———————————————

The drip coffee maker is your standard pot, your morning Rock of Gibraltar that never lets you down. It utilizes medium grounds and a steady stream of heated water to extract your coffee. This is a simplified version of coffee extraction that prioritizes time and quantity. Nothing too fancy, but it gets the job done.

Sanctum’s Recommendation:

———————————————

A 1:16 ratio of coffee to water (1 ounce of coffee per 16 ounces of water). This will prevent over extraction, which can make the coffee taste bitter, dry and hollow, as well as under extraction, which can make the coffee taste salty, acidic, and sour. This ratio helps ensure your coffee has ideal flavor, bringing out the sweetness and complexity of your bean.

———————————————

You know why you are using this. Yes, we are serious. No, you cannot call yourself a coffee enthusiast… addict maybe, but you have to be desperate to use this. Moving on.

Sanctum’s Recommendation:

———————————————

Just fill it up and brew nothing else to do.

———————————————

Espresso machines are every coffee lover’s aspiration — or at least right up until they unbox it and realize they have no idea what is going on and for the life of them cannot determine why their espresso tastes like a little cup of disappointment (we may be projecting a little). It’s a harder form of extraction to master, but once you do, it can provide some of the most versatility, as well as additional brownie points with your friends. This method utilizes higher pressure through a fine grind in order to maximize extraction with minimal water.

Sanctum’s Recommendation:

———————————————

Espresso: 14 to 24 grams of finely ground coffee tamped into a puck then extracted for 25 to 30 seconds to a yield of 1:2 ratio of coffee grounds compared to espresso. If your extraction time is taking too long (over 30 seconds) coarsen the grind. If the extraction is too short (under 25 seconds) make the grind finer.

Additional Options (Mixed to your preferred ratio)

Americano: Espresso + Hot Water

Iced Americano: Espresso + Ice + Cold Water

Traditional Macchiato: Espresso + Dot of Milk Foam

Cortatido: Espresso + Honey + Splash of Milk

———————————————

Similar to the espresso’s style, this revolutionary product makes it easier to get into the espresso and Americano game with a less “capital intensive” entry fee. However, instead of machine-generated pressure over the grinds, an AeroPress uses people-powered-pressure to force water over the grounds, after a short soaking period, which provides an incredibly smooth finish. This is Caden’s personal favorite, and he will die on this hill.

Sanctum’s Recommendation:

———————————————

Heat 300 grams of water to 200 degrees F or 95 degrees C (right before a full boil). Then measure out 20 grams of coffee using a medium-fine grind into the inverted Aeropress. Add 115 grams of the heated water into the press, making sure to wet all the grinds then let them set. This is called the bloom. (The grinds should rise slightly and degas.) After allowing it to bloom for 20 seconds, stir for 5 seconds. Then pour in another 115 grams of water. Allow it 90 seconds to brew before capping the Aeropress and flipping it over onto your mug. Then press down on the AeroPress to extract the coffee.

Factors to consider:

———————————————

You can adjust this recipe and get different extractions and different flavors out of the beans. The amount of time the beans soaks (called an extraction time) affects the flavor the most. Over-extraction, can make the coffee taste bitter, dry and hollow, while under-extraction can make the coffee taste salty, acidic, and sour.

———————————————

If you owned a pour-over apparatus before reading this and didn’t work in a coffee shop, then you were either bullied into getting one by your barista friend or you’re the kind of person who likes morning Yoga and has an herb garden. Either way, we applaud you. The most notable of the many types of pour-over brands are the V60 and Chemex. These use a medium course grind and a more evenly distributed pour, which allows for a smoother, less silty coffee. It also enables you to have more control over your extraction and brewing. This is the best way to enable yourself to taste all of the nuisances and flavors of the coffee.

Sanctum’s Recommendation:

———————————————

Mirroring the drip coffee pot, we recommend a medium course grind and 1:16 ratio (1 gram of coffee grounds for 16 grams of water). We also cannot stress enough the importance of a bloom phase for any pour-over. As always, we recommend the water be preheated to 200 degrees. To set it up, add in the filter and then the grounds equal to your desired final ratio. Then we start the bloom phase. Saturate the grounds and ensure all the grounds are moist with roughly the same amount of water as grounds — approximately a 1:1 ratio. Then you allow the beans to bloom for 30 seconds. After the bloom, begin your extraction by pouring the water in concentric circles gradually moving in and out from the center like a small whirlpool, keeping the grounds agitated and saturated. The ideal extraction time should be roughly 3 minutes with a yield of 16 grams of coffee per 1 gram of coffee grounds.

———————————————

Let’s be real: Someone took a trip somewhere and came back with one of these and a story about how “it is the only way they will ever make coffee going forward.” Follow-up: You haven’t seen them use it in three years. It feels like you’re always three-degrees away from a French Press, so might as well know what it’s about and how to best use it. A French Press is going to give you a significantly heavier extraction and thus a thicker, more syrupy coffee and a more full bodied mouth feel. If you really want to drink coffee oils, this is the way to go.

