Batch Brew
Welcome back coffee lovers!
We’d like to introduce you to another coffee brew method that you may have used before - the batch brew. Before you assume that this is just another American diner batch brew, let us explain how to lift it to the next level!
Batch brewing has come a long way in recent years along with our understanding of coffee, and batch brewing can produce consistently excellent coffees by making sure to control a few key factors.
Batch brew coffee uses a method of extraction called Infusion, using similar concepts that we used for the Advanced Cold Drip Techniques post. This method of extraction will result in coffee that tastes similar to other filtered extraction methods, such as Chemex or V60. The big advantage of batch brew coffee is that most of the human error from other methods is minimized. The reason it is starting to take off again is that the time and cost of production is significantly reduced without the sacrifice of quality; perfect for those super busy cafés! You may associate batch brew coffee with terrible tasting over-extracted coffee, because quite frankly this is how it used to be. We’re going to show you how you make a great coffee at home using batch brew!
Requirements
The two main things you need to worry about when doing batch brewing are brew ratios and quality of the grind. For brewing ratio, as a general guide, it is recommended to use between 55g and 65g of coffee per litre of water when brewing. This is a great starting point that you can then modify to your taste.
For reference, we will be providing instructions for the Bonavita Coffee Maker BV1900TS. You may need to vary from these instructions depending on what type of batch brewing unit you have. The only thing you may need to change is the brew ratio depending on the size of your home brew system. This machine makes an eight cup brew in approximately six minutes. The best part is that this is an automatic brewer that you can set the night before, so you wake up to freshly brewed coffee!
Method
Step 1 - Prepare the Coffee Grind
Single origin beans are a great option for batch brew due to the variety of flavours you get, and the extraction method allows more of the fruity flavours to come through. Ask us next time you’re at Kiwanda for the best bean varieties.
Weigh your coffee - we are going to be brewing the whole eight cups, which requires 1200mls of water. We are using a 1:18 brew ratio which is the lower end of the recommendation from above (55g per litre), which means we will be using 67g (1200/55 = 66.66, so we round up) of coffee for this brew. Grind your coffee at a medium-coarse setting – or ask your barista to prepare your grinds for batch brewing when purchasing.
Step 2 - Add the coffee to the brewer
Prewet your paper filter and place into the coffee basket. Now place your coffee into the coffee basket and give it a little swirl to evenly distribute the ground coffee, as this will help with a more even extraction. The next step is to fill the water chamber up to the eight cup mark. Filter water is preferred as it will extract the flavours from the coffee better, otherwise standard tap water will work fine. Now it’s time to switch brewer to ‘ON’ and begin the brewing process - this should take approx. 4-6 minutes to complete. Serve immediately! Let us know how your batch brew tastes, and which beans you chose in the comments below!