the gentleman's pourover / the cheapskate's pourover
as you can see, I was torn on the name here and decided to go with both.
PARTS TO ACQUIRE:
- a coffee filter
- a small or medium-sized strainer; you'll know it's a good size if the filter fits (photos at end)*
- 1-2 mugs, depending on how much coffee you want to make right the fuck now
- coffee grounds
- boiling water, mmmmm
* = NOTE: as long as the strainer has a round bottom, it could be very large compared to the filter and you're still fine. the issue with a flat-bottomed large strainer is that it will not encourage the water to flow to a specific point, which can make for some unpleasant surprises when trying to make coffee over a mug.
WHAT DO NOW?
1. put the filter in the strainer.
2. rinse the filter with a small amount of the water. I pour it slowly and sort of roll the strainer around until the whole filter is saturated. this step is removing a sort of chemical aftertaste that you'll otherwise get from junk left on the filter by the manufacturing process, so don't skip it.
3. add coffee grounds to filter.
4. pour another small amount of water over the grounds. you're trying to get them all wet but not wet enough to have tons of water drip through the filter yet. wait 30 seconds before proceeding to next step. this step is what makes pourover coffee less sour, so don't skip it! if you're an aspiring coffee nerd, read more about this process (which is called blooming) here.
5. pour water slowly over the grounds. IMO, there's not much difference in flavor here between pouring the water fast or slow. however, when I'm making multiple mugs, the slow pour makes it easier to hear when cup #1 is close to full. it's all gonna drip through the filter pretty slowly anyway. (photo at end)
WHY DO YOU USE A STRAINER, WEIRD HUMAN?
two reasons. first, I hate most single-use kitchen devices, and those fancy pourover cup topper things are pretty much only useful for that. second, most of them-- at least where I live-- are plastic. I fucking hate plastic, and regardless of whichever plastic is currently considered "safe" I find they all leave an aftertaste, especially when hot water is involved. the aftertaste meaning: some of the plastic is coming off / leeching into the water. hell to the no.
strainer/filter size comparison:
minute flow of coffee water:
PARTS TO ACQUIRE:
- a coffee filter
- a small or medium-sized strainer; you'll know it's a good size if the filter fits (photos at end)*
- 1-2 mugs, depending on how much coffee you want to make right the fuck now
- coffee grounds
- boiling water, mmmmm
* = NOTE: as long as the strainer has a round bottom, it could be very large compared to the filter and you're still fine. the issue with a flat-bottomed large strainer is that it will not encourage the water to flow to a specific point, which can make for some unpleasant surprises when trying to make coffee over a mug.
WHAT DO NOW?
1. put the filter in the strainer.
2. rinse the filter with a small amount of the water. I pour it slowly and sort of roll the strainer around until the whole filter is saturated. this step is removing a sort of chemical aftertaste that you'll otherwise get from junk left on the filter by the manufacturing process, so don't skip it.
3. add coffee grounds to filter.
4. pour another small amount of water over the grounds. you're trying to get them all wet but not wet enough to have tons of water drip through the filter yet. wait 30 seconds before proceeding to next step. this step is what makes pourover coffee less sour, so don't skip it! if you're an aspiring coffee nerd, read more about this process (which is called blooming) here.
5. pour water slowly over the grounds. IMO, there's not much difference in flavor here between pouring the water fast or slow. however, when I'm making multiple mugs, the slow pour makes it easier to hear when cup #1 is close to full. it's all gonna drip through the filter pretty slowly anyway. (photo at end)
WHY DO YOU USE A STRAINER, WEIRD HUMAN?
two reasons. first, I hate most single-use kitchen devices, and those fancy pourover cup topper things are pretty much only useful for that. second, most of them-- at least where I live-- are plastic. I fucking hate plastic, and regardless of whichever plastic is currently considered "safe" I find they all leave an aftertaste, especially when hot water is involved. the aftertaste meaning: some of the plastic is coming off / leeching into the water. hell to the no.
strainer/filter size comparison:
minute flow of coffee water: