Saturday Special: Hand-drip Lesson at Sanwa Coffee
An Introduction to HAND-DRIPPING & 3rd Wave Coffee:
SANWA COFFEE
This blog has been solely a personal project, but one day about six months ago that changed. My dear husband (who until recently only drank instant coffee in milk with sugar) announced totally out of the blue, "I want to study coffee and open a coffee shop." So he bought a large coffee grinder and a Hario V60 and started on his journey to learn all there is about coffee. AND THERE IS A LOT TO LEARN.
Today we embarked on a coffee infused journey to learn about the "3rd Wave" boom and Japan's rising interest in hand dripping, roasting, and good coffee in general. Sanwa Coffee shop, which I have introduced in the past, has monthly group lessons (usually 4-5 people) at ¥1500/1 hr. (The lesson is in Japanese only, sorry!)
We went in expecting to try our hand at hand-dripping coffee today, but it was actually more of an information session. In the end, there was so much information that we didn't mind not trying to attempt our own pour-overs. It was a highly enlightening lesson and finally got answers to our coffee questions.
In the one hour lesson, we sampled three types of coffees (light, medium, and dark) while the store master explained the different components that make a good cuppa joe. **The following notes are Sanwa's guide and may vary from other peoples styles of dripping coffee.**
Point 1: Light and Dark roasts are totally different creatures that require a lot of consideration when brewing. Think about the water amount, bean amount, grind level, water temp etc.
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| Cupping and checking out the grinds. Dark roast on right left a donut hole shape, whereas lighter roast grinds just sink to the bottom. |
Darker Roasts (Medium-Dark) aka what your usually drink
-The beans contain more gas, more oil and are lighter in weight because the water boils off the beans in the roasting.
-Easy to "bloom" (blooming is the cool fluffy hamburger-like effect of the beans off-gassing when hot water is poured over them)
-Bloom time depends on freshness (older beans 30 secs, fresher beans 35-45 seconds)
-Darker roasts are more common, and also have a longer shelf life
-Standard of coffee found in most cafes/old kissaten in Japan
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| Dark roast on left, medium-light on right. |
Lighter Roast
-The beans contain less gas, less oil and more water content, thus are subsequently heavier in weight.
-Difficult to bloom sometimes bloomless, which is fine.
-Difficult to bloom sometimes bloomless, which is fine.
-Light roasts require little to NO blooming actually! Keep on pouring matey.
-They are very popular in "3rd Wave" trend and new shops.
Point 2: Every dripper/filter is different and has it's own special qualities.
Hario V60:
What we used in the lesson and the "standard" in 3rd Wave trend.
-Cone shaped with spiral ribs
-Requires more beans due to bigger hole.
-Wetting the filter paper isn't required (or at least here it isn't)
-Quicker drip due to bigger hole.
-Due to spiral design of ribs, if the beans are level at the beginning, circular pouring is unnecessary (the ribs help the beans percolate, even if water is poured straight into center).
-If the beans are fresh, it's okay to leave the Hario V60 on the pot until the last drop.
Kalita:
-Trapezoid shaped with ribs going straight towards holes.
-Slower drip due to small holes, 1-3 holes total.
-When pouring the water, move back and forth over the holes, not in circular motion.
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| American Press, which we are debating on |
Flannel Drip:
-Coffee dripper made of flannel cloth
-Extremely hard to maintain and keep sanitized, so quite rare in modern shops.
- The coffee soaks longer, thus stronger flavor.
-Oils also permeate flannel into coffee, especially for very dark roasts.
-Slight sweetness due to oils released .
Metal Filters: Gold Filters, French Press, American Press Etc.
-Eco-friendly without using paper-Coffee oils easily pass through
-Sweetness due to oils
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