Let’s face it—you’re probably tired of hearing words like “uncertain times” and “unprecedented” in regards to the pandemic we’re currently living through.  You may feel you’ve heard it all, but with new information and safety standards being introduced daily, the importance of protecting our collective health cannot be overstated. For those working from home and watching children that would normally be in school, the need for coffee hasn’t gone anywhere.  And, the familiarity of a hot cup of Joe brings about a sense of comfort that we can hardly take for granted these days.

At the same time, mindfulness about going out into the community is more important than ever.  As we’re encouraged to make only essential trips and with many coffee shops and restaurants still closed or operating with very limited hours, making coffee at home comes to the forefront again.  Now, when you’ve gotten used to the delicious specialty drinks served at your local coffee joint, it can be hard to accept coffee made at home on automatic machines as a happy substitute.  But you can make coffee just as worthy of drinking as that of your favorite shop.

• It all starts with the right bag of beans. Quality in, quality out, right?  You can’t enjoy your ideal morning with low quality coffee.  That means putting down the pre-ground tin from the grocery store and picking up fresh-roasted Fortuna coffee.  Whole bean coffee ground right before brewing always yields the best cup; however, we’re happy to grind it beforehand if you prefer it that way.  The biggest difference is in the freshness of the roast. At Fortuna Coffee, your beans stay green until you order and, since we roast every single week day, you can be sure your beans are the freshest they could possibly be.  This ensures that your coffee is still packed with flavor when it arrives at your doorstep. 
• You’ll also need a quality grinder, like this one from Hario. While most are equipped with metal burrs (blades), Hario makes their grinders with ceramic burrs. This guarantees a more even grind and sets the foundation for a great cup of coffee.
• Next up is a scale. For a 16 oz. cup of coffee, you’ll need about 30 g. of ground coffee and 500 g. of water. This trusty scale is the perfect way to be sure you have a good ratio of coffee to water (about 1:17).  This will help you avoid under- or over-saturating the coffee, which will result in a cup that is too weak, too strong, or lacking the full body and flavor it could potentially have. 
• A good kettle is essential to making a pour over at home. Water is an incredibly important part of the process when it comes to making coffee; as it makes up the majority of the drink! The spout on this one from Hario  allows for the perfect amount of precision and control to make sure that the grounds are evenly saturated and extracted.
• Of course, you’ll need the most important piece of equipment—the actual pour over piece. We recommend this ceramic dripper as it is trusty and great at retaining heat.  The filters are also important, and these paper ones will get the job done beautifully.

Now that you’ve acquired every piece of the puzzle…what do you do with them all?  The actual process of making a pour over is rather simple, and once you have the hang of it, should only take about as long as an automatic coffee brewer would take. 

• Begin heating your water to a boil as you hand grind your coffee.
• Once your water is boiled, set it to the side for a moment, as the ideal temperature to brew coffee is a bit under boiling.
• Fold the end of the filter over and place it in the dripper. Take your kettle and slowly pour a bit of water around the edge of the filter, then dump out the excess water from the apparatus you are brewing into.
• Pour your grounds into the ceramic dripper and shake it a bit to be sure that they settle evenly.
• Place your apparatus and dripper onto the scale and zero it out so you can be sure how much water you’re pouring in.
• Pour about 100 of water in slow, circular motions. Allow the coffee a few seconds to “bloom.”  If your coffee doesn’t bloom, it’s most likely not fresh enough.
• Once your coffee has bloomed, add 100 of water continuously in slow, circular motions until you have reached 500 g. of water.
• Allow the coffee to drip for a few moments in between each addition of 100
• Once you have added all of the water, allow a bit of time for the water to either stop dripping down or drip very slowly, then remove the dripper.
• Swirl your coffee around.
• Enjoy!

The entirety of this process should take only a few minutes, meaning you don’t have to commit to a long process each time you want coffee.  And, as every email in your inbox says, as we navigate through these uncertain times it’s important to take care to change our daily routines to protect the health of ourselves and the people around us.  One small step you can take is switching to making your coffee at home; mitigating the need to leave the house and be around others as often.

If you have questions on home brewing or our products, please reach out to the Fortuna team at orders@coffeeshopsolutions.com. For further reading, check out this post from Fortuna on the seven fundamentals of brewing!