BREW RECIPES
Brew recipes in coffee are used to help you extract the most out of your coffee with as little wastage. Alongside 'recipes', these can also be presented as 'ratios'.
Recipes
We always present these based on what we deem to be the hierachey of importance. The top of this is 'dose' which is measured in grams, followed by 'yield' also measured in grams, and 'time' as seconds in espresso and minutes in filter. Therefore, reading from left to right you can recognise the dry coffee ground dose > the yield of coffee in the cup > the time it took to extract.
An example of this may look like this:
15g > 240g > 3:00
Ratios
This is useful to describe a recipe which you can alter based on the amount of coffee you'd like to drink. We can set a ratio which could work for one cup on your own, or four cups with friends (this isn't full proof for other mitigating factors, but you'll certainly get good results).
Our ratios will always show the dry coffee ground dose on the left, and the yield of coffee in the cup on the right.
An example of this may look like this:
1:2.5 - for espresso this could translate to 18g:45g
Our target with Filter is to find sweetneess and clarity and we can have a lot of fun with this, exposing large flavour changes by making slight alterations to our brew.
Finding a recipe can be tough with filter if you don't know where to start as most methods take about 3-4 minutes of brewing time, and there's the additional faff of getting all your equipment prepared. Don't let this put you off - there is something magical about spending that time curating a cup of coffee in the morning, afternoon, even evening (woh!).
To help you, we've added some recipe guides below for a multitude of devices. Don't be afraid to experiment with your grind size to alter the brew duration, bloom length, and whether you agitate or not to get to your desired goal.
A couple of tips:
- Don't forget to rinse your filter before you brew.
- If you don't have a temperature controlled kettle then wait for one minute after pouring.
- Be mindful with how gentle you pour, being too aggressive can agitate the bed of grounds and cause your coffee to channel pass the coffee and not extract properly.
- Don't guestimate your weights. The ratio of ground coffee to water make huge differences to the quality of your cup. You can buy scales for as little as £20
Our target with Espresso is to hit a sweet spot of body and sweetness by finding an optimum extraction of espresso from thee dry coffee puck. That balance can be hard to hit as there are so many variables, but if you're tasting either salty/sourness, or bitter/dryness, then try the following quick tips:
Salty/Sour - Run your shot longer to a larger yeild.
Bitter/Dry - Run your shot a bit shorter to a smaller yeild.
Both? - Try and shoot for a more even extraction by ensuring your coffee grounds are level before tamping and the shot isn't running very fast due to channeling (cracks in your post tamped puck which allow the espresso to bypass coffee). This is often a result of a poor quality grinder - try cleaning yours out, or upgrading (the Wilfa on our site is great, but we can source commercial grade too if your budget allows!).
Check the recipe below to find out how we recommend brewing.
Filter
We've been so proud to roast the coffee and judge for the Scottish Aeropress Championships in both 2018 & 2019. As you can guess, we think it's a great device and think you'll get some pretty awesome results with the following recipe.
Ingredients & Targets
- 20g of your favourite Cairngorm filter roast coffee (lighter than espresso)
- 200g of filtered water dilute to an appropriate strength.
- Alternatively, adjust to a coffee brew ratio of 1:16.7 (Coffee : Filtered Water)
- Target TDS: 1.23% – 1.48%
Tools
AeroPress, Filter Papers, Grinder, Digital Scales, Timer, Kettle, Cup or Decanter, and a Spoon or Paddle.
Method
Insert filter paper into filter housing and rinse. Allowing to drain, use water to thoroughly rinse filter paper, this will eliminate paper flavour.
Grind 20g of coffee at a medium coarseness. Add ground coffee to brew chamber.
Attach the rubber stopper with about 1cm to spare on to the base, and make sure there is no danger of slippage. Do not attach the lid or filter at this stage.
Invert the AeroPress so the rubber stopper is facing upwards so you can fill the brew chamber with grounds and water. Use hot water to preheat device and then empty for the next steps.
Place AeroPress on scale, add ground coffee and tare the weight. Start timer and pour 200g of 94°C brewing water into AeroPress.
Gently stir with spoon or paddle consistently and remember to dip the paddle or spoon all the way to the rubber stopper to ensure even agitation. (Hot Tip: move the paddle from front to back, side to side and finish around in a circle 5 times)
Add lid and steep to 2 minutes and then place your cup upside down on top of the AeroPress. While gripping the cup and AeroPress brew chamber, flip so cup sits right way up on your bench with AeroPress on top ready for plunging.
