Making filter coffee as good as in a cafeteria

2023 Author: Cody Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 19:13

It has been a long time since Alfonso Bialetti had the intuition, observing his grandmother washing the clothes in a sort of boiler with a tube coming out of the tub, to build the first coffee maker as we are used to seeing it in our homes today. 'now undisputed Moka.

In a short time it supplanted the old Neapolitan coffee maker which, until then, had honestly done its duty by supplying all coffee lovers with a hot drink but also, for today's tastes, too watered down.

Many years have passed since that distant 1933, yet still today, the method for preparing a good home coffee involves using the old Moka pot, even if home-made pod machines have spread for lovers of espresso in the bar, which allow to obtain an espresso similar to that of the bar even at home.

Today, however, other methods are joining the traditional ones to satisfy our desire for coffee.

We have already talked about it, they are such methods cold brew, chemex, airport And syphon, still slightly perfectible, and which require a fair amount of dedication to obtain good results.

And then, there is the coffee with the V60, also called filter coffee ”

The V60 is an extractor, produced by the Japanese company Hario, which uses conical-shaped filters, and which under the winking inclusion in the category of "pour over" infusions is the natural evolution of the way we prepare our very normal tea: " pour over”(pour over), that is, hot water on the chosen infusion, coffee in this case, and we wait.

But since the procedure is not as immediate as for the five o'clock tea, we wanted to provide you with a guide based on our experience in the field, helped by the precious advice of Francesco Sanapo, owner of "Ditta Artigianale" of Florence (best artisan coffee shop for Dissapore) as well as forerunner of "specialty coffee" in Italy.

So let's see with him the steps to get an excellent coffee with the V60, and later, my solo attempt.

Coffee with the V60 | FRANCESCO SANAPO

Sanapo begins by weighing Geisha variety coffee beans, originally from Panama. Exactly 24 grams, weighed with millimeter precision simply by eye. This, says Sanapo, is the perfect dose to obtain a good coffee with this method.

Then, start grinding them, coarsely, for exactly two and a half minutes. Here, too, precision is fundamental, Sanapo informs us: if the coffee is ground it is too thick, in fact, it will take less to filter, if it is too fine, it will take longer.

By grinding for two and a half minutes, we will get the perfect consistency.

After that, Sanapo places the ground coffee in the freshly washed paper-fabric filter, in order to avoid unpleasant flavors.

From this moment, the pre-infusion begins. Sanapo pours a quantity of water three times its weight, therefore 72 grams, over the coffee for exactly thirty seconds.

Then Sanapo turns and mixes the solution that has formed with a teaspoon to ensure the complete extraction of all the coffee particles.

After this stirring, we finish pouring water, until we reach the dose of 360 grams total (for two people) and then we give a light shake to our V60 to level everything.

No specks of dust should remain on the filter.

As the liquid flows into the carafe, Sanapo keeps an eye on the clock like a sports coach with his champion: he knows that in the end he will make it.

In the meantime, the filter begins to take on the appearance of holes made by children on the beach, finally it dries up and leaves a coffee base that only vaguely recalls what we throw in the damp house every day, much more monochromatic.

Coffee with the V60 - Me, modestly

In the full knowledge that I will not stand up to the comparison with the master, I grab the kit of the small brand new extractor - which I brought home directly from the Artisan Company - complete with grinder, disposable eV60 filters marked out to that of Sanapo.

There is also coffee, of Kenyan quality: I can therefore prepare myself for the least worst possible infusion.

Dear readers, pay attention to my mistakes so as not to repeat them.

I decide not to use any scales: I want the kit to be enough for me, and the measuring cup supplied with the V60 Hario winks at me, with a notch on 12 grams that seems to have been placed there especially for me

I grind my fragrant beans and pour the right amount into the filter.

I am alone in the pre-infusion when I realize that there is no lack of the delicious Sanapo cream in my filter: I shake the V60 and stir the coffee with a spoon in the hope that something will happen, but it's all in vain.

I probably should have washed the filter with hot water, as Sanapo had done.

I have finished pouring all the liquid, only 180 ml as my extractor is single while the one used by Sanapo was for two people, and I look anxious.

There is now a little foam, albeit little, but the seconds seem to pass too slowly and my coffee seems to be filtered too quickly.

After two very long minutes, the wait is over.

It could have been worse.

The result is discreet, even if the acidity is not perceived very much (I probably added water at too high a temperature, thus destroying some truckloads of coffee aromas) and the note of "tomato" that should characterize this delicious single-origin Kenyan remains, unfortunately, only the memory of the sensory analysis performed in the Sanapo tasting laboratory.

In short, in the end, what do we say about my first attempt at filter coffee?

Brewed by Sanapo, the V60 produced a respectable coffee as a result. Made by me, a little less. But I want to give the V60 the doubt of my inexperience.

And now, I'm going to make myself a coffee.

In the mocha.