Coffee isn’t just for quick pot brews or running through the Starbucks line anymore. Since coffee beans were first used, more and more ways of brewing coffee, making coffee powders, and adding coffee to drinks have constantly evolved to what we have today. From the infamous Frappuccinos to brewed coffees with intense creamers, there’s always more than one way to drink your morning elixir of life.
Cowboy Coffee
This is a personal favorite! The trick to brewing cowboy coffee is partially the nostalgia of making coffee over a hot fire on a cool morning. However, you can easily make cowboy coffee on a stovetop as well. Either way, follow the normal suggestions for coffee to water ratio on your favorite grounds and throw both into a kettle. The kettle is key!
The reason that you have to have a kettle is for the finishing steps. After you’ve boiled the coffee for roughly five minutes (don’t let it boil over!), take the coffee off the heat and immediately add a few cups of super cold water. This temperature forces the coffee grounds to settle at the bottom of the pot!
Percolated Coffee
This is the precursor to coffee brewers like a regular coffee pot. The concept is much the same as a coffee pot and cowboy coffee put together. Old fashioned percolators have a metal cup on top of a hollow pole with a hollow base.
As the water heats up, the hot water is forced up through the hollow tube and through the coffee grounds. To percolate properly, you don’t want to overboil the coffee because this type of brewing can easily burn the coffee at the bottom of the pot.
You want to percolate the coffee for at least 5-10 minutes and then allow the water in the metal cup to drain through the holes completely while the pot is off the heat. Remove the metal cup! From experience, having a cup full of coffee grounds is not that enjoyable.
French Press
This way of brewing coffee is a lot like a tea press. You add hot water and coffee grounds to the press and let the coffee steep. Unlike cowboy and percolated coffee, it’s much easier to control the strength of your brew with a French press.
The reason is that you can watch how dark your coffee is getting and test your coffee every few minutes. This will allow you to have the perfect brew strength. Once you are sure the coffee is at the right strength, push the plunger down to squash all of the coffee grounds to the bottom of the container. This coffee is now ready to drink!
Pour Over
Pour over coffee is like a deconstructed coffee pot. Instead of having a pot that does all the work, instead this combo is usually a glass container that looks like an incomplete hourglass. The top of the container is open so that you can place a filter with coffee grounds in there.
Pour hot water over the coffee grounds: generally speaking the top of the container will be large enough to hold a cup of coffee’s worth of water. Pour all of your water into the filter and let the coffee drip through. Once all of the water has gone through the grounds and filter, you’re ready to try this great way of brewing your coffee.
Cold Brewed
If you have tried espresso and it’s just not getting you through the day, it’s time to try cold brew coffee or even it’s newer sibling nitro coffee. While it is much easier to just go buy the coffee, you can do this type of brew yourself.
Put coffee grounds and water into a container and allow them to steep for at least twelve hours. This allows the coffee to slowly steep into the water and it can also decrease the acidity and bitterness of the coffee. Some people like to add their favorite milk to help tone down the strength and others just drink it straight. Try cold brew in several different ways and see what you like!
Conclusion
People can be very opinionated on how to drink coffee. Everyone has their own preferences! Each type of brew brings out the many different flavors of coffee beans. Some brews make coffee more smooth, or even more bold. Many of the methods decrease the acidity of the coffee and bring out the more floral or fruity notes.
It’s always a great idea to try new ways to brew coffee: most of them are easy and can be done at home. You won’t regret trying a different way to enjoy your morning brew.