Plunge into your cup; should take 15-30 seconds. Plunge all the way down until you can’t anymore. After all of the liquid has dispensed, remove the cap, point the AeroPress at a bin and hammer the base to shoot the coffee puck and filter into the bin.
Rinse AeroPress. Add 80-100g of 94-96°C water to dilute. Sit back, relax and sip your deliciously brewed coffee.
If you haven't heard of the Aromaboy then where have you been? Well probably at home if you're reading this in 2021, but you should have been buying one of these. The Aromaboy is a retro automatic brewing device for filter and we love it!
INGREDIENTS & TARGETS
18g of your favourite Cairngorm filter roast coffee (lighter than espresso)
300g of filtered water
Alternatively, adjust to a coffee brew ratio of 1:16.7 (Coffee : Filtered Water)
Target TDS: 1.23% – 1.48%
TOOLS
Aromaboy, Filter Papers, Grinder, Digital Scales, Timer and a Cup.
METHOD
Insert filter paper into the brew chamber and, allowing to drain, use water to thoroughly rinse filter paper which will eliminate any paper flavour.
Grind 18g of coffee at a medium coarseness and add to the brew chamber.
Fill the water chamber with 300g of filtered water. This is about half way between 2 & Max. (Hot Tip: mark the side of the water chamber with a cairngorm sticker at the 300g mark)
Switch on the Aromaboy, lift the flap on top so you can see your brew in action, and agitate the brew chamber for the first 30sec and last 30sec of the brew. (Hot Tip: use an alternative brewer such as a Kalita, or V60, in place of the O.G to experiment with results)
Once all the liquid has dispensed, discard the used filter paper and go fetch your mug.
Sit back, relax and sip your deliciously brewed coffee
One of our all time favourites methods. All batch brew machines are different, but the concept remains the same. Your simply upscaling hand brewed coffee and here is our recipe to help you do so.
Ingredients & Targets
60g of your favourite Cairngorm filter roast coffee (lighter than espresso)
1litre of filtered water
Alternatively, adjust to a coffee brew ratio of 1:16.7 (Coffee : Filtered Water)
Target TDS: 1.23% – 1.48%
Tools
Batch Brew Machine, Filter Papers, Grinder, Digital Scales, Timer and Decanter/Urn
Method
Insert filter paper into brew chamber and, allowing to drain, use water to thoroughly rinse filter paper which will eliminate paper flavour.
Grind 60g of coffee at a medium coarseness and add to the brew chamber.
Fill water chamber with 1litre of filtered water (remember you can use the ratio above to upscale this) and switch brewer on. Remember to leave the brew chamber fully open if it has a shut of valve.
Once all the liquid has dispensed, discard the used filter paper and fetch your cup.
Sit back, relax and sip your deliciously brewed coffee.
Call it a French Press, call it a Plunger. In fact, call it with you want. This handy device has been at the forefront of coffee brewing in most of our kitchens and we've developed a recipe that delivers great results.
Ingredients & Targets
24 grams of your favourite Cairngorm espresso roast if you take yours with milk or filter if you prefer it black.
400 grams of filtered water
Alternatively, adjust to a Coffee Brew Ratio of 1:16.7 (Coffee : Filtered Water)
Tools
French Press, Grinder, Digital Scales, Timer, Kettle, Cup or Carafe, and Spoon or Paddle.
Method
Grind 24g of coffee at a medium to course grind and add ground coffee to brew chamber.
Start timer and add 400g brew water - about 94-96°c temperature (if unsure, just leave for a minute off the boil).
Allow brew to steep for 3min using a spoon to break the crus by gliding your spoon from front to back 3 times skimming the surface and cleaning any coffee grinds that remain on the surface with two spoons.
Use the plunger to bring all remaining grinds to the base of the brewer; this should take 15-30 seconds so plunge slowly. Plunge all the way down until you can’t anymore.
Decant into a carafe. (Hot Tip: use a pour over brewer with a pre rinsed filter to gain more clarity.)
Sit back, relax and sip your deliciously brewed coffee. Feel free to add milk if that’s what you’re into.
This brewing method is commonly the best way of achieving clarity with our filter coffees. Whichever brewer you use, whether flat bed, or cone, the following guide should get you to a brew that is tasty and sweet.
