Home Brewing
Coffee lovers need easy, quality brewing methods for home brewing to get them out the door in the morning. We’re sharing our favorite methods and recipes for your morning cup. To brew at home, ideally, you will want whole bean coffee (we recommend all our Ladro Roasting blends and Micro-Lots), a grinder, a brewer, and a scale, in addition to a teapot or sauce pan for heating water. All the recipes below require that you brew on a scale, with the exception of the IFill Brewer and 8 Cup Brewer. We also recommend specific coffee grind levels for each method.
With so many options, home brewing can seem overwhelming. Hopefully, our recommendations will guide you to a method you like and coffee you enjoy! All the brewers we mentioned are available at CaffeLadro.com, should you want to set up or expand your home coffee bar.
AeroPress
Are you a coffee drinker who brews one or two cups each morning? The AeroPress is a great way to brew at home because of how quick and easy it is to use. To make a great cup of coffee with this brewer, follow the steps below:
- Bring your water to a boil and set it aside for 30 seconds; it will cool to 200 degrees
- Place a rinsed filter in the cap and twist into the chamber (rinsing the paper filters will remove any sort of papery taste)
- Finely grind coffee and add 25 grams to the chamber
- Set your timer for 2 minutes and add hot water
- Once you’ve added 150 grams give it a few stirs using the plastic stirrer provided
- Add another 100 grams of water and give it a few more stir
- Use the plunger to create a vacuum seal and let it brew for two minutes.
- At the two minute mark begin to press the coffee into your cup (pressing should take around 20 seconds)
- Add 80 grams of water to the brewed concentrate.
- Press the puck of used coffee into compost, give everything a quick rinse and enjoy your coffee
Immersion Dripper
The another single cup brewer we recommend is BonaVita’s Immersion Dripper which makes excellent coffee or tea. Porcelain sides keep your water hot as you brew and the adjustable stopper allows you to control the level of extraction. The design brews up to 16 ounces at a time while retaining the full flavors of a single-cup brew.
- Place a #4 filter in the immersion dripper, close the stopper and fill the dripper with hot water (This preheats the brewer and removes any papery taste from the filter)
- Pour out the pre-heat water and keep the filter in place
- Add 25 grams of coffee (fine drip grind)
- Making sure the valve is closed, add 60 grams of water and wait 30 seconds
- At the 30 second mark add 350 grams of water
- Open valve at 3.5 minutes
- The draw down should take about 30 seconds, making this a 4 minute brew time
If the brew takes longer than 30 seconds to draw down your grind may be too fine. If the brew draws down quicker than 30 seconds your grind may be too coarse.
I-Fill Single Cup Brewer
The final single cup brewer we recommend is the IFill Single Cup Brewer which makes an excellent cup of coffee. A simple but very effective “little” brewer, iFill’s Single Cup Brewer is designed to use any K-Cup® or iFill Cup™. It’s also the only single cup brewer we’ve ever found that brews at an appropriate 201°F, which offers better flavor extraction.
- Place the amount of water you want to use into the brewer and your cup under the spout
- Add a single cup pod–we recommend our Ladro Cups
- Close the top to commence brewing
- Brewed coffee will be in your cup in under 2 minutes
When home brewing coffee for two or more people, you might find the following methods become your favorites.
Chemex
With a wooden collar to make holding the sleek glass brewer comfortable and safe, the Chemex Brewer makes up to eight 5-ounce cups of coffee. Couples, families, and offices find this coffee brewer a beautiful addition to any coffee bar. The functional and modern design places the Chemex brewer in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, NY. The following recipe will provide you with a perfect brew.
- Heat your water to a boil and let it sit for 30 seconds and cool to 200 degrees
- Wet the Chemex filter and place it in the Chemex vessel
- Weigh out 50 grams of coffee (coarse grind)
- Use a timer or watch a clock as you proceed
- Pour 800 grams of water over grounds slowly in a circular motion over 3.5 minutes
- Draw down should finish at between 4 – 5 minutes
- Remove the filter and pour from the vessel into your cup
BonaVita 8 Cup Brewer
The BonaVita 8 Cup Brewer is extremely easy to use! The glass-lined thermal carafe will take your home brewing to the next level. The heater raises water to the ideal brewing temperature. The brewer’s shower head completely saturates coffee grounds for the perfect extraction every time. If you want easy and perfection in every cup of coffee, we think this brewer will make your morning!
- Add filtered cold or room temperature water to the reservoir
- Place a Melitta #4 filter in the brew basket
- Add 65 grams of coffee (drip grind)
- Place the carafe and cone with the coffee grounds into position
- Push the switch to the on position and the brewer will do all of the work
Home Brewing is Easy for Tea Lovers
If you prefer tea, brewing tea is super easy with the BonaVita Immersion Dripper! One of the most important variables with brewing teas is matching the water temperature to the tea you’ve selected. White and green teas have delicate leaves, and therefore require below boiling water temperatures between 160 and 175 degrees Fahrenheit (71 – 77 degrees Celsius). Temperatures higher than those will cook the leaves and ruin their delicate flavors.
Oolong teas should be brewed at temperatures between 180 and 190 degrees Fahrenheit (82 – 88 degrees Celsius) for best results.
Black and Herbal teas brew best at full boil temperatures between 208 and 212 degrees Fahrenheit (97 – 100 degrees Celsius).
- 8oz – 2 grams
- 12oz – 3 grams
- 16oz – 4 grams
- 20oz – 5 grams
With your tea matched to a recommended brewing temperature, follow the ratios above and the steps below to make your tea.
- Place a #4 filter in the immersion dripper, close the stopper and fill the dripper with hot water (This preheats the brewer and removes any papery taste from the filter)
- Pour out the pre-heat water and keep the filter in place
- Then making sure the valve is closed, add the appropriate ounces of water for the grams of tea you’ve chosen
- Open valve at the proper time depending upon the type of tea you’ve selected (most green, white and black teas steep for 2 – 3 minutes, other more delicate teas may steep for 1 – 2 minutes)
- The draw down should take about 30 seconds, making your tea in just under 5 minutes
Enjoy home brewing one cup at a time and give our Shakerato recipe a try!
Or stop in one of our locations to enjoy a cup brewed for you.
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