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An alternative filter brew method from Motors coffee

I’ve visited a new coffee shop in Paris recently, and tried their pourovers. It’s not new by any standard other than mine, and they recently snagged the second place at the SCA brewers' cup competition. So they are not playing.

They use a filter method which is fairly different from the usual ones that I see, and make myself, so I made a few tests at home today.

For reference, usually you would want to brew a V60 filter with the following variables :

  • A ratio of 60g of coffee to 1L of water, sometimes less.
  • A first pour which is also called the bloom, with usually 2x the weight of coffee in water, with some agitation to ensure all the grounds are wet.
  • After 30 to 45 seconds the second pour to about 60% the total water weight.
  • And a last pour of the rest of the water, happening when the water level has dropped down to ~1cm above the coffee grounds (some people also use time to know when to start the last pour instead of water level).

The method I’ve seen at Motors is a lot different :

  • The ratio is heavier, probably 70g of coffee to 1L of water. But I’m not sure it translates well to bigger brews. My experiments were done at 14g of coffee to 200g of water.
  • The first pour is half of the total amount of water. Because coffee is de-gassing at this stage, even with a bit of agitation, a big sink appears in the coffee bed during the percolation.
  • The second pour is the remaining half of the water, at 1:20. With this one, a bit of agitation can turn the coffee bed flat again

The result tastes a less developped in terms of body and depth, but at the same time it is more balanced and aromatic, more tea-like. I would think I could drink a lot more of it, since the depth and the aftertaste is usually what contributes to the “I’m full” effect.

This is weird. I need to experiment more over the next weekends. Also, feel free to visit them !