# Brew options for Christmas



## urbanbumpkin

So here's my dilemma. I currently have an aeropress and a CCD that I use for work, i really like both but I favour the Aeropress at the moment.

I'm looking for another option for brewed for home (and possibly work).

My short list is as follows:-

Chemex

Kalita Wave

Sowden

V60

My other half drinks instant so I'd be making for one. Any recommendations on which to go for?


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## aaronb

You cant convert your other half?

I love my small Chemex. It's so easy to use, looks great and makes an incredible clean cup.

I've also become very fond of the Clever Dripper recently thanks to kofra making me some amazing brews in it. It requires a bit more technique though.


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## Mrboots2u

What are you using to grind the coffee or will you be taking pre ground from home to work ?


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## Mrboots2u

Plus. You know what im going to say

no phaff

doubles as a teapot

blah blah blah ......


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## urbanbumpkin

Mrboots2u said:


> What are you using to grind the coffee or will you be taking pre ground from home to work ?


Grinding at work, I've got a Baratza Maestro plus. I'm sure the boss will actually kill me one day.


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## Beanosaurus

Get a Syphon and brew it on your desk like a Victorian lad.

Might as well go the whole hog and get a copper V60 and Buono Kettle as well...


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## Mrboots2u

Beanosaurus said:


> Get a Syphon and brew it on your desk like a Victorian lad.
> 
> Might as well go the whole hog and get a copper V60 and Buono Kettle as well...


Get the halogen burner with it too........


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## The Systemic Kid

Chemex - wonderfully rewarding.


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## jeebsy

Faff - chemex

No faff - the magic teapot


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## Mrboots2u

jeebsy said:


> Faff - chemex
> 
> No faff - the magic teapot


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## urbanbumpkin

Mrboots2u said:


>


Are you sure it's a teapot for brewing coffee and not magic mushrooms?


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## aaronb

urbanbumpkin said:


> Are you sure it's a teapot for brewing coffee and not magic mushrooms?


You should eat them raw really, psilocybin can be killed off by the heat

Maybe a cold brew? not sure what a good refraction would be


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## Mrboots2u

urbanbumpkin said:


> Are you sure it's a teapot for brewing coffee and not magic mushrooms?


Back in the day I used to brew those in a big saucepan

Teapot were too small


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## urbanbumpkin

aaronb said:


> You should eat them raw really, psilocybin can be killed off by the heat
> 
> Maybe a cold brew? not sure what a good refraction would be


I thought brewing took out some of the bad chemicals from them, not the good ones.

I'd like to add this information came from a drugs awareness leaflet from Huddersfield Uni in 1990 so could be completely wrong.


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## jeebsy

Mrboots2u said:


> Back in the day I used to brew those in a big saucepan
> 
> Teapot were too small


It's that time of year....would go foraging if there wasn't such a high risk of death


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## aaronb

urbanbumpkin said:


> I thought brewing took out some of the bad chemicals from them, not the good ones.


According to wikipedia as long as it isn't boiling it's OK?


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## froggystyle

nice gentle simmer, then strain through a sock... So i am told.

Back to the OP question, i would go expensive, its more than likely the best time of the year to spend big on something, rest of the year wifey say no!


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## urbanbumpkin

Thanks for the advice. So far votes for the Chemex, Sowden and a sock.

I'm guessing the Chemex would need a pouring kettle?

What's easier to use?


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## Mrboots2u

urbanbumpkin said:


> Thanks for the advice. So far votes for the Chemex, Sowden and a sock.
> 
> I'm guessing the Chemex would need a pouring kettle?
> 
> What's easier to use?


Yes and decent scales to sit it on and go to 1kg plus

The pouring kettle might also be good for mushrooms


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## froggystyle

Looks like me and you will be opening the same things xmas day, have asked for a chemex, pouring kettle and set of Hario scales.


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## urbanbumpkin

How does a Chemex compare in taste to a Sowden? Or are the 2 completely different beasts?


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## Mrboots2u

froggystyle said:


> Looks like me and you will be opening the same things xmas day, have asked for a chemex, pouring kettle and set of Hario scales.


Get some filters for that or it will I'll be a sad xmas face


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## froggystyle

I will no doubt get plenty of socks, problem solved.


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## aaronb

what about the shrooms?


