Smooth Black Coffee
How to Make Smooth Black Coffee Trailer
Our method of making coffee is for those of you who want a smooth—in other words, not bitter—cup of coffee.
We’ll be up front about the fact that baristas everywhere are going to disagree with our method, but honestly, we have different goals. Baristas will want to brew a coffee at a higher temperature than us because they want to bring out all the flavors in a coffee bean. But the higher you go in brewing temperature, the more bitterness you’ll have. Yes, you’ll taste the flavors of the particular coffee bean, but you’ll also have the bitterness that goes with it.
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In summary, BG has tried a number of different brewing methods, including drip method, pour over, French press, aero press. He liked the French press, but the filtration of a French press has problems. The really fine coffee dust in ground coffee still seeps through the French press filter. Over time, that fine coffee dust continues to brew and your cup of coffee will grow more bitter. The flavor was great, but the flavor would change.
The only way to stop the coffee from becoming more bitter over time was to remove the liquid from the grounds completely. This led him to the idea of brewing the coffee in a bowl so the water could mix well with the grounds, which would help maximize the extraction of flavor from the coffee. To filter the bowl of coffee, he decided to use several layers of cheesecloth inside a wire mesh strainer. This works great, but it’s wasteful. You’ll go through so much cheesecloth over time. To be more economical, he now uses muslin fabric, which is pure cotton. It’s easy to clean and can be reused time after time. He found muslin to be a better choice than nylon and other synthetic blends.
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Like wine, find the type of coffee that you love and go with it. BG loves Ethiopian coffee, specifically Sidamo. I happen to love the Sumatra bean. I love it dark, but it also want it to be smooth and not bitter. Our method can be used on any coffee bean—but just be aware that if you bought a package of coffee to taste certain flavors, this method won’t help you draw out all these flavors.
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