Sanctum’s Recommendation:

———————————————

Most people use this method for especially strong, thick coffee so we are going to recommend a 1:18 ratio to even it out a little bit more. If you are going for the full-bodied mouth feel, use less water. What Victor likes to do is use 35 grams of medium coarse ground coffee and 660 grams of water. This is super simple: Preheat your water to roughly 200 degrees. Add your coffee to the French press then pour in 660 grams of water. Agitate the coffee grounds, making sure that all the grounds are evenly saturated and submerged in the water. Wait for extraction for roughly 3 1/2 minutes. Then add the top to the French press, slowly push the plunger down and pour out your coffee.

———————————————

Cold Brew was made famous by a certain coffee shop with a green logo, maybe you’ve heard of it? Anyway, the coffee shop that also sells donuts then infused cold brew with nitro, which confused all of us. Neither of them actually perfected it. Cold Brew follows a pattern you may find familiar if you’ve followed along throughout: no pressure applied, which means very extended soaking in course grounds. This in turn creates the optimal cold coffee (although we’ll help you with the iced coffee if you still insist below). It is a very slow extraction over several hours, which should give you a higher caffeine content with a less stringent bitter flavor compared with a traditional hot brewed cup. This is because heat speeds up the extraction process but also dissipates and harshens some flavors, pulling more bitter organic compounds with it into the final product. Cold brew reduces that by having a longer extraction time with colder temperature leading to a lighter, smoother flavor.

Sanctum’s Recommendation:

———————————————

Cold brew is essentially modern art and science combined: It is incredibly individualistic in how you like it, but there are specific ways to get there. There are two basic ways to go about it, and we encourage you to experiment to find out what you like. Many different cold brew devices exist, from toddy bags (think large coffee tea bag) to metal filter immersion fridge kits. Our personal favorite is the toddy bag, but all of these work basically the same with similar results.

Frank likes to start by brewing a concentrate with a 1:5 ratio — 1 part coarse ground coffee to 5 parts water. Fully submerge the grounds within the water in the brewing apparatus. From here it becomes subjective to taste. Brew for at least 12 hours, at which point you can start tasting and continue brewing until it reaches your desired outcome, at which point, removed the grounds. We typically brew anywhere from 16-24 hours depending on the bean and roast level. It is best to taste the coffee concentrate throughout the process to get to your desired flavor. Experiment, have fun with it, then figure out what you like. From here, you can dilute the concentrate further with water and ice to a place you like.

———————————————

It’s like coffee, but with ice. We think we can move right into our recommendations.

Sanctum’s Recommendation:

———————————————

Iced coffee can be done about a million different ways; AeroPress, drip, pour-over, French press, or even decanting it out of a test-tube in the back of a laboratory if you wanted to (ask us about that one). The only difference is, much like cold brew, you’ll want to brew a concentrate and then dilute with ice. This is done to add a “shocked flavor to the coffee” but mostly out of convenience. We sometimes will use a 1:5 ratio and other times a 1: 10 ratio. It really just depends on our mood. Much like we suggested with the cold brew: Experiment, have fun with it, then figure out what you like.

———————————————

At some point someone confused “difficult” with “fancy,” and we ended up here. What is a Moka pot and why is it spelled that way? The heck if we know. Just imagine an espresso machine but done using percolation instead of piston pressure. You are essentially heating up water and using the force of the hot water to push water upward through the coffee grounds to extract espresso into the top chamber. Simple, right?

This method is popular with both Italians and Cubans. Truly connecting us all. Imagine an espresso machine that uses steam pressure instead of machine pressure. You heat up the water in the bottom chamber and it gets forced through the coffee grounds in the middle, with a delicious brew bubbling up into the top.

Sanctum’s Recommendation:

———————————————

This is incredibly close to the espresso method since you are essentially extracting espresso. You are going to need 1:7 ratio of fine ground coffee to grams of water. Place your water in the bottom chamber and place the coffee grounds in the middle chamber. Then place your Moka pot on the stove, light it up, and boil the water. You will know its done when you hearing it gurgling and all the water from the bottom has been boiled through.

———————————————

Maybe at one point you had a brew that you really fell in love with, but something changed along the way and it’s no longer the same. Or maybe you are wanting to optimize your cup of coffee with your favorite bean. Either way, here are a few tips to help improve the quality of the cup with no pricey equipment transitions.

 Water Quality

———————————————

Find a bottled spring water —calcium water extraction absorption of caffeine

Make sure you are using high quality water, such as filtered or bottled water, and not from your tap.

 Scoop (volume) vs. weight

———————————————

Switch from scooping to weighing your coffee. This helps maintain consistency by mitigating uneven scoops, which can happen even if it looks the same brew to brew.

Stick with the Bean

———————————————

Sometimes, it may just be a different batch of beans compared to last time, whether the roast was different, the quality of the bean, or the farm (such as two beans from different farms in the same region). All of these could be factors that may be a one-off, so don’t be too hasty in switching if you really enjoyed the bean/roast at one point.