Many things in the world have changed since 2020, but one thing will remain constant: our morning cup of coffee is sacred.
Those of us spending more time at home may be missing out on the office espresso machine or the daily coffee shop visit on our commute.
The good news is that by learning how to prepare your cup of joe at home, you’ll save both time and money, and perhaps like the result even more!
Whether or not you use Black Insomnia at home, we are here to help you expand your horizons from the comfort of your own kitchen. That’s why you can find brewing guides on our coffee bags for our four favourite methods:
- Chemex
- AeroPress
- Manual Espresso Machine
- Filter Coffee
Let’s jump in, and learn something new:
Chemex
What you need:
Chemex coffee maker
Chemex paper filter
Grinder (not if you buy ground coffee!)
42g (eight tablespoons) of Black Insomnia Dark Roast Whole Beans
Kettle
Scale
Timer
Prep and Preheat:
Place the paper filter in the brewer with a single fold away from the spout and multiple folds lined up against the spout. Rinse the filter with hot water to get a nice even seal all the way around the glass. This preheats the brewer and gets rid of any paper flavour from the filter. Dump the rinse water and fold the filter toward the spout to reinforce this area.
Weigh and grind coffee: Add 42g or about eight tablespoons of coffee to your grinder and grind on a medium/coarse setting (think kosher salt). Centre the coffee in your brewer and zero out the scale once complete. You’ll need the scale to weigh your extraction.
Saturate grounds: Start the timer when you add the hot water. Pour until all the grounds are saturated, until you reach about 150g total, then stop. Stir with a chopstick or spoon to make sure there are no dry clumps.
Add more water: At 0:45, start your second pour, making sure to reintegrate the coffee and water. Pour with a wiggling motion, then a gentle spiral until the volume reaches about a fingertip down from the top of the rim or 450g of water. Pour over the dark spots and avoid the light ones.
Fill to the top: At 1:45, fill the brewer flush to the top or about 600g total weight.
Wait for it to brew: At 4:00, you should be pretty close to volume. Look at the glass bubble or belly button, which indicates 20 ounces (600g). Lift the filter. It’s okay to hover for a couple of seconds to make sure you have enough volume. Then pull the filter out completely and let it drain into the sink.
Serve and enjoy: Swirl the Chemex around a little and you’re ready to serve two cups of Black Insomnia brewed coffee.
AeroPress
What you need:
AeroPress brewer
AeroPress filter (paper or aluminium)
Black Insomnia Dark Roast Ground Coffee (15g)
Kettle
Timer
Measure: Measure 15g (or about three level tablespoons of coffee).
Prep the AeroPress: Get the AeroPress ready to brew by placing the filter in the basket. Next, preheat the brewer by pouring hot water into the chamber and rinsing. Rinse the filter with hot water. This gets rid of any paper flavour and warms everything up. Heat up your mug with hot water while you’re at it.
Add coffee: Affix the basket to the bottom of the brew chamber and place it on top of the mug. If it’s handy, use the funnel (or coffee loader) that comes with the AeroPress to add 15g of coffee. Then, remove the funnel.
Add water: Start your timer when you pour hot water into your brewer. Saturate all the grounds within 10 seconds. Pour 220g of water if you’re using a scale. Spin the chamber, making sure all the coffee is saturated.
Place plunger and wait: Once you’ve poured the water, stir the “slurry” (coffee and water mixture) and place the plunger on the brew chamber and pull up slightly to create a pressure seal. Don’t plunge yet! Wait for one minute.
Stir and plunge: Remove the pressure seal and give the slurry another stir. Put the plunger back on and gently press down with steady pressure, stopping as soon as you hear a hissing sound. This entire brew process should take just under two minutes and yield seven to eight ounces of coffee (200-220ml)
Clean and enjoy: The AeroPress is easy to clean. Simply take off the basket and pop out the coffee grounds and filter. Clean the rubber plunger with hot kettle water and you’re ready for your next brew, or put all the components in the dishwasher!
Espresso Machine
Home espresso machines come in all shapes and sizes, and can be extremely simple to use, or complex. Capsule machines, such as Dolce Gusto or Nespresso are straight-forward - we expect you don’t need us to tell you how to use that!
Bean-to-cup espresso machines are a one stop solution, and will typically ground your beans into the correct consistency for optimal extraction. Manual machines require pre-ground coffee, either store-bought or put through a grinder
We recommend grinding your own beans, as most pre-ground coffee is prepped for filter coffee, meaning coarse grinds and, when put through an espresso machine, under-extracted coffee. If you love your coffee and have an espresso machine at home, we highly recommend a grinder. Below, we will walk you through a manual espresso machine preparation process.
Step 1: Turn on your espresso machine so it can warm up. Make sure the water chamber is full.
Step 2: Use a scale or measuring spoon to measure out 7g of coffee beans for a single shot of espresso. If your coffee machine has a double shot basket, make sure to double your coffee!
Step 3