Ingredients & Targets
18g of your favourite Cairngorm filter roast coffee (lighter than espresso)
300g (or ml) of filtered water.
Alternatively, adjust to a Coffee Brew Ratio of 1:16.7 (Coffee: Filtered Water)
Target TDS: 1.23% – 1.48%
Tools
Pourover Device (April, Kalita, V60, KÕNO), Filter Papers, Grinder, Digital Scales, Timer, Kettle and Cup.
Method
Bring your kettle to the appropriate temp (94-96°C is a great place to start. If you're unsure then wait a minute after your kettle has boiled).
Insert filter paper into the brew device and, allowing to drain, use hot water to thoroughly rinse filter paper which will eliminate paper flavour and preheat device (don't forget to empty water from your cup or server before proceeding!)
Grind 18g of coffee at a medium coarseness. Place brewing device, with pre-wet filter paper on decanting device and scales. Add ground coffee and tare the weight.
Start your timer as you pour 50g of brewing water to allow even saturation of coffee grounds and allow coffee to release any gas it may contain. This makes it easier to integrate coffee grounds in to the brew while pouring. Wait approximately 30 seconds before your next pour, this is called the bloom.
Add 70g of water to reach 120g, pouring in a steady spiral motion from the centre out and back in, allow to steep for 10 seconds or until the water drops by about 3cm.
Add 130g of water to now reach 250g, pouring in a steady spiral motion from the centre out and back in, allow to steep for another 15 seconds or until the water drops by about 3cm.
Add the remaining 50g to reach the overall brew weight of 300g, pouring in a steady spiral motion from the centre out and back in, after all liquid has dispensed, discard the used filter paper and rinse brewing device.
We recommend an overall brew time of 2:30min - 3:00min.
Sit back, relax and sip your deliciously brewed coffee.
These devices are a great way of achieving that viscous, rich coffee flavour int he absence of an espresso machine. Follow our recipe here to see how we make them at home.
Ingrdients & Targets
20g of your favourite Cairngorm espresso roast if you take yours with milk, filter if you prefer it black.
Tools
Moka Pot, Scales and Cup
Method
Grind 20g of coffee to a fine to course grind, slightly courser than espresso and fill the base of your brewer to the base of the screw with hot water off the boil.
Place on your hob, on a medium heat and bring water to the boil once more. The water will begin to percolate through the brewing chamber and coffee grounds.
When the coffee liquor reaches the top of the brewing chamber the brewer will begin to hiss. At this point turn off your hob and bring brewer over to the sink to rinse base with cool water. This will eliminate any bitterness.
Hot tip: using hot water will speed up your brew and reduce the risk of over extraction.
Now just find your pre heated cup, pour, sit back and enjoy whilst listening to some smooth jazz.
Espresso
How long is a piece of string? Every espresso machine and grinder might produce different results for you, not to mention the roast type and freshness of the coffee you're using. However, we have pulled together a starting point to help you - read the tips above to diagnose your cup if you think you can make imnprovements.
Ingredients & Targets
18g of your favourite Cairngorm espresso roast coffee.
36g of brewed espresso in around 27-32 seconds.
We're aiming for a 1:2 ratio of coffee to water.
Our target TDS is around 10%.
Tools
Espresso Machine, Grinder, Scales, Portafilter, Tamper.
Method
Place yourn portafilter onto you scale and tear. Grind coffee to a fine grind into your portafilter and placee back on the scale to check if we have achieved our desired dry weight of 18g.
Firmly, but carefully, tap the side of your portafilter with the palm of your hand to try and settle the grounds so they are evenly spread in the basket.
Tamp the grounds - you don't need to try and push your counter into Austrailia here - we just want to compress enough to give some resistance to the water pressure. (Hot Tip - If you are having to exert a lot of effort here, then instead try grinding finer.)
Run some water from your grouphead, just for a second or two to ensure that there aren't any coffee oils stuck to the screen. Carefully insert your portafilter, followed by your scale, cup and then tare.
Engage your espresso machine and don't forget to time your shot. If the shot takes longer than 10 seconds to start to pour, this could be an indidcation that your coffee is too fine, but stick with it as you need to have a reference point for how to adjust your grind.
When your scale reads 34/35g shut off the group - the water in the coffee puck will continue to drain for a second or two so you need to stop early to reach our target of 36g.
Sit back and enjoy some sweet, vibrant espresso.