Coffee Brewing Methods: A Home Guide With Recipes

What are the main coffee brewing methods?

Seven methods cover most home brewing: pour-over, French press, AeroPress, moka pot, espresso, cold brew and drip bags. They differ in how water meets the coffee. Pour-over and drip bags let water run through a filter, French press and cold brew steep the grounds, the AeroPress steeps then presses, and moka pots and espresso machines push water through under pressure.

Every recipe below starts from an 18g dose, our house recipe size. The one exception is the drip bag, which comes with its own pre-measured dose. Ratios are coffee to water by weight, and 1g of water is 1ml, so a kitchen scale does the measuring.

Coffee brewing methods compared

Method	Grind size	Dose	Water	Ratio	Brew time	Best for
Pour-over (V60)	Medium-fine	18g	260g at 93°C	About 1:14	2:30 to 3:00	Clean, aromatic black coffee
French press	Coarse	18g	270g at 93°C	1:15	4 minutes	A full-bodied cup with little kit
AeroPress	Medium-fine	18g	220g at 90 to 93°C	About 1:12	2 minutes	One strong cup, at home or travelling
Moka pot	Fine, a little coarser than espresso	About 18g, basket filled level	Hot water to just below the valve	Set by the pot	4 to 5 minutes	Kaw stovetop coffee for milk
Espresso	Fine	18g	About 36g of espresso out	1:2	25 to 35 seconds	Milk drinks and straight shots
Cold brew	Coarse	18g	150ml of cold water	1:8, then dilute	18 to 24 hours in the fridge	Smooth iced coffee made ahead
Drip bag	Pre-ground in the bag	Pre-measured in the bag	200ml at 95°C	Set by the bag	2 to 3 minutes	The office and travel, no kit needed

The temperatures above suit a medium roast. Go hotter for light roasts (95 to 98°C) and cooler for dark roasts (85 to 90°C).

How do you make pour-over coffee?

For a V60 or a similar cone, brew 18g of medium-fine coffee with 260g of water at 93°C and finish in 2:30 to 3:00. That ratio, about 7g of coffee for every 100ml of water, is the starting point in our brew ratio guide.

1. Rinse the paper filter with hot water and pour that water away.
2. Add 18g of ground coffee and level the bed.
3. Pour 40g of water to wet all the grounds, then wait 30 to 40 seconds while the coffee blooms.
4. Pour the rest in slow circles until the scale reads 260g, by about 1:45.
5. Let it drain. The bed should finish flat at around 2:30 to 3:00.

If the cup tastes sour, grind finer. If it tastes bitter and dry, grind coarser. Change the grind first and keep everything else fixed, as our guide to grind size and brew time explains.

How do you use a French press?

Steep 18g of coarse coffee in 270g of water at 93°C for 4 minutes, then press slowly and pour. The metal mesh lets the coffee's oils and fine particles through, so the cup is heavier and rounder than a pour-over.

1. Add the coffee, pour in all the water and stir gently so no grounds stay dry.
2. Put the lid on with the plunger up and wait 4 minutes.
3. Stir the crust on top, skim off any foam, then press down slowly.
4. Pour everything out straight away. Coffee left sitting on the grounds keeps brewing and turns bitter.

How do you brew with an AeroPress?

Brew 18g of medium-fine coffee with 220g of water at 90 to 93°C, steep for 1:30, then press for about 30 seconds. It makes one strong cup in two minutes, and you can top it up with hot water if you like a longer drink.

1. Rinse the paper filter in the cap and stand the AeroPress on a sturdy mug.
2. Add the coffee, pour in 220g of water and stir a few times.
3. Fit the plunger to stop the drips and wait until 1:30.
4. Press down gently and stop when you hear a hiss.

How do you make coffee in a moka pot?

Fill the basket level with fine coffee (about 18g in a typical 3- to 4-cup pot), add hot water to just below the safety valve and brew on medium-low heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Take it off the heat as soon as it starts to sputter.

1. Fill the bottom chamber with water just off the boil, up to just under the valve. Starting hot means the coffee spends less time on the stove.
2. Fill the basket level without tamping and wipe the rim clean.
3. Screw the pot together with a cloth, because the base will be hot, and set it on medium-low heat.
4. When the coffee runs pale and the pot gurgles, take it off and pour.

A moka pot makes a short, kaw brew that stands up well to milk. If you buy pre-ground, our Mokapot grind is sized for it.

How do you make espresso at home?

Dose 18g of finely ground coffee and pull about 36g of espresso in 25 to 35 seconds, a 1:2 ratio, after warming the machine for at least 20 minutes. If the shot tastes sour, grind finer. If it tastes bitter and dry, grind coarser.

Espresso needs the most kit of any method: a machine and a grinder that can grind fine enough for it. Our home espresso guide covers choosing the kit and dialling in a shot.

How do you make cold brew?

Steep 18g of coarse coffee in 150ml of cold water in the fridge for 18 to 24 hours, filter it, then dilute the concentrate 1:1 with water or milk over ice. It tastes smooth, with softer acidity than hot coffee, and a filtered batch keeps for about a week.

The full method, with a batch recipe and how cold brew differs from iced coffee, is in our cold brew guide.

How do you use a coffee drip bag?

A drip bag holds its own pre-measured dose of ground coffee, so there is nothing to weigh. Hang it on your mug, pour 200ml of water at 95°C slowly in a few stages, and lift it out after 2 to 3 minutes.

1. Tear the top along the notch and give the bag a shake to settle the grounds.
2. Hook the paper arms over the rim of your mug.
3. Pour a little water to wet the coffee, wait about 20 seconds, then pour the rest in two or three stages.
4. Let it drain, lift the bag out and drink.

Drip bags suit the office and travel. Ours come in boxes of six, from RM22.

What grind size and water temperature should you use?

Match the grind to the contact time: the shorter the water touches the coffee, the finer you grind. Then set the water by roast level, from 95 to 98°C for light roasts down to 85 to 90°C for dark roasts, with 93 to 95°C for medium.

• Fine: espresso, and the moka pot a little coarser.
• Medium-fine: pour-over and AeroPress.
• Coarse: French press and cold brew.

Grind just before you brew, because ground coffee starts losing its aroma within 20 to 30 minutes. If you don't own a grinder, our house blends come in six grinds, from Espresso to French Press, all at the same price as whole bean. For water, filtered tap water works well in most of Malaysia, and our water guide has the detail.

Which coffee should you use for each method?

Medium roasts work in every method, while medium-dark and dark roasts suit espresso, moka pots, milk drinks and cold brew. Whichever you choose, brew it about 7 to 30 days after its roast date, when coffee is at its best.

• Pour-over and AeroPress: Shipper Blend, our medium-roast all-rounder with dark chocolate, passionfruit and sugarcane (from RM39, or RM1.95 a cup at 15g). For a single origin, Indonesia Ijen is a medium roast with navel orange, floral notes and palm sugar (from RM55).
• French press and cold brew: Brazil Rancho Grande, a sweet, smooth natural Brazil at a medium roast (from RM45), or Black Forest, our dark-roast house blend (from RM39).
• Espresso: Purveyor, a medium-dark blend for daily espresso with malt chocolate, molasses and fruit granola (from RM39).
• Moka pot: Kopio, a medium-dark blend with Malaysian Liberica, tasting of malt chocolate, caramel, apple and spice (from RM39).
• Milk drinks: Canelé, a medium-dark blend with very low acidity, built for milk, with vanilla, caramel and ripe berries (from RM35).

We roast each of these to order in Kuala Lumpur, print the roast date on every bag and ship within 24 hours of roasting. Your beans reach you just before the 7-to-30-day window opens, so the whole window is yours. Our roast date guide explains how to read the date.

Which brewing method should you start with?

Start with a French press if you want the easiest route to a good cup: coarse grind, 4 minutes, press and pour. Move to a pour-over when you want a cleaner cup and more control, or pick an AeroPress if you brew one cup at a time.

If you drink mostly lattes, a moka pot is an inexpensive route to strong coffee for milk, and an espresso machine is the upgrade once you're ready for the kit. With no equipment at all, start with drip bags. Whichever brewer you choose, a kitchen scale and fresh whole beans will lift your cup more than any new gadget.