There is a plethora of brewing guides and tips out there for anyone interested in taking the plunge into specialty coffee jargon and we can even duke it out with the snobbiest of coffee brewers but we will always stay true to our convictions and admit the best way to brew your coffee is whichever method you enjoy the most. Plain and simple. Below are a few tips for the most common brew techniques and how our coffee reacts to each technique, we encourage any feedback and we may even throw some free merch out to anyone who discovers a better way of brewing Gnarwhal Coffee! The general rule of thumb in the coffee brewing world is about 2 tablespoons of coffee to every 6 ounces of water, this can get dicey with the immense amount of variety in coffee so we detail some of the nuance below.
Drip Coffee
Ratio: When brewing on a drip coffee machine, we recommend upping the ante on coffee to water ratio to pull out the full body of every roast we offer. The ratio we use on our drip carafes is 2.5 tablespoons of coffee to every 6 ounces of water. So for a typical 12 ounce coffee cup, we recommend 5 tablespoons of fresh ground coffee.
Grind: For a typical, flat bottom filter the best grind size is comparable to granulated sugar and consistent throughout.
Brewing: Click ‘Brew’
French Press
Ratio: The general ratio when brewing our roast in a French press is 2 tablespoons to every 6 ounces of filtered, fresh water.
Grind: A French press exhibits incredible flavor when using a coarser coffee grind, something comparable to a coarse sand.
Brewing: First place your coffee grounds at the bottom of the French Press and pour hot water (about 200 degrees F), making sure to get all of the grounds covered. Next, we recommend taking a spoon to stir the coffee and water inside the press to ensure the coffee steeps evenly while waiting. Finally, place the lid of your French Press back on the base and wait about 3 to 3.5 minutes before pressing and serving.
The French Press is widely considered the optimal way to brew coffee because without using a paper filter, much of the coffee’s essential oils are left in the brewed coffee. Thus allowing the coffee to have a more full body, intense aroma and brighter flavor.
Pour Over
Ratio: The trick to our pour over is filling the pour over dripper about 2/3rds full. If you don’t have enough coffee in the dripper, the flow will not have enough restriction and your coffee will be on the watery side.
Grind: We prefer a finer coffee grind for the pour over set up since it will be resting in a filter or nifty coffee sock for those on the waste reduction train!
Brewing: The first thing I like to do when making a pour over coffee is pour a little hot water in the carafe below the dripper to warm the carafe a bit, then dump out once finished. The next and arguably most important step is to lightly moisten the coffee grounds in your dripper enough so that all of the coffee grounds in the filter have moisture but not enough where there is coffee dripping into the carafe and actually brewing. The perfect amount of water is when the coffee grounds start to bubble and gently rise in the filter, the crux moment referred to as a “coffee bloom.” After about 30 seconds, begin pouring coffee over in a circular motion trying to maintain the bloom-like bubbling until you reach your desired amount of brewed coffee!
Keurig
Gnarwhal will not offer a disposable Keurig pod as it does not align with our environmental standards, however, we do encourage responsible Keurig use by purchasing a re-usable Keurig pod and filling that thing to the brim with delicious Gnarwhal Coffee!