The 2013 Readers’ Choice results are in. You voted for your top places to eat, drink, shop and enjoy all things food in St. Louis. Winners ran the gamut from classics like Sidney Street Cafe and Pappy’s Smokehouse to new-and-notables like Pastaria and Sauce on the Side. And when you need the best cup of coffee in town, you head down to Sump Coffee in South City for a meticulously balanced brew.
When it comes to making the perfect cup of coffee, Sump Coffee’s Scott Carey has it down to a science. Here, the coffee connoisseur teaches us how to make the ultimate cup of coffee at home. Yet he’s quick to caution that his advice is more guidelines than strict rules. “Ultimately, your palate should always determine your cup.” So once you’ve mastered his brewing method, tweak the technique according to your preference.
The Tools* Hario V60 Drip Pour Over Coffee Scale and Timer If you’re going to brew, you have to have a scale. Look for a gram scale with an accuracy of 1/10 of a gram and with a timer that counts up – not down. This model from Japanese company Hario has a built-in timer, another essential brewing tool. $58 to $70.
Hario V60 (VDC-02W) The hole in the bottom of this ceramic device funnels coffee in a slow, steady stream for a smooth, balanced cup. The 02 model brews 11 ounces, perfect for 2 small cups or 1 large one. $21.
Hario V60 Coffee 700-mL Server Carafe The V60 will need something to stream into. If you want to pinch pennies somewhere, any heat-resistant vessel that fits the V60’s flat bottom will work – even a large, transparent mug will do. “It helps if you can see what’s in there, for those oops moments, so you don’t burn yourself or spill.” $18 to $20.
02 Paper filters Your filter should match your V60, so grab the 02 size. If you can find bamboo filters, all the better. If not, paper is just fine. $9 to $15/100.
Hario V60 Coffee Drip Kettle Buono (VKB-120HSV) “You have to have a way of controlling the rate of the pour and where you’re pouring, so you need a goose-neck kettle.” $50 to 60.
Burr grinder Look for a Burr grinder – not a blade grinder – that produces a uniform particle size. It can be a hand version or an automatic one.
Hot, filtered water Run your water through a filter before using it. Then bring it to a boil and let it sit until the temperature falls to 200 to 206 degrees, about 2 minutes. Never brew with boiling water.
*Tools available on amazon.com The Technique
• For Sump’s light-roast coffees, use a ratio of 1 gram of coffee to 15 grams of water. That’s 25 grams of coffee to 350 grams of water for the V60. The grind should be somewhere between a paper filter and a metal filter setting.
• Unfold the filter in the V60 and set the V60 atop your serving vessel. Using the kettle, pour 11 ounces of hot water over the filter. This preheats the V60 and vessel and removes the paper taste from the filter. Dump the hot water from the vessel and place it on the scale. Place the V60 with the wet filter on top and zero out the scale.
• Pour the ground coffee into the wet filter. The scale should read 25 grams. Zero out the scale again.
• Start the timer. Very slowly, pour water into the coffee in a clockwise circle about the size of a quarter until the scale reads 50 grams. Within 10 to 15 seconds, the coffee will begin to bloom – swell up and dome over like a chocolate soufflé. Let it bloom for 30 to 45 seconds.
• Slowly pour the next 300 grams in the same small, clockwise circle, avoiding the edges of the filter. The scale should read 350 grams within 1 minute and 20 seconds. Pour a little faster toward the end if necessary to use all 350 grams of water within that timeframe.
• Let the coffee stream into the vessel. As soon as it starts to drip instead of stream, it’s done. This should take 2 to 2½ minutes. Remove the V60 from the vessel and let the coffee cool for 30 to 45 seconds before serving.
The Tweaks When it comes to hand-brewing coffee, practice makes perfect. Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you fine-tune your technique.
• Don’t take your eyes off the timer. It will tell you how to tweak things next time. For instance, the entire brewing process should take about 2 to 2½ minutes. If it takes more like 1½ minutes, your grind is too coarse. Closer to 3 minutes, and it’s too fine. You also want to make sure the coffee is dripping at the right speed. If your coffee tastes too bitter, it’s been over-extracted; try to reduce your brew time. If the coffee tastes too thin, try to extend your brew time. But don’t go over 2½ minutes.
• Adjust according to bean. Super-fresh coffees will take 45 seconds to fully bloom; older beans will take closer to 30 seconds. For dense, high-elevation coffees such as Ethiopians, use a coarser grind setting.
The Beans “You have to start with good coffee to make good coffee.” Sump’s house-roasted, single-origin beans are roasted to city level at the first crack. That’s coffee speak for super light in order to preserve the bean’s origin and terroir. “You have to sacrifice body, but you get a lot more fruit and brightness out of it, so I think that compromise is worth it.” Apparently, so do you.
-Photo by Jonathan Gayman
This article appears in July 2013.