Filter Coffee Preparation – Instructions for Delicious Coffee

Preparing filter coffee is simple when you follow some basic rules. The amount of coffee powder per cup of coffee is just as important as the temperature of the water and the freshness of the coffee. In this guide, we explain everything important to ensure that filter coffee preparation succeeds. At the end of the article, we go through a brew step by step and illustrate it with images and videos.

With the right technique, it is very easy to prepare really good filter coffee. At the same time, there is no cheaper way to brew coffee.

Who this article is for: for anyone with little or no experience with filter coffee. This article gives you a very good foundation. Reading time: 14 minutes. Author: the author of this article was Swiss filter coffee master 2014, 12th at the World Championship in the Brewers Cup and 3 times Swiss Brewers Cup runner-up.

How much coffee powder per cup?

The correct amount of coffee per cup is crucial for how the coffee tastes. However, since cup sizes vary greatly, specifying the amount of coffee per cup is not particularly suitable for reliably brewing delicious coffee.

We recommend approximately 6 grams of coffee per 100 ml of brew water. You can calculate this up or down as you like. If you brew with 300 ml of hot water, the coffee amount of choice is approximately 18 grams. For one liter, that works out to around 60 grams of coffee powder. Why this ratio works and how it shifts with espresso and French press is explained in the article on coffee dosage per cup.

If the coffee is too strong at this brew ratio, brew with 5 grams of coffee per 100 ml. If the coffee is too weak for you, increase to 7 grams of coffee per 100 ml. In this range, Central Europeans prefer to drink their coffee based on experience.

A typical coffee cup holds about 150 ml of water. 9 grams of coffee would therefore be the coffee amount of choice according to the logic above. This way of brewing coffee of course requires a scale. If you have a kitchen scale on hand, the amount is measured quickly. If constant measuring is too much effort, you can measure once how much water fits in your own coffee cup and how much coffee powder a heaped teaspoon holds. Measuring briefly each time removes the uncertainty about whether the coffee that tasted good last time will taste good again this time.

What temperature for brewing?

The perfect brew temperature is about 92 – 94 degrees Celsius. Unfortunately, many filter coffee machines cannot be adjusted. This is one reason why hand-brewed coffee often tastes better. The temperature is easy to achieve by boiling the brew water in a kettle. After about 2 minutes, it has cooled to the desired brew temperature of 92 – 94 degrees.

This temperature is a guideline that generally works well with good filter coffee roasts. They taste neither too bitter nor too sour at this brew temperature – in other words, they are "balanced". That's exactly what makes good filter coffee.

Lighter roasted coffees can easily be brewed at higher temperatures. At the World Championship in filter coffee brewing, for example, I brewed a light-roasted Kenyan coffee at 98 degrees Celsius. The balance of the coffee was still present, and at the same time, the full complexity of the coffee bean was carried into the cup.

Darker roasted coffees are already more bitter from the roasting process itself. Lower brew temperatures work better here. High temperatures further enhance the bitterness. We recommend brew temperatures of 88 to 92 degrees, so about 3 – 4 minutes after boiling the water.

Online you often find headlines like: cook filter coffee, cooking filter coffee, and brewing coffee. We cannot recommend! Boiling coffee causes strong bitterness and not delicious coffee. That's why we talk about brewing filter coffee.

How long should the hot water be in contact with the coffee?

The best brew time depends greatly on the amount of coffee powder and water used, the brewing method, and the roast. If you brew 200 – 300 ml of water, then I recommend a brew time of 2 – 3 minutes. Per 100 ml, the brew time can be extended by 30 seconds. From around 800 ml, different rules apply!

These directional guidelines can help you set your brew correctly. Setting is the key word here. As with the espresso machine, with most filter methods (called pour over or drip methods in English), you adjust the brew time using the grind size. The finer the grind, the more resistance for the water and the longer the brew time.

With electronic filter coffee machines, the adjustment options are also limited. If you brew by hand, you can adjust the speed of the brew by pouring the brew water more slowly or quickly.

With all brewing methods, it is ideal if most of the coffee and the water used remain in contact throughout the entire brew time. If you brew quickly at the beginning, for example, part of the coffee powder sticks to the top of the filter and is difficult to bring back into the brew. This part of the coffee powder is underextracted in this case. These particles are "high & dry" (common formulation in the anglicized-heavy coffee language), so high & dry, and contribute nothing to the coffee flavor in the cup. Since the coffee amount was calibrated to the water, the taste result in the cup may not be perfect.

To perfectly set up filter coffee machines, calculating the brew cycle is practical. A complete brew is run without coffee powder to measure the effective drip time. Getting the best out of a filter coffee machine will be the subject of another article.

The coffee grinder as the key to good coffee

The chapter on brew time alone has demonstrated the importance of the coffee grinder. Only those who can grind coffee will be able to control the brew time by adjusting the grind size. Of course, coffee can also be ground at the roaster or supermarket in many places. However, this grinder previously held at best a not-so-fine coffee, and in the worst case grain or pepper.

Buying pre-ground is also not an option. The grind size is not properly adjusted in this case. Furthermore, coffee loses quality with every second after grinding. The whole bean is in its unground structure a kind of protective layer for the coffee. Air only reaches the surface and only reacts with it. As soon as coffee is ground, the surface multiplies a thousandfold. The reaction with oxygen and light begins immediately at every cut and fracture point. Volatile aromas from the coffee escape. At the same time, an oxidation process begins that is very quickly noticeable in the taste.

Even inexperienced participants in our sensory courses discover the off-taste of "old coffee" just two hours after grinding. Coffee first loses complexity and then tastes rancid.

With the grinder, aim for a medium grind size. The coffee should feel approximately like fine polenta. The brew water must glide through the coffee neither faster nor slower than in roughly the time indicated above.

What equipment makes sense?

Filter coffee is such a popular method also because it is so simple and quick for anyone to master. A huge budget is not necessary. In many countries, filter coffee is brewed in cloth filters that resemble socks or tights. There are basically no limits to your own experimentation. A classic filter like those from manufacturers Melitta, Hario, or Kalita doesn't cost much and is excellent. Inexpensive filter coffee machines are also available well under 120 CHF/100 euros.

However, in this price range, I would always recommend a hand filter and spend more on the coffee machine. The main problem with cheap filter coffee machines is that they don't precisely control the brew temperature. The second and even more important phenomenon is the water distribution over the coffee bed. Almost all cheap filter coffee machines drip uniformly onto the same spot.

That's a problem! Especially at this point, "turbulence" occurs, i.e., swirling between water and coffee. This spot is therefore particularly heavily washed out. This leads to overextraction at this spot and consequently to bitterness. The remaining coffee powder is meanwhile too little moistened and cannot bring its own delicious potential into the cup.

Better go with the hand filter!

That's why my advice: brew with the hand filter. It brings you closer to the coffee and allows you to truly learn how to prepare filter coffee.

Those who prefer a stronger coffee – somewhere between filter coffee and espresso – will find a cheap and uncomplicated option in the espresso maker. It brews at a TDS of 3–4 % significantly stronger than filter coffee, but requires neither electricity nor special equipment.

I also recommend a simple grinder. A hand grinder is perfect. If you enjoy brewing coffee and also want to delight groups or the office more often, then the electric Wilfa grinder is a good choice.

The equipment is complete with a scale and can then be expanded as you like. The scale helps you dose the water and coffee amounts. Any letter or kitchen scale works. Coffee scales also have a stopwatch – a practical gadget that gives you control over the brew time.

Paper, cloth, or metal filter paper – what's the difference?

The paper filter bag does a good job, as does the cloth filter or metal filter. All three separate most of the coffee powder from the coffee drink. The most consistent is the filter paper. While cloth and metal filters allow some sediments and also coffee oils through, the filter paper stops the solids of the coffee almost completely depending on its density.

Personally, I like to drink coffee filtered with paper best. It is clearest because of this, and no sediment trace is left in the cup that bothers me at the last sip. Coffee filtered through paper has a lighter body; it feels less heavy on the tongue. When brewed well, this coffee makes up for it with "elegance."

Coffee filtered with cloth or metal is full-bodied and can bring out different notes through the taste of coffee oils than coffee filtered with paper.

If I have to choose between cloth or metal, I choose a very fine-mesh metal sieve or net, such as the Coffee Dribbler. We also made a test video about the Coffee Dribbler that highlights the advantages of this fine-mesh filter.

The big advantage over the cloth filter is relatively easy cleaning. Cloth filters get dirty quickly and heavily and must be cleaned very thoroughly by machine to develop little flavor. But you always drink a bit of patina with the cloth filter. Unfortunately, there's no way around it.

Soft water is good water

When brewing filter coffee: the softer the water, the more delicious your coffee will be. The nice side effect: your kettle scales up less.

