Steel, Glass, Ceramic?

Steel, Glass, Ceramic?

What’s the most temperature-stable material to use when brewing? The short answer is: plastic cones are best. They absorb heat from the brew water less quickly, absorb less heat overall, and lose that heat to the air more slowly. To really understand why plastic...
What’s the Best Sprayhead Design?

What’s the Best Sprayhead Design?

Is it better to have as many holes as possible in your spray head, hardly any to make more agitation, or somewhere in between? To achieve even extraction in batch brewing, it’s important to get all the grounds evenly wetted — meaning exposed to the same amount of...
DIY Water Recipes Redux

DIY Water Recipes Redux

A couple of years ago, we published a method for making your own water recipes, using concentrated mineral solutions, diluted with deionised water, to make a range of waters with different hardness and alkalinity. This post updates that, with new recipes that allow...
If Not Channelling, Then What?

If Not Channelling, Then What?

“Professor Abbott told us he doesn’t really believe channelling occurs in espresso (except in drastic cases). So if not channelling, then what?” Only a few weeks ago we were telling you that over-extraction isn’t really a thing, and that it’s all caused by...
Fines Migration

Fines Migration

You asked us to look into this topic, “In espresso, fines migration may not be as much of a thing as we thought.” Here’s what we found.  Fines are the smallest particles created when you grind coffee. Depending on who you’re talking to, they might be defined as any...
Is It Better to Sieve Out Particles Smaller Than 400μm?

Is It Better to Sieve Out Particles Smaller Than 400μm?

Or is it better just to leave them in, when brewing filter coffee? Back in 2012, our very own Matt Perger won the World Brewers Cup, using a 250μm sieve to remove fines. This created a more even extraction, which allowed him to extract higher without getting dry and...