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## Beanosaurus

urbanbumpkin said:


> Grinding at work, I've got a Baratza Maestro plus. I'm sure the boss will actually kill me one day.


The 'second in command' (I use that term ever so loosely) at my place has a +10 year old Gaggia MDF which has never had the burrs cleaned and grinds about 8 shots a day - it's so insanely loud, like 100dB!

His two scoops of beans takes about a minute to decimate which makes the kitchen sound like a diamond core drill is boring hole through the f**king wall,

this is then followed by 20 THWACKS dumping the load into the hardest worn filter basket I've ever seen.

Finally the espresso is brewed on a folorn and stained Classic that's never had a de-scale or back-flush in its entire lifetime.

Sometimes we can make conversation if we shout loud enough.


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## froggystyle

aaronb said:


> what about the shrooms?


Shrooms dont need socks, they have no feet!


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## MWJB

urbanbumpkin said:


> How does a Chemex compare in taste to a Sowden? Or are the 2 completely different beasts?


Any paper filter has an effect on the flavour, to my mind the Sowden let's more of the coffee's flavour shine through (at a good extraction), less 'creamy' than a Chemex with Chemex paper, sweeter...as long as you can keep the small particles down (which is easier to do with a Sowden than with a French press). Sowden is more repeatable, but slower.

Chemex is quicker & lots of folk swear by the Chemex paper. Easier to steer/fine tune extraction (higher/lower TDS & yield) with a Chemex, but when it's done... it's done (as with all pourovers), you can taste as you go with the Sowden just varying time.

If you want your coffee in ~5 mins, Chemex, if you're prepared to wait Sowden.


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## urbanbumpkin

Mrboots2u said:


> Yes and decent scales to sit it on and go to 1kg plus
> 
> The pouring kettle might also be good for mushrooms


Thanks for that, I gave away my 2kg scales with my Classic. I think I have some ones that go up to 500g or 1000g I'll have to check. Does it have to be over 1kg?


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## Mrboots2u

Depends on the chemex 6-8 chemex weighs 580g

30 g dose and another 500g water more than a 1kg

Smaller chemex 3-6 weighs less and less etc


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## jeebsy

http://www.johnlewis.com/salter-disc-kitchen-scale/p1179290

I use these for brewed. Pretty robust


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## urbanbumpkin

So what size for a lonely mans brew?

2 cup Sowden?

3 cup Chemex?


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## jeebsy

I'm a lonely man, and I have thee wee Sowden and the wee Chemex. They're enough if you're just yourself (as I am mainly) but not really enough for two, so it depends just how lonely you are really.


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## Mrboots2u

jeebsy said:


> I'm a lonely man, and I have thee wee Sowden and the wee Chemex. They're enough if you're just yourself (as I am mainly) but not really enough for two, so it depends just how lonely you are really.


Never lonely with voices in your head.....

Or scrooms in a teapot


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## jeebsy

Me and Frank the rabbit have a rare old time, he doesn't drink much coffee though


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## The Systemic Kid

That wouldn't be rampant Frank by any chance??


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## jeebsy




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## urbanbumpkin

Mrboots2u said:


> Never lonely with voices in your head.....
> 
> Or scrooms in a teapot


They do have the habit of making every day household objects take on a life of their own and personality.


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## MWJB

urbanbumpkin said:


> So what size for a lonely mans brew?
> 
> 2 cup Sowden?
> 
> 3 cup Chemex?


I find the 800g Sowden (I normally dose at 44g:820g) suits 3x 180ml glasses or 2 large mugs, around 600g of clear, finished coffee.

There's a bit more losses with the Sowden, the coffee will absorb around 3x it's own weight (2x -ish for Chemex), plus you'll pour off the very top of the brew & leave a little in the bottom of the pot (with the Chemex you'll drink the whole lot of the output, but probably dose a bit higher/use a shade less brew water).

So typically a 30g dose will get you 440g of finished coffee in the Chemex @ 60g/l, pretty much the same for the Sowden but at 54/55g/l (which means the "4 cup"/800g Sowden) .


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## Glenn

My Christmas present was delivered today









"A work of art - that makes delicious slow drip coffee"

http://www.alchemycoffee.co.uk/hopper-600g-1.html








I won't be able to use it until 25 December and probably not taste until 26th...


