A little experiment. A lot of caffeine.

Like any coffee enthusiast, I get VERY excited whenever I purchase or receive a new bag of coffee, but often I get a little stuck as to how to brew it. Some coffees are roasted for different methods (espresso and filter being the most common) but it’s up to you at the end of the day. So I’ve been doing a little experiment which kind of happened by chance - I take a bag of coffee, select between two to four brew methods and brew the coffee. At work, we have a Kalita Wave, an Aeropress, an espresso machine of some kind and a Chemex (my personal one). For the Kalita and Aeropress, I use the standard paper filters that come with them and a cloth filter for the Chemex. The purpose of this experiment is to focus on these key elements:

• Flavours - without looking at the taste notes on the bag, what sort of flavours can you taste? Are the flavours pronounced, intense or subtle and mellow?

• Acidity - from citric acid to vinegar and everything in between, what is the level of acidity can you feel and taste in the coffee?

• Bitterness - from dark chocolate, fruity bitterness or chewing on a paracetamol tablet, what is the level of bitterness? Is it a pleasant bitterness or not?

• Texture - my favourite assessment. Is the body heavy or light? Often I like to use syrup and tea as a gauge to measure how the coffee feels around my tongue and mouth

• Aftertaste - does the flavours and textures linger in your mouth afterwards or does it disappear? How does it make you feel?

This particular experiment is fun and intriguing when doing a taste test with friends and colleagues as each individual person will have different experiences. Palates based on our memories and experience will navigate how we feel and associate certain tastes and see how their experience differ from yours!

Below is a list of equipment and the go-to recipe I use for each brewing method:

• Kalita Wave, standard paper filter and glass server
  - 16.5g fine-medium grind (24 clicks on Comandante C40)
  - 200ml boiled filtered water (between 85 to 95°C depending on roast profile)
  - Estimate brew time: between 3-4 minutes
  
  Recipe:
  - Pour 30g to bloom for 30 seconds. Bloom another 30g for 30 seconds
  - Pour 70g slowly and stir gently to agitate the grounds. Wait for the coffee to drip
  - Pour another 70g and stir again. Leave coffee until the last drop
  - Swirl the coffee and serve

• Aeropress with three paper filters
  - 16.5g fine-medium grind (23 clicks on Comandante C40)
  - 200ml boiled filter water
  - Estimate brew time: 2:15 minutes
  
  Recipe:
  - Using the standard AP method, pour 30g and bloom for 30 seconds. Swirl the chamber so water and coffee is in constant contact
  - Pour another 30g and bloom for 30 seconds. Continue to swirl the chamber
  - Pour additional 140g water and leave it until time is 1:45 minutes
  - Press slowly until you reach 2:15 minutes and you hear the hiss
  

• Chemex with cloth filter
  - 16.5g fine-medium (21 - 23 clicks on Comandante C40)
  - 200ml boiled filter water
  - Estimate brew time: between 3-4 minutes
  
  Recipe:
  - Pour 30g to bloom for 30 seconds. Bloom another 30g for 30 seconds
  - Pour 70g slowly and stir gently to agitate the grounds. Wait for the coffee to drip
  - Pour another 70g and stir again. Leave coffee until the last drop
  - Swirl the coffee and serve

I won’t include the espresso in here as each machine, recipe and ratio varies so if you have a desired espresso recipe already, you can use that.

Based on my own experience with this experiment, I generally get the following results (note every coffee is different so this is just an all-rounder feedback):

• Kalita - clean taste, tea-like texture and clarity, mild flavour and sweetness, but lacks aftertaste.

• Aeropress - low-to-medium clarity (more paper filters, the more clarity), heavier body in comparison to the Kalita. Much more pronounced flavours and sweetness. Medium-high acidity. Bitterness can be quite intense and pleasurable. Overall, balanced with a sticky aftertaste

• Chemex - medium-high clarity with juicy, pronounced flavours. Well-balanced acidity and sweetness with low-medium bitterness. Heavy, syrupy body and long aftertaste.

• Espresso - if dialled in well, balanced texture, acidity, sweetness and bitterness.

As a summary, this by no means is a cemented way to prove what coffee is better with which brew method and am not projecting my own biases onto you. This is just one of many ways to see how we can extract complexities of the coffee we drink, share our tasting and sensory experiences, learn how and why certain aspects of coffee brewing methods affect the result and in what ways we can adjust a recipe or element to improve it. If this has helped you and you get a chance to experiment similar to this, let me know! I would love to hear what coffee you tried, the brewing methods and recipes you used and what your experience was like. Drop a comment below or simply tag me in on Instagram @47.coffee. Happy brewing!