My Quest for the Perfect Cup of Coffee

I like coffee but not in a "I drink 20 cups a day and need the caffeine" kind of way.  On the contrary, I maybe drink two 6 oz cups of coffee a day.  I am no coffee connoisseur by any means.  I just enjoy the taste of a good cup of coffee.  I have always thought about one day opening up my own little coffee shop somewhere, but before I do, there is still a lot I need to learn.  I mainly brew my coffee using a French Press and have been for the past several years.  About a year ago I was introduced to the pour-over method after reading several articles about the growth of all these new hip coffee shops and how different brewing methods were starting to go mainstream.  The pour-over method caught my attention maybe because it seemed like the complete opposite of using a French Press - a clean, smooth cup of coffee versus a thick, gritty one.  It also seemed quite simple.

After a year of being lazy and drooling over one, Nadya finally bought me a Hario V60 ceramic drip cone for Valentine's Day (pictured below).  Isn't it pretty?  So now I am on a quest to brew my perfect cup of coffee.  Notice the use of the word my.  Everyone has their own preference and I can't promise that my perfect cup will be the same as yours.



Hario V60


I am aware that the most recent trends for brewing coffee involve weighing the amount of coffee and water instead of measuring them by volume.  However, since I am still in my early stages of my perfect cup of coffee experiment, I will just have to estimate the amount of coffee using the included Hario scoop.  I'm sure the time will eventually come when I will feel the need to purchase a scale.  (Well, I kind of want one now, but cannot justify its purchase when there are so many other things that I need.  Oh well.)  After doing some research on proper brewing techniques with a Hario V60 (there are plenty videos out there on YouTube) I have run into a few coffee/water ratios:

17 g coffee/275 g H20 (225 g - 250 g for a stronger cup)

29 g coffee/415 g H20

25 g coffee/16 fl. oz H20

2 g coffee/1 oz H20

One fluid ounce of water is approximately 1 ounce, which is approximately 28.35 grams.  So, after converting the mass of water to a volume I get:

17 g coffee/9.7 fl oz H20

29 g coffee/14.6 fl oz H20

25 g coffee/16 fl oz H20

2 g coffee/1 fl oz H20

I started with about 17 g coffee/9.7 fl oz H20 for now and will experiment from there.  The Hario scoop has markings to estimate 8, 10, and 12 grams of coffee so for now I will just estimate the amount using that.  So, my first cup was probably closer to 18 g coffee/10 fl oz H20.  After brewing my first cup of coffee I realized why all the videos I saw online recommended the use of a Buono kettle.  You can't get a precise pour with a pyrex measuring cup like you can with the Buono.  But it will do for the time being.  Another item to add to the shopping list unless I can find something similar that does the job.

My first dive into pour-over coffee resulted in one damn good tasting cup of joe!  I think I might like it better than my french press.  I will document my quest for my perfect cup of coffee as it continues.  If you have any brewing tips or useful facts to broaden my knowledge, I'd love to hear them!

Smooooooth