Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I got a pour over cup to make coffee. I tried it tonight with a paper filter and some awesome coffee. It was really weak and not good. What did I do wrong? How much coffee should I use? I am used to instant coffee and tea so I am a bit clueless!

You mean a one-cup drip coffee thingy? Sort of a cone with holes at the bottom, uses #2 filters?

C&S usually tells me to use like six heaping spoonfuls. It seems like a lot to me, but she likes it. (I don't usually drink coffee.)

Here's a good video on how to use a manual drip cone:
http://www.chow.com/food-news/54460/how ... -holschuh/

I usually use around three tablespoons of ground coffee to make one 8 oz cup of coffee (which isn't as strong as the video recommends, but it's strong enough for me). Also, I often get lazy and don't bother stirring, but stirring does make a better cup of coffee. But, I always wet the filter and let the coffee bloom-- those are both critical steps in my opinion.

You may have poured too fast, too. You're supposed to pour slow. It's the only way I can make a tasty cup of coffee. For some reason I suck at French press and drip machines.

the cone filter (or its country cousin, the fabric filter) is how the majority of brazilians make coffee.

something you can try that i think makes it better:
take your hot water and mix the coffee INTO it. (if you put in sugar, you can put the sugar into *boiling* water, stir to dissolve and lowe temperature. if you don't put in sugar, make sure your water is not-quite-boiling). Stir it around and wait 30 sec to a minute.
Dump the whole thing into the cone filter.
I've never had good results with just pouring water over the powder (or if i do i need to use about 4 times as much). yes, you have another cup to wash. but your coffee's worth drinking now.

*note- this makes the coffee STRONG, which is how we like it down here. if you don't like strong coffee, don't try it.

I use one of those. The coffee needs to be ground very fine, so you can't just use ground coffee from the supermarket. Even the "cone filter" setting on the store grinders is too coarse - it needs to be one or two clicks finer than that. I usually grind mine at home.

I pour a little boiled water to wet the grounds, then I fill it up and stir with a spoon for a few seconds. I use about 2-3 tablespoons ground coffee per cup. Need more coffee....

Yeah, pouring speed can matter a lot, depending on your drip cone. If you have a drip cone with only one hole on the bottom, the coffee will drip through fairly slow, so the rate at which you pour the water over doesn't matter too much (if you let the coffee bloom first!). But, if you have a drip cone with three holes on the bottom, it's much more important to slowly pour the water in so that it doesn't drip through too fast. I've been able to make good cups of coffee much more consistently once I got a drip cone with only one hole on the bottom.

Using more finely ground coffee can also slow down the rate of dripping, but careful with that-- too finely ground and you'll end up with a bitter, over-extracted cup of coffee. But yeah, if your coffee was ground too coarsely, you'll end up with flat, weak coffee.

Wow, I don't think it's at all as complicated as everyone is making it! I always make coffee this way. Start with a strong roast (french roast for example), use a heaping coffee scoopful (the kind of scoop that comes in a can of coffee), let your water sit for a couple seconds after boiling, pour. Use regular drip grinds - I grind mine at the store and there is a setting for manual drip size. It's not exactly the same size as for electric drip machines, but pretty close. My coffee always comes out strong and delicious.

OK so maybe up my scoop to a 1/4 of a cup scoop? I just have regular paper filters, my pour over cup has one hole. I usually pour 1/2 of my water in, then wait and pour the rest...

I believe the coffee scoops are 1/8 cup (so 2 tablespoons) - so I'd use about 2.5 tablespoons for a heaping scoop. I also have regular paper filters. And my cone filter has three holes, but I just pour water in till the cone is filled, then more later if I need it. The coffee slows down the water sufficiently in my experience. Your problem might all be about using slightly too coarse grinds.

I had the shop grind it. Next time I will grind my own. I do not want to waste the $$$ coffee! It was better tonight but it got cold fast....

If you want really really really finely ground coffee and are prepared to throw All The Money at it, the dry blade vitamix container works super well for that. My husband got me one for Christmas and that's..the only thing I've used it for so far because I am laaazy, but I just mastered the fine line between ground well enough to make good, decently strong coffee in the Aeropress but not so fine that it's impossible to do the plunger.

My partner makes pour over every morning - to get it strong and flavorful, he pours only about 1/4c. at a time. Just pours enough water to get the grounds wet, and let's it drip slowly through. When it's been 30 seconds or so or you peek and it's not really dripping, pour a bit more water. Repeat until you have as much coffee as you want! He uses 2 level scoops (Tbsp?) of beans per cup.

my damn coffee keeps getting cold! :/ i am thinking it is the grind. so if i buy a hand grinder can i regrind the coffee i have now finer?

Are you prewarming your cup? I always fill my cup/thermos with hot water while I'm getting everything ready.

I've never reground coffee in my hand grinder, but I'd imagine it might work? The hand grinder gets things pretty dang fine.

i do warm my cup because i wash it before use with hot water...

How would the grind affect the ability of the coffee to hold temp? Have you tried an insulated cup?

Yeah not sure I get the cold thing. I mean it's boiling water...

From everything I am reading the thicker the grind the harder it is for the coffee to pass through. A cup should take 3 - 4 minutes. Mine is like 6...So it effects the temp.

Oh man huh, mine pours through like, one minute. So I was confused. Mine has three holes, Maybe that helps.

I remain convinced this is just a way to use way too much coffee. If I (have to) make filter coffee I just stick the whole filter in a cup and use it like a giant tea bag. Maybe I will try it properly tomorrow and see how it goes.

I drink my coffee black so the temperature loss is a good thing. I can see how if you are adding milk or cream it could be too cold.

As someone else suggested, an insulated cup would be good. Or even an old thermal sock (don't say eww, clean it well first). When I am taking a glass bottle with me in a backpack, with a smoothie or other drink in it, I put it inside a thermal sock to protect the glass and keep it cool.

I use a teaspoon of almond milk, but even before the almond milk it is cold. I do not think a sock will help, it is the drip, 5 minutes on the counter in a cold kitchen will need a personal campfire not a cozy...

Is your drip cone ceramic, by any chance? I have several drip cones, and when I use the ceramic one I have to warm it up with a lot of boiling water if I don't want the coffee to cool too much.

It is!

I think I am going to get myself a cute little 3 cup french press...I do not have a lot of electrical sockets in the kitchen so a coffee machine is useless, it was such a hassle when I had one because of the electrical outlets and low cabinets.