How to Choose the Best Coffee Brewing Method

How to Choose the Best Coffee Brewing Method for your Favorite Roast

Preparing or brewing the perfect cup of coffee is as important as choosing the raw coffee bean varietal and roast profile. How you prepare your coffee is the final step in the magical process, and getting it just right can transform your experience into a journey full of flavour and delicious aromas.

Brewing coffee is far more complex than throwing a spoon of the instant stuff into a cup and adding hot water. No, coffee brewing is an art that has been refined and perfected over centuries to evoke the senses and extract the unique elements that make coffee so diverse and unique. From the elegant French Press to the intricacies of the Siphon, brew methods are often determined by more than simply personal preferences.

Coffee comes in so many different aromas and flavour profiles that water temperature, grind size, time and pressure all play essential roles in how your coffee will eventually taste. But your roast selection is key to finding the perfect brew method. To ensure that you get the best out of our coffee, we have listed some of the most popular and effective coffee brewing methods, along with which roast profiles work best with each one.

Coffee Brewing Methods

1). French Press - This technique employs an elegant immersion method by using a plunger pot often made of glass or steel. First used in France during the 1800s, the French Press is also known as 'plunge coffee,' the 'press pot,' or simply a 'press.'

The French Press consists of a cylindrical container with a plunger and filter that is pressed down, allowing hot water to squeeze through the ground coffee while trapping the grinds below the press. This common method is simple to use, quick and delivers a rich earthy taste in your cup.

• Perfect for: Orosi’s Ethiopian Medium & Medium-Dark Roast coffees.

2). Pour Over – This classic method involves a little less equipment than the French Press but delivers a richer cup than the drip method. The Pour Over works by placing a filter funnel over a pot or cup, filling it with ground coffee, and quickly pouring hot water over the grounds.

Temperature and time are important here. The water cannot be boiling, or the grinds will sear and burn – about 90°C is about the best temp – and you'll want to fill the funnel up quickly and without spilling. This allows the coffee to bloom, releasing its flavour at the same time.

• Perfect for: Light Roasts like Orosi Coffee’s fully-washed Guatemalan beans.

3). Chemex – The Chemex coffee maker is famous among coffee enthusiasts who enjoy the Pour Over method - but with a twist. Created during World War 2, this hourglass-shaped glass flask uses a funnel neck and thicker paper filters than standard types.

The thicker filters make for a slower brew with a more complex flavour profile. Chemex users claim that these thicker filters mean the coffee is cleaner and slightly less bitter.

• Perfect for: Orosi’s premium Medium Roast Brazilian single-origin coffee, with a balanced medium to high acidity.

4). Espresso – The espresso was created for people on the move. With its name eluding to 'express,' the espresso method is loaded with caffeine, super quick and easy, delivering a powerful wake-up punch to the drinker. Consumed mostly as either a "single," "double," or "Americano," espressos are often made using a stove-top Moka pot or classic espresso machine.

Espressos are brewed by forcing pressurized water and steam through finely-ground, tightly-packed coffee. Espresso's like Ristretto is brewed slightly differently, where the beans used are roasted for an extended amount of time, creating a thick coffee with delicious crema on top.

• Perfect for: Medium-Dark to Dark Roast coffee. Espresso needs to be packed with robust flavour and caffeine. Try Orosi's Sumatra hybrid coffee.

5). AeroPress – The AeroPress is also an immersion brew method that allows you the flexibility to make regular coffee, cold brew, and even an espresso-like drink – in 60 seconds. The AeroPress uses air to boost the pressure on the liquid, delivering a cleaner flavour profile with almost no residual grinds.

As an added bonus, you can use either the AeroPress paper filters or thin metal siphons to separate the liquid from the grinds.

• Perfect for: Dark Roast coffee – without a doubt. The AeroPress method loves the heavily-roasted bean, with Orosi’s Sumatra Blends also ideally suited to this sophisticated and effective brew.

6). Automatic Drip - Arguably, the most widespread brewing method is the drip technique. Automatic drip brewing requires almost no effort on your part and is achieved with a coffee machine that heats water and slowly drips it into a funnel filter with waiting grinds.

The hot water then filters down through the grinds, and the brewed coffee passes through the filter and into the pot. This automatic process is renowned for its ease, simplicity and flexibility – it often doesn't matter which level of grind or roast you use; the automatic drip works well for all coffees.

• Perfect for: Any Roast profile, really, but preferably – for most people - Medium Roasts. Automatic drip brews are also great for decaf options.

So before you rush out to grab a bag of Orosi single-origin coffee, be sure to figure out which brewing method will work for you. If you're a fledgling coffee aficionado, then try out the Chemex technique; Espresso is for the caffeine addicts, and drip methods are great for those who don't have the time to "do a brew."

And remember –coffee roasts play an important role in your brewing method, so make sure your technique is compatible with the roast and vice versa. By choosing premium Orosi raw coffee beans sourced from around the world and then roasted to perfection, you'll enjoy supreme coffee pleasure – no matter which preparation method you choose.

Check out our Orosi Coffee brew guides for detailed step-by-step tips and advice on how to whip up that perfect 'cuppa, or get your hands on any of our premium selections from the Orosi Coffees collection!

Happy brewing!