Can Freshly Ground Coffee Be Brewed Directly? Is It Better to Brew or Steep Coffee Beans After Grinding?

How to Brew Freshly Ground Coffee: A Complete Guide

For beginners who are new to coffee, you might wonder how to brew coffee after grinding the beans into powder. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will share with you: how should freshly ground coffee be brewed?

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, in ancient times, coffee brewing methods were not as diverse as they are today. Instead, coffee powder was directly steeped, which was very convenient and preserved the authentic flavor of the coffee grounds. However, the only drawback of this direct brewing method was the presence of sediment, essentially consuming fine coffee powder directly, which affected the taste experience. Therefore, as people pursued better coffee flavors, more and more brewing and filtration devices were invented to maximize the preservation of single-origin coffee aroma while removing coffee grounds.

Today, there are many brewing devices on the market, and based on the contact method between water and coffee grounds as well as particle size, coffee brewing is classified into five categories: steeping method, pressure method, gravity method, immersion method, and cold brew method.

If you've purchased hand-pour coffee beans that are freshly roasted, FrontStreet Coffee generally recommends letting them rest for a few days first. It's most appropriate to taste these beans after resting for two to three days. The resting process isn't troublesome - you simply need to place unopened coffee beans in a cool, dry, dark place without strong odors. After the resting period, seal the one-way valve (transparent tape works fine).

This resting process is important, but so is the storage method for coffee beans. If an opened package isn't sealed properly, the coffee beans can easily absorb moisture and lose their aroma quickly. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests storing them in sealed containers, preferably in a cool, ventilated place. If you don't have sealed storage containers at home, you can store the coffee beans in well-sealed bags with one-way exhaust valves, then keep them in a cool, dry place. Once the beans have rested properly, you can choose the appropriate coffee brewing method according to your preferences.

Five Brewing Methods for Freshly Ground Coffee

1. Steeping Method

The simplest method is to put coffee grounds in a cup, add hot water, let it cool while the coffee grounds settle at the bottom. This is an old method still used in some parts of Indonesia today. Be careful not to consume the coffee grounds at the bottom of the cup. The advantage of this method is its simplicity and appropriate water temperature. Turkish coffee is an early recipe still used in the Middle East, North Africa, East Africa, Turkey, Greece, and the Balkan regions. Ultra-fine coffee grounds are boiled with water in a small-mouthed container, typically seasoned with sugar and cardamom. The strong coffee served in cups has foam on top and a layer of accumulated powder at the bottom.

"Cowboy coffee" involves boiling coffee grounds with water directly in a pot and drinking it. The name suggests a makeshift solution under simple conditions; however, some people prefer this method. In Finland and Sweden, where coffee consumption per capita is highest, they use traditional brewing methods.

2. Pressure Method

Espresso is made by forcing hot water at 80-96°C through compacted coffee grounds at 8-9 atmospheres of pressure, typically yielding only 30 milliliters per cup.

It's the strongest among common coffees, yet carries a unique aroma with a layer of crema (oil foam) floating on the surface. It can be consumed alone or further processed into various other beverages. Due to its rapid brewing, high concentration characteristics, and low caffeine content, many chain coffee shops and flavored coffees adopt this method.

The moka pot, also called an "Italian coffee pot," is a three-layered stove-top device. Boiling water from the bottom layer is pushed by steam pressure through the middle layer of coffee grounds into the upper layer. The resulting coffee concentration can compare to espresso, though without the floating crema. However, if a pressure-reducing gasket is installed at the coffee outlet, golden crema can be extracted. The moka pot and semi-automatic espresso machines have the same structure, but the water outlet method is reversed. After about 30-40cc of coffee overflows, quickly remove the heat source from the pot bottom, then wipe the bottom with a cold towel (do not rinse with water)!

3. Gravity Method

American coffee or filter paper method involves placing coffee grounds on filter paper or a metal filter, with hot water flowing from top to bottom. The coffee concentration is determined by the water-to-coffee ratio and the coarseness of the grounds, but generally lower than espresso.

Electric percolators were very common in the United States before the 1970s. They differ from the moka pot mentioned above: boiling water enters the top layer, then flows from top to bottom through coffee grounds and returns to the heating chamber; this cycle repeats several times. It's precisely because this method allows hot water to pass through coffee grounds multiple times that the resulting coffee may have an inferior taste.

4. Immersion Method

The French press is a tall, narrow glass cylinder equipped with a piston featuring a filter. Hot water and coffee grounds steep in the cylinder for four to seven minutes, then the piston filter presses the grounds to the bottom, and the upper layer of coffee can be poured out for consumption. This "full immersion method" is considered by many experts to be the ideal home brewing method for coffee, characterized by allowing one to taste the complete flavor profile of the coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee finds the French press to be quite a practical device. After all, the French press is not only simple to operate but also has a high fault tolerance. FrontStreet Coffee suggests that if using a French press for brewing, you can choose relatively balanced hand-pour coffee beans, such as Indonesian hand-pour coffee beans which have the unique herbal and medicinal flavors of Mandheling; also Colombian hand-pour coffee beans, whose flavors are well-balanced and very suitable for hand-pour coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee shares the usage method for French press:

Step 1: Preheating

Pour hot water into the French press about 8/10 full to preheat the glass body for about 2 minutes, then pour out the hot water.

Step 2: Add Coffee Grounds and Hot Water

Pour coffee grounds and hot water into the French press, place the inner filter screen at the pot mouth. After about 2-3 minutes, press the inner filter screen down to the bottom of the cup. The reason for not pressing down immediately is to allow the coffee grounds to fully steep before filtering.

Step 3: Filtering

If you prefer a cleaner, smoother taste, you can use another server pot, place a filter cup with folded filter paper, then pour the coffee from the French press through for additional filtering.

Why is this? FrontStreet Coffee analyzes that the immersion extraction method produces relatively concentrated coffee. If you choose coffee with rich flavor layers, the high concentration can make fruit acids more pronounced, making it less suitable.

There's another commonly used coffee brewing method, which is also the brewing method used at FrontStreet Coffee – hand-pour coffee.

Step 1: Server Pot Preheating

Take a server pot and place a filter cup on it. Pour a small amount of hot water over the filter cup to preheat and insulate the server pot. Place folded filter paper in the filter cup, then pour a small amount of hot water to make the filter paper adhere to the filter cup, then pour out the hot water. Filter paper has an insulating effect that prevents the filter cup from heating, so hot water needs to be poured in two stages: before placing the filter paper and after placing it.

Step 2: Add Coffee Grounds

Pour coffee grounds into the filter cup, then gently tap the filter cup several times with your hand to concentrate the coffee grounds.

Step 3: Bloom and Brew

First, use 30g of water for blooming. When pouring water, don't use too strong a flow, otherwise it will scatter the coffee grounds and defeat the purpose of blooming. When pouring 30g of water, the time should be exactly 10 seconds, then wait for 20 seconds. When the total time reaches 30 seconds, you can proceed to the second step of coffee brewing. Then use a small water flow to slowly pour in a circular motion from the center outward for 125g. At this point, the total time is about one minute. Then after the coffee bed level drops, you can pour water again.

The third step is pouring water again. When the total water amount reaches 225g, the time should be about two minutes, at which point you can stop pouring water. Next, wait until all the coffee liquid from the filter cup has flowed into the lower pot, then remove the filter cup. But it's not over yet! The final action is to shake the lower pot containing the coffee liquid evenly to mix the concentration uniformly, then you can enjoy a delicious cup of coffee!

There's also the siphon coffee maker (Syphon), which consists of a heating container and a funnel-shaped container connected together. The connection part is a filter where coffee grounds are placed. When water in the heating container boils, it enters the funnel-shaped container and mixes with the coffee grounds; at this point, the heat source is cut off, and the partial vacuum created by the cooling heating container draws the coffee from the funnel-shaped container back through the filter to the bottom, and a fragrant cup of coffee is born.

5. Cold Brew Method

Cold brew coffee, also known as cold drip coffee, differs most significantly from the other four methods mentioned above in that it doesn't use hot water. Instead, it uses cold water that slowly melts from ice cubes, gradually dripping through a filter containing coffee grounds. This process is very slow, producing just one cup of cold brew coffee, making it expensive but yielding an extremely special taste.

All of the above are common coffee brewing methods, but with the increasingly busy pace of modern life, many people prefer to purchase drip bag coffee. The history of drip bag coffee originated from Japan's UCC Ueshima Coffee Company, which invented drip bag coffee. This type of coffee is extremely convenient and efficient. Additionally, there are some small issues to pay attention to with drip bag coffee. Many customers often come to FrontStreet Coffee stores to ask whether drip bag coffee can be brewed multiple times.

In fact, a small pack of drip bag coffee typically contains 10g of grounds, which can generally only be brewed once. When you brew it multiple times, you might notice that the coffee still tastes strong and should still be drinkable. Actually, this is not the case. When you brew drip bag coffee for a long time, the longer the coffee steeps, the more caffeine is released because the coffee has been over-extracted. Over-extraction releases bitterness and astringency from the coffee, meaning the optimal flavor of this coffee is gone. Additionally, FrontStreet Coffee suggests everyone consume drip bag coffee during its optimal tasting period.

Furthermore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests that when purchasing drip bag coffee, try not to buy products made more than five days ago, because once coffee beans are ground into powder, the coffee quickly loses its unique aroma, greatly reducing its flavor. Just like customers who come to FrontStreet Coffee to buy coffee beans, we recommend that customers grind beans fresh before drinking. Even though coffee beans have a long shelf life, it's best to consume them during their optimal tasting period. However, many customers don't have grinders at home and will have the beans ground directly at FrontStreet Coffee stores, but FrontStreet Coffee still recommends trying to consume them as quickly as possible.

FrontStreet Coffee suggests whether freshly ground coffee should be boiled or brewed depends on the characteristics of the beans you choose and which equipment is convenient for you.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on WeChat: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473