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## aaronb

Glenn said:


> My Christmas present was delivered today
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "A work of art - that makes delicious slow drip coffee"
> 
> 
> View attachment 9895
> 
> 
> I won't be able to use it until 25 December and probably not taste until 26th...


Not really cold brew season in the UK you know! But I guess you have time to perfect the recipe for summer


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## urbanbumpkin

Glenn said:


> My Christmas present was delivered today
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "A work of art - that makes delicious slow drip coffee"
> 
> 
> View attachment 9895
> 
> 
> I won't be able to use it until 25 December and probably not taste until 26th...


That's early Glenn, you must be on the good list.

Or maybe it's really slow and you have to start it now for Yuletide


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## Glenn

I've been a very good boy this year.

My birthday is in December too and my wife has been budgeting for this for quite some time


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## Big_Fat_Dan

I'm a lonely drinker too, the wife doesn't like coffee, doesn't like bourbon and doesn't like beer. All the more for me I guess. Anyway, I use a Wave at home and V60 at work, both really easy to use although I'm still messing with weights, times etc etc

and I've got some hario scales on the Xmas list, was thinking of putting a Aeropress on there too? Worth getting?


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## MWJB

Big_Fat_Dan said:


> I'm a lonely drinker too, the wife doesn't like coffee, doesn't like bourbon and doesn't like beer. All the more for me I guess. Anyway, I use a Wave at home and V60 at work, both really easy to use although I'm still messing with weights, times etc etc
> 
> and I've got some hario scales on the Xmas list, was thinking of putting a Aeropress on there too? Worth getting?


Don't mess with weights & times, stick to the same weights & play with time/grind.

Aeropress is great if brewing one cup at a time, can be used a whole host of ways (blessing/curse...? Don't ask me...







) easy clean up, easy to get "coffee"...great cups take a bit more thought. Comes with a bunch of other stuff you can find a use for, like paddle & funnel...


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## Big_Fat_Dan

MWJB said:


> Don't mess with weights & times, stick to the same weights & play with time/grind.
> 
> Aeropress is great if brewing one cup at a time, can be used a whole host of ways (blessing/curse...? Don't ask me...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ) easy clean up, easy to get "coffee"...great cups take a bit more thought. Comes with a bunch of other stuff you can find a use for, like paddle & funnel...


Cheers Mark, you previous advice really helped on the V60, still struggling to get the wave under 4.30.

the press is going on the list!


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## MWJB

Big_Fat_Dan said:


> Cheers Mark, you previous advice really helped on the V60, still struggling to get the wave under 4.30.


If you don't feel smaller brews are worth pursuing, try pulling the wave off the cup (whilst otherwise sticking exactly to your current method & grind that works with V60, less variables the better) at gradually reduced brew times...so if 4:30 is ending smokey, pithy & bitter (overextracted), pull the brewer at 4:00, 3:30, 3:00, 2:30 & see what the flavour does? Or, just jump straight to 2:30 & work up? You'll have less coffee in the cup when you do this, again correct the beverage weight with water from the kettle.

It's not obvious, but the grind & dose you are using only really wants to extract nominally over a fairly narrow range of outputs with each brewer, but the output is an easy thing to change to target our level of extraction (& correct after). It's not unusual for us to "shoot ourselves in the foot" by expecting a brew to conform to our expectation of/compare to another brewer's "cupful", but gravity, dose & grind just do what they always have & always will.


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## aaronb

To add to the above, the last bit of coffee extracts under different circumstances (no more water above to push it down, affects flow rate etc) and adds bitterness to the coffee too.

Since pulling the paper with the last 2cm of water or so above the grounds out of my chemex as part of my routine my coffee has improved no end. Same applies for Clever, v60 and Aeropress and I guess wave too.


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## Big_Fat_Dan

Cheers guys, knowledge is the bomb.


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## MWJB

aaronb said:


> To add to the above, the last bit of coffee extracts under different circumstances (no more water above to push it down, affects flow rate etc) and adds bitterness to the coffee too.
> 
> Since pulling the paper with the last 2cm of water or so above the grounds out of my chemex as part of my routine my coffee has improved no end. Same applies for Clever, v60 and Aeropress and I guess wave too.