Medium-hard and hard water buffer the acidity in coffee. Acidity is very important for the balance and taste of all complex delicacies. Without acidity, coffee tastes bland and empty. It's true: hard water turns very good filter coffee into an average one.

A few years ago I traveled through Switzerland and tested various waters to see which were good for brewing coffee. You can read the results here.

Soft and very good water for brewing filter coffee has less than 8 German degrees of hardness and more than 2 dH. You can filter this water or use mineral water.

If you want to buy soft water, you will definitely find the perfect mineral water for your region in this gigantic list.

It may sound exaggerated that water plays a role in this guide for good filter coffee. However, filter coffee consists of 98.5% water and only 1.5% dissolved coffee particles. These numbers alone demonstrate the importance of water.

Which coffee is best suited for filter coffee?

Coffee beans that are light to medium-dark roasted are better suited for filter coffee. They are more balanced in flavor and easier to brew. Darker coffees tend to be bitter. Lighter roasted coffees show the typical flavor notes of the region of origin more clearly. The way the green coffee is processed after harvest is also not overshadowed by overly strong roasting notes.

Many modern "specialty coffee roasters" tend to roast coffees too light. In this case, the coffee is underroasted and the flavor is not sufficiently developed. This extreme is also not ideal from our perspective.

Many good roasteries now make very good filter coffee. In Switzerland, besides our own filter coffees, I enjoy filter coffee from Vertical, Kafischmitte, or Stoll Kaffee. From Germany, I like the roasts from Mokuska in Stuttgart, Tegernseer Rösterei, Johannes Bayer, Backyard coffee, and many others. Internationally, Coffee Collective is a great choice. I will expand the list when I have the chance.

How fresh should the coffee be?

Perfect filter coffee is no older than two months. You can tell this by a roast date printed on the packaging. If no roast date is visible on the packaging, that's a reason not to buy this coffee.

Only the roast date allows you to determine the freshness of the coffee. I like to drink filter coffee starting 3 – 5 days after roasting. The opened bag should then be consumed within 2 weeks. The reason is, as with grinding, the reaction with oxygen. Every time you open the coffee bag, fresh oxygen enters the bag, which accelerates the aging of the coffee beans.

Coffee can also be brewed immediately after roasting. However, it is then still heavily loaded with CO2, which both does not contribute positively to the taste and foams so vigorously in the filter that the brew does not proceed evenly. Therefore, a rest period of a few days after roasting makes sense. For espresso preparation, "degassing" of carbon dioxide for at least 10 days is advisable.

Prepare filter coffee step by step

With the following images and video sequences, we go through the preparation of filter coffee step by step using the Hario V60. This guide applies to any standard coffee filter. For example, we use 18 g coffee and 300 g water.

Rinse the filter paper with hot water to wash out the paper taste. Plenty of water won't hurt. 200 ml flushed through is a good guideline. Try the rinsed water once. You'll taste that you don't want that in your coffee.

We now pour three times the amount of coffee used in water. In the case of this example, we use 54 g of water at a temperature of 93 degrees. With this water, the entire coffee bed is moistened circularly from the inside out.

This type of pre-brew is called blooming in English. The coffee blooms, so to speak, as some of the carbon dioxide from the coffee dissolves and releases. Once the CO2 has escaped, a controlled brew is possible.

After 30 seconds, we increase the water amount to 125 grams.

At a brew time of about 0:50 minutes, I increase the water amount to a total of 200 grams. I pour in a circular stream from the inside out and back in. The coffee bed rises with good grind size adjustment without going above half the filter paper (otherwise adjust slightly coarser next time).

With a fourth pour after about 1:30, I increase the total water amount to 300 grams. Now the water bed level rises to the upper third. With a stirring rod, I bring the entire water amount into rotation. This continues to rotate until the coffee finishes dripping after about 2:30 minutes.

Summary and brew recipe

There is no single right brew recipe! There is also not just one right way to delicious coffee. That's very important. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. With coffee, the saying goes: "what matters is in the cup." If your coffee tastes good, you've done everything right.

• 6 grams of coffee per 100 grams of water, for example 18 grams of coffee to 300 grams of water
• Use hot water of 92 – 94 degrees
• 2 – 3 minutes contact time
• Soft water with a hardness between 2 - 8 dH
• Fresh coffee = 5 days old and no older than 2 months

Have fun trying and brewing. How did it go for you? What tips and experiences have you made? I look forward to your comments and feedback.

If you want to learn more about brewing filter coffee, check out our channel on YouTube

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