You know you’re a coffee lover when you start dreaming of your morning cuppa as your head hits the pillow the night before. Dreaming of the aroma as the coffee is brewing and then imaging your first sip – not to mention the jolt of caffeine a few minutes later – that’s enough to make anyone a true coffee lover.
There’s no doubt a myriad of ways to brew that cup of coffee we all crave in the morning. But when it comes to maximum enjoyment, one of our favourite ways to brew coffee is with the time-tested and trustworthy cafetiere.
A cafetiere is as simple a brewer as you’ll ever use. It’s a chamber (glass or metal), with the addition of a fine mesh filter attached to a plunger mechanism.
There’s no paper filter involved and no power outlet needed. Just some hot water, coarse ground coffee beans, a few minutes of your time, and viola! A beautiful, rich cup of coffee can be yours. Here’s how you do it:
Equipment & Ingredients Needed
- Kettle (here’s our favourite electric and stove top kettle)
- Cafetiere (here’s our favourite one)
- Coarse ground coffee: 15g (Tip: if you’re filling the entire cafetiere, then you’ll need 60g of ground coffee. If you prefer your coffee even stronger, feel free to use up to 20g. Coarse ground coffee looks like fine gravel, or very coarse sand.
- Hot Water, just off the boil: 250ml (Tip: if you’re filling the entire cafetiere, then you’ll need approximately 1L of water. Just be careful to not overfill the cafetiere. You may end up using just shy of 1L in the end.
Brewing Instructions
- Pre-warm the cafetiere with hot water. This takes the chill off the chamber, and helps keep your fresh brew warm and ready to drink.
- Measure one scoop of freshly ground coffee per person, approximarley 15g of coarsely ground coffee for every 250ml of water.
- Add some of the hot water, and stir to saturate all of the coffee grounds. Once the grounds are saturated, add the remaining hot water, and stir one more time. Loosely cover the cafetiere to keep the coffee hot while steeping.
- Let the coffee steep for 4 minutes (set a timer).
- Pre-warm your coffee mug with a little warm water.
- After 4 minutes, remove the cover carefully.
- Using a spoon, scoop off any grounds floating on the top of the coffee (often referred to as “the crust”) – this will vastly reduce any sediment and makes for an all around better cup of coffee.
- Gently and slowly press the plunger down to the bottom, stopping once you reach some resistance. Don’t feel the need to press down hard at the end.
- You did it! Serve and enjoy the rich taste of the perfect cup of cafetiere coffee.
Pro Tip
- Resist the urge to leave any coffee in the cafetiere, as it will continue to brew and end up tasting bitter. Instead, transfer it to a carafe, or to another mug, covered with a tea plate, to keep it warm until you’re ready to drink.
Friends coming around? Whip out your cafetiere! Need to super-charge before a long run? Fuel up with your cafetiere! Want to impress that special someone? Make them the perfect cup of cafetiere coffee. You’ll be using this method regularly to enjoy your own, freshly brewed coffee. Small effort, big results – you can’t go wrong!