Well that can certainly work, it is how they seem to do things in Japan & is certainly a known technique in the Anglosphere, but when brewing by ratio (which assumes a given water retention in the grinds) you can also grind coarser, delaying the onset of overextraction, as you would have to do with any automated brewer. A "down & dirty" method I sometimes use when guesstimating with a separate cone, is to taste the output & stop the brew based on that, usually you don't want to stop whilst the output is still bright/juicy, you often need some of the bland, less interesting in its own right, later output in the cup to balance a brew. Obviously you stop when things are really going bitter.


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## Big_Fat_Dan

Just checked a couple of vids and I think my grind needs to be coarser.


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## urbanbumpkin

MWJB said:


> I find the 800g Sowden (I normally dose at 44g:820g) suits 3x 180ml glasses or 2 large mugs, around 600g of clear, finished coffee.
> 
> There's a bit more losses with the Sowden, the coffee will absorb around 3x it's own weight (2x -ish for Chemex), plus you'll pour off the very top of the brew & leave a little in the bottom of the pot (with the Chemex you'll drink the whole lot of the output, but probably dose a bit higher/use a shade less brew water).
> 
> So typically a 30g dose will get you 440g of finished coffee in the Chemex @ 60g/l, pretty much the same for the Sowden but at 54/55g/l (which means the "4 cup"/800g Sowden) .


Thanks MWJB. I'm debating either the 2 cup or the 4 cup. Is it possible to down dose a 4 cup?


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## MWJB

urbanbumpkin said:


> Thanks MWJB. I'm debating either the 2 cup or the 4 cup. Is it possible to down dose a 4 cup?


I've had good brews at 500g plus (brew water), greatly down dosing might affect heat retention & stir up silt more. My 400g brew today wasn't in the zone.


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## Big_Fat_Dan

MWJB said:



> If you don't feel smaller brews are worth pursuing, try pulling the wave off the cup (whilst otherwise sticking exactly to your current method & grind that works with V60, less variables the better) at gradually reduced brew times...so if 4:30 is ending smokey, pithy & bitter (overextracted), pull the brewer at 4:00, 3:30, 3:00, 2:30 & see what the flavour does? Or, just jump straight to 2:30 & work up? You'll have less coffee in the cup when you do this, again correct the beverage weight with water from the kettle.
> 
> It's not obvious, but the grind & dose you are using only really wants to extract nominally over a fairly narrow range of outputs with each brewer, but the output is an easy thing to change to target our level of extraction (& correct after). It's not unusual for us to "shoot ourselves in the foot" by expecting a brew to conform to our expectation of/compare to another brewer's "cupful", but gravity, dose & grind just do what they always have & always will.


WE HAVE SUCCESS!!!

14g of coffee (10 clicks on the porlex) 225 ml of water to start with, 30sec bloom up to 50g, then keep it topped up to it weighs 190g, makes a really good cup, so much better than before. Thanks again for the advice Mark.


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## urbanbumpkin

Decision made, ordered a Sowden today from Home Institute, used the £5 voucher and got free delivery too.

It will be a great present from my Mum I think. Good old Mum!


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## domjon1

quick question, I too have christmas-listed some brewing kit, the 8-10 cup chemex for one...I've also requested these Hario scales...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hario-VST-2000B-1-Piece-Coffee-Scale/dp/B009GPJMOU

its just dawned on me that these scales may not go high enough...cant seem to see a max weight on the amazon description, can anyone clarify whether they'd do the job or not, I guess with the big chemex they'd need to go to 2kg ish?


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## StevePeel

I'll stick this here, I'll take it down if it's not cool. It's from a slightly pragmatic angle so please don't get too excited if you don't like the methods!


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## Beanosaurus

domjon1 said:


> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hario-VST-2000B-1-Piece-Coffee-Scale/dp/B009GPJMOU
> 
> its just dawned on me that these scales may not go high enough...cant seem to see a max weight on the amazon description.


Max weight is 2Kg.


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## Richard Penny

Just received a 4 cup Sowden from eBay for £20 plus postage. Should be perfect for the office







First cup seems ok so far, given that I chucked in a fairly unregulated amount of espresso grind and hoped for the best!


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## jamiemoyer22

Kalita Wave is cool. I had this one way back 2012. But now I am using Chemex Coffee Maker, it brewed an excellent taste of coffee and it is easy to keep clean and very strong.


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