for Specialty Coffee Association. They review all brewers sent to the them and only recommend the ones that fulfill the standards that produce excellent cups of coffee.
Good luck choosing!
kilgoretrout321 BUNN is all you need for a drip machine. Consistent water temp every time (water is kept, pre-heated, in a tank inside the unit), shower head to ensure proper agitation of grounds, and you can manually pre-wet the grounds if you so choose. And it makes a full pot in 3-4 minutes.
And it’s $99 at Walmart.
I do pour-over on the weekends when I have the time, but for work mornings, the BUNN gets it done for me.
This is very different from the 3-cup Chemex routine on your website. Why?
Chemex filters are much thicker, which changes the flow rate and the extraction profile.
nice job but wine is easier!
Surprised that distilled water is not a good choice! I thought coffee per se is replete with minerals.
Good video. Just wondering who can be your wife to please you?
he threw away 1gm of coffee!!!
If only there was some sort of machine that would do all of this automatically.
But at what cost?
I go to Dunkin Donuts
It's perfect with a bag of munchkins but hold the sugar!
I've seen blind taste tests where the tasters couldn't tell the difference between a burr grinder or blade grinder. The trick? Shake the blade grinder while it grinds and give only in 1-2 sec bursts.
Are you kidding me? If you don’t have great water then your done, well fuck me running
Too much trouble
BY the time he's through horseing around the coffee has cooled off. I prefer my coffee hot..
OMG this is painfully fussy.
Yes I'm sure the results are superior. But for those of us without obsessive disorder his demonstration is more entertaining than it is useful.
mjinba07 I agree. I have taken away the basics for a good cup of coffee, and left behind the theatrics for the coffee aficionados, who somehow remind me of purist dry fly fishermen. IMO, a cup of fresh ground coffee is a treat, but nothing to obsess over. My palate lacks the sophistication to appreciate the minuscule nuances in taste or temperature, and at age 68, I just want a nice cup of freshly ground and brewed coffee.
@@joevalencic5275- lol. For what it's worth, home roasting yields absolute delight. Satisfies my own crude palate, anyway!
mjinba07 I draw the line at grinding. No way am I going to start roasting coffee beans. That’s the ultimate giveaway that a person has no life. I’m an amateur bread baker who makes outstanding bread, but they can put the wheat berry grinding machine where the sun don’t shine, JMHO, YMMV
@@joevalencic5275 I have no life !! Thanks for the heads up. Here I thought dedicating 10 minutes of my time for two weeks of custom brew was a sure sign of superior living.
Truth be told, watching YT videos and responding in the comments section is probably a truer indication of having no life. Ah, well.
I am inclined to agree with you, but George is not alone with this disorder. I suppose they have to create a slightly mysterious allure of creating something terribly special. In fact , its good marketing. Personally, being a French collector of stop over coffee pots from all over Europe where pour over filter coffee was particularly appreciated until the 60s - blast those electric cafetieres ! - I use rule of thumb and lot's of experience to create good coffee.
Nothing personal, but this presenter is misguided. The best water is DISTILLED dummy! And this is how to make the best coffee ever - in just 10 seconds: Have your distilled water ready at correct temperature. Now take a cafetiere with TWO mesh filters attached to the plunger. The 2 filters help reduce the sediment. Now place your ground coffee into the cafetiere and add the required volume of hot distilled water. Now take a high speed battery powered whisk (at least 12,000rpm) and spin the brew for 10 seconds. You are creating a 'centrifusion' effect that extracts far more of the flavours and anti-oxidants from the coffee compared to any other method. Distilled water also attracts (leaches) more minerals from the coffee - assuming it is Organic/shade grown - compared to using mineral/bottled or tap water. You are ensuring there is no chlorine, fluoride, drug residues, antibiotics, growth hormones, birth pills, micro-plastics etc etc in your beverage. Press down the plunger after 10 seconds and pour into your favourite cup or mug... simples! Note: when you centrifuge water you are creating a vortex which introduces oxygen and improves the taste significantly - plus you now have a HOT cup of coffee. This method should be standard in every home.
@Adam NYou said: ..."a certain amount of minerals and chemicals in it". You are deluded, are you qualified in anything? Baristas all agree that the more dissolve solids - e.g calcium carbonate - that is contained in hard water will interfere negatively with the taste of the brew - you should know that! The point being that coffee is full of minerals, antioxidants and other health supporting nutrients. This means you should ideally use bottled or filtered water with a very low level of dissolved solids, or use pure (distilled) water that will leach out those healthy compounds from the coffee grounds. We recommend Organic coffee specifically because you want to avoid the chemicals, pesticides and other toxins that NON-ORGANIC coffee contains. You clearly have no idea what you are talking about. Are you a child?
You may be correct but you can't assert until you try the method depicted. Have you done so? Can you put a number, say a percentage, on the perceived added benefit? I use distilled and add various minerals including calcium, which I reverse engineered from Third Wave, but Third Wave is better and easier than my conditioning. Dissolved solids are good - jut not too much and the right kinds. Do you really want less sediment from two filters, maybe not? And could those microplastics and hormones and fungi et al contribute to good taste? You do not actually know. Do you really want to leech more minerals from the coffee, maybe not? An electric whisk may extract too much. If speed and heat and extraction are your priorities, just use 212 F water. Organic coffee (food too) has a negligible amount (0.01%) more toxins than non-organic: google "Bruce Ames 99.99%" for the study.
Wow....So ..what I get out of all this....There are a lot of ways to ruin a simple cup of coffee..this is just to much effort first thing in the morning..perhaps I'll make some instant coffee in micro wave be fore I start on this early morning project
I think you may have just made a few snobs just toss their cookies...
Well, taking a shower might be even more complicated, there are so many steps to mess up: like if you forget to undress, or fail to open the water, or make it super-hot. Even not drying with a towel can lead to problems, although it's not strictly essential. In short, one probably needs to be a total snob and washing geek to perform such an elaborate routine each morning.
...or you can buy a bean-to-cup machine with automatic everything!
I'm surprised they haven't deleted this post and have you barred from snobby coffee forums...
Problem with that is you end up with lukewarm coffee especially if you first drip into a cold jar and then transfer into a cold cup (In UK we call that cold coffee). Then you say you use 14 fl.oz of water! That's not far off half a litre! You seriously drink that much in one dose?
Brewing jar is preheated during filter rinse. He used 390 grams of water to 24 grams of coffee; that's a 16.25:1 ratio which is perfectly acceptable for pour over. 48 grams of water will stay in the grounds (2x the weight of the dry grounds), so he produces about 340g of coffee, or 11.5 fl.oz or 0.33 liters. What's wrong with that?
The closer something is to your body temperature, the more nuance in flavors you can taste. While some may like burning their mouth, they won't be tasting much. Pour over is about showcasing clarity and breadth in the flavor of a coffee.
It's similar to Gelato versus ice cream. Gelato is often served at 10-25° F versus ice cream which is often served closer to 0°F.
As you increase quality of ingredients, you want to be able to taste the difference.
I do agree that for temperature stability he should have preheated his decanter, but otherwise I agree with his approach.
I will drink 2 mugs 14 oz in morning then fill my 20 oz travel mug and out the door I go. Hopefully the coffee is ready when I get where I’m going.
@@wetpaperbag1346 I disagree. They say coffee tastes best at 140 F; I assume they are correct. I'd think things taste best at some particular temperature that does not depend on body temperature, like beer for example.
the most boring 12 minutes of my life spent on listening how to pour water into w funnel