# Anyone understand Gordon's Winning Brewer's cup method?



## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

Video of method here






Basically I get that he uses a very coarse grind, a dose of either 60g or 16g then adding 250ml into a flask and stirring vigorously for 10 seconds. Then pouring this into a CCD that is already sat on a cup and letting it drain out without further agitation. Then diluting the brew by adding xxxx amount of water???

I did try this brew and this coffee at the Attic after he won but I can't really remember what he said about it other than it was a bypass brew and that it tasted fantastic.

I reckon I have everything I need to attempt to recreate this method.

Anyone help me understand exactly what he does?

Thanks


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

@mwjb ?


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## YerbaMate170 (Jun 15, 2015)

what is a CCD? Stupid question alert etc etc


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## funinacup (Aug 30, 2010)

Clever Coffee Dripper


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

Sorry it's probably unhelpful of me to even post but I managed to watch a minute of it but won't watch it all. Something about that sound quality with the music over it, just makes me shut down...

Hope you find the answer, interested to read it


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

No worries. The sound quality annoyed me a lot too.


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## Thecatlinux (Mar 10, 2014)

I agree the music in the background was annoying , but it was also an insight of how with good coffee you can produce a great cup with a relatively cheap set up . However I don't know how much those scales cost (?)


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## Step21 (Oct 2, 2014)

Quite hard to hear what he is saying against the background noise.

What i understood is that it is a bypass or polished brew method. Adding 250g 95C water to coarse grinds (how coarse? Sounded like 160g to me - can't be right?, probably misheard). Stirring for 10secs one way only. Dumping brew into CCD to filter then adding 32g of dilution and stirring 6 times clockwise then 6 anti-clockwise in the cup. Voodoo!


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Right ive tweeted him , lets see if we get a recipe


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

God, this is like Chinese whispers! 

I think I heard:

16g coarse coffee (sieved out fines & silver skin removed), 150g 95C brew water 35sec bloom, stir 10 times in one direction only & into CCD. Resulting beverage 1.90% to 2.16%TDS, then bypassed to 160g beverage, with 32g of brew water? 6 stirs clockwise, 6 stirs anti-clockwise.

Perhaps someone knows Gordon & can clear up any mysteries/misinterpretations.

Polished immersion, with a bypass.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Its 60 grams of horse toffee lived in mines with a bin ...sheesh


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## robashton (May 9, 2015)

I ran the audio against a filter to remove the background noise, this is the transcript of the recipe from what I could tell, snipping out waffle about varietal etc because I cba transcribing it



> "pourover is naff, immersion is great, control control control" -> bypass means creating more concentrated coffee, add water to dilute, focus on aromatics etc....<waffle>... gonna wait this water to reach 95C then starting brewing.. <waffle> ...So 250ml in, and I'm gonna look to produce a beverage of around 160g, <waffle> each of these ??processes?? takes about 15 seconds, I'm looking to bloom for at least 35s, this brew method will produce with more acidity than you'd expect from a natural (etc) </waffle></waffle></waffle>
> 
> Pour all the water in as fast as you can, it becomes self regulating etc - consistency blah blah blah.


I think he's basically taking the first 160g of the output and then diluting it and ignoring the tail-end of the brew (hence bypass method).

At what point in the audio does he mention dose time-wise? I can't find it by skipping about









[edit]



> grind setting is the same, it has had its fines removed, had silverskin removed


The whole thing about TDS is about how it changes over time and when he chooses to stop taking output if i hear it properly

Sod this, way too much effort - hopefully he dumps it out in text somewhere!


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

16g of coffee & 250g water at 2.16%TDS is around a 35% extraction, can't happen in a short steep (in fact it won't happen with any temp decline immersion), even with the polishing.

16g to 250g of brew water wouldn't really need bypassing.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Ok here is the first tweet reply from Gordon

@harlequinyork: @Mpj1969 basic recipe is 65g per L works with 13g to 16g in a 300ml thermos. More turbulence in secs will increase strength. (20-30s)


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

Mrboots2u said:


> Ok here is the first tweet reply from Gordon
> 
> @harlequinyork: @Mpj1969 basic recipe is 65g per L works with 13g to 16g in a 300ml thermos. More turbulence in secs will increase strength. (20-30s)


So where does the 1.9% to 2.16%TDS fit in?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

MWJB said:


> So where does the 1.9% to 2.16%TDS fit in?


I'm asking !


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Ok this is the recipe used in the uk

@harlequinyork: @Mpj1969 sorry that's the worlds recipe. UK was slightly more coffee 72g per L and I think from memory 30g by pass

@harlequinyork: @Mpj1969 18g to 250g and then 30g by bass


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## MatthewBw (Sep 9, 2015)

I'm no expert on coffee but I did study psychology many years ago. He is also very clever with his presentation as well as the almost ritual like process. That must enhance the experience for the judges even more.

There is a known phenomenon where various aspects of our food and drink taste can be effected to enhance flavour. This includes the expertise of the process, professionalism of the chef/barista, slick presentation and even colours or sounds can enhance our sense of taste. Technical excellence aside which I can't comment on his delivery and presentation probably adds something extra too, weird as that sounds.

Quite cool to watch, id love to try it.


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

MatthewBw said:


> I'm no expert on coffee but I did study psychology many years ago. He is also very clever with his presentation as well as the almost ritual like process. That must enhance the experience for the judges even more.
> 
> There is a known phenomenon where various aspects of our food and drink taste can be effected to enhance flavour. This includes the expertise of the process, professionalism of the chef/barista, slick presentation and even colours or sounds can enhance our sense of taste. Technical excellence aside which I can't comment on his delivery and presentation probably adds something extra too, weird as that sounds.
> 
> Quite cool to watch, id love to try it.


You should livestream some of the world barista comp and/or brewers cup if you like slick presentations, they're always great to watch!


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

Good job getting all that info MWJB. Going to have a go at this method but I can't see it making anything particularly tasty. Presume sieving is the secret here.

Edit: Can we ask him what the secret is?


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

@harlequinyork: @Mpj1969 I'm at @PrufrockCoffee on the 1st of October giving a talk and demo if you can make it http://t.co/UDlXG1klIP


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Mrboots2u said:


> @harlequinyork: @Mpj1969 I'm at @PrufrockCoffee on the 1st of October giving a talk and demo if you can make it http://t.co/UDlXG1klIP


I was meant to be going but am now not


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

Just had a go at a similar sort of method as follows:

16g coffee into a flask. Add 200g water soon after boil and stir like a mother flipper for 10+ seconds.

Pour brew into pre-heated CCD and let it filter down into a cup. Then add 22g (bypass) at the end.

This was using quite a coarse setting. The resulting brew was extremely extremely delicious. Last bit of the #SSSSS coffee.

Huge huge potential with this crazy brew method!


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## Step21 (Oct 2, 2014)

fatboyslim said:


> Just had a go at a similar sort of method as follows:
> 
> 16g coffee into a flask. Add 200g water soon after boil and stir like a mother flipper for 10+ seconds.
> 
> ...


Inspired by your post, i had a shot at this.

16g ground coarse (2 full turns from zero on the Hausgrind)

212g brew water at 208F dispensed by Brazen onto coffee in pre heated thermal cup

10sec stirring with mini whisk then pouted into pre heated Bonavita immersion brewer to filter

Resulting brew had a TDS of 1.31 so no need for dilution (but i did add 20g). Tastewise it was good with lots of nice fruit from the bean (Barn Kenyan Kaiguri).

Wasn't any better than my usual immersion (but that takes 20min at least). So for a short brew it was very good.

Might try this technique without the flask stage and just do a fill & drain in the Bonavita (with the stir) for comparison.

This was a very soluble bean, so i'd probably grind a bit finer for most other beans.


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

Just made another one of these and another great brew! To me the flask stage is quite important in terms of brew temperature and an optimum agitation vessel.


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## titan_uk (Jan 15, 2012)

So.. Thought I would give it a go a try and replicate Gordon although he used El Salvador Finca washed bourbon from La Ilusion and I used Santa Petrona washed red.

1. 18g coarse ground (french press ish grind) coffee into a thermos (I pre warmed to 90oC)

2. Pour in at a medium pace - take about 15 seconds - 250g (250ml) water @ 95oC

3. Let sit for 1 minute (in vid is actually 1:13)

4. Stir at a reasonably fast pace (slower than whisk speed) in one direction for 10 seconds (vid was 11)

5. Pour straight into CCD already sat on a cup

6. After approx. 2 mins (start at 1:45) place on a scale and wait for it to hit 160g (vid was dead on time and once I did a slight grind adjustment I got 2:03)

7. Introduce 32g of 82-85oC water (gently along the side of cup)

Enjoy! I must say it was pretty good! Currently on trial against the cupping french press to see which I prefer.

Interesting points (to me anyhoo):

He describes cutting it short at 4:15 (17th sample in 15 seconds intervals) but then stops it at 3:30 - Grind too coarse? Beans older?

I don't understand his reference to a 35s bloom:

....'each one of these processes (water pouring) takes 15 seconds and we are looking to bloom the coffee to release the Co2 for about 35 seconds...'

I just don't understand this in context to the 1:13 sitting time as he doesn't 'just about' wet the grounds to bloom like you would a drip for example, nor stir after 30 seconds like you would for french press .....anyone offer any insights?

His Irish coffee winner also bloomed for 60 seconds


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