My Perfect Cup
The Beans
I was lucky enough to get in on one of Tonx Coffee’s first roasts, and let me tell you, it’s some seriously good stuff. These beans came from Finca Matalapa in El Salvador.
Co-founder Nik Bauman told me that this particular roast came out a little darker than they would have liked. You can see that the beans are a really nice, chocholatey brown color. Despite being a little on the dark side, I still think this roast makes a phenomenal cup.
The Grind
Earlier this year I picked up a Hario Slim Mill and it’s definitely the MVP of my coffee setup. It produces an excellent, consistent grind, and I’ve come to really enjoy hand grinding (although it does get tiring if you have to do more than one cup at a time). I also have an electric burr grinder when I’m brewing several cups at once, but it really doesn’t come close to the quality of the Hario.
The Brew
I’ve been using a Clever Coffee Dripper which really nicely marries the full-immersion brewing of a press pot, with the crisp, clean cup of a pour over. The cleanup is also much easier than with the press pot, which is a huge win in my book.
I’ve tried a few different techniques with the Clever Coffee Dripper, all with pretty good results. The one I’ve settled on is fairly simple:
- Pre-soak your filter and pre-heat your cup
- Using 200° F water, completely soak your grinds
- Let stand for 2:30, gently stir, and drain
The entire brew process takes around five minutes, and is (in my opinion) the best combination of simplicity and predicable results.
The Cup
Is all this work worth it? You bet it is! Proof below:
