#YelpCoffee Drip is Done: Modern Brewing Methods

This was my first Unilocal event, and I loved it! The length of the event (about an hour) was just enough time to five into the nitty gritty grind of coffee, but not be overloaded with information… or caffeine. I’m so happy to have been a part of it and I can’t wait to attend another.

Mark — you did a fantastic job in showing the differences in taste and aroma with the same coffee brewed four different ways. My fine ways of brewing with a porcelain-​metal coffee on the camp fire are completely changed now.
In addition, the Colombian honey coffee was truly an experience.
Many thanks and will see you soon

August 23, 2015 Sunday — 10 AM for coffee class
Bunch of Unilocalers
Atmosphere — 5 stars
Class — 5 stars
Service — 5 stars
Background — I have said this before but this is very relevant. After attending the Listen for the Cracks @ Wood-​Fire Roasted Coffee we decided we had to attend more.
Atmosphere — An old building finding new life. The raw exposed wood in the place felt good.
Class
Today it was basically learning why my drip system is not good enough for the great coffee I have been buying. It is all about the base, oh, I mean the temp. Reno water should be about 206 degrees, which is near boiling for our elevation. Of course that number is going to be different depending on where you are living. Most home drip systems will not come close to that number. We saw a lot of different types of brewing methods. All look so better than a drip system, but a little more skill is involved in them all.
Service — Class was great, after learning from all the different classes it puts it all together today for the home brewer.
Future — Sad the coffee events are over. But I have no doubts there will be more series in the future.

Great way to end this amazing series of events.
We all learned so much about coffee all the way from bean to cup. I am glad I was abe to attend all six events. I will never look at coffee the same way again.
Today Mark, owner of Magpie Coffee, walked us through some brewing processes that we can actually reproduce at home. Well, some people may be able to reproduce this at home if they are actually capable of doing something more at 5:00 in the morning then stumble into the kitchen and pour ready made coffee from the programmable Cuisinert.
Mark explained about using a ratio of 15:1 (grams of water: coffee) and heating water to 206 F (boiling temperature in Reno). When using a Chemed or Hario 360, GENTLY pour the hot water over the coffee to fully extract the deliciousness from every ground. Using a water pot with a narrow spout gives you the control you need and placing the coffee pot on a scale ensures you maintain the proper ratio.
He also demonstrated making coffee with an AeroPress and a Siphon. The AeroPress is a tube with a plunger which forces the hot water through the coffee after letting it steep for a few minutes. The Siphon looks like something from your high school chemistry class mated with with the old percolators that your grandmother had sitting on her stove. The boiling water creates a vacuum which then rises and then percolates over the coffee and then drips back into the bottom chamber to make the drinkable brew. Pretty complicated process.
I am looking forward to really exploring the brave new world of specialty coffee. I have a whole new appreciation of all that goes into making a truly outstanding cup of coffee.