Last week my wife and I attended an alternative brewing course at Vintage coffee.
It was a real eye opener for me who is mostly a cappuccino / sometimes espresso drinker. Firstly all coffees are tasted black and secondly, coffees are tasted and allowed to cool down as you repeatedly taste them.
The evening started off with a quick informative talk on the history of coffee as well as the process from bean to cup. I believe it is good to steep yourself in all things related to coffee. Your appreciation and knowledge will help you enjoy your coffee more and more.
After the initial talk, we divided into three groups, each discussing and practicing a popular brewing method – French press, V60 pour over and the Aeropress.
First up was the V60 Pour over
At this demo, some principals were highlighted like the importance of weighing coffee and water, the correct water temperature, the correct grind and the timing of your brew. Even though each method has its own special method, these principals remain the most important. The pour-over probably produced the cleanest crisp coffee full of fruity notes backed up by a firm but not overpowering acidity. It reminded me of a fruit juice in some respects.
Next up was the French press.
Since it filters through a metal and not a paper filter, it was more of a full bodied experience. The difference to the taste and the way I used to make French press coffee before I knew the correct way, was very different. I used to over-extract my coffee, with the guidelines in the French press blog, this should not happen. See https://boxerbrew.com/2015/09/12/french-press/
Lastly, and perhaps my favourite, was the Aero Press
What made me enjoy this station most was the different ways one can make Aero press coffee, each with it’s distinct characteristics. The use of an app to guide you through the process was awesome. Unfortunately, the demonstrated app is only available in Apple’s store, but I found a close second in the android space named MisterBarista at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.henleyb.aeropressbrewer&hl=en. Although all the baristas was passionate about their method, I found the barista at this station particularly passionate and some interesting discussions was the result!
I can recommend this experience to anyone in the Pretoria, Johannesburg area and wish more coffee shops start to do this type of informal training.
Happy brewing and experimenting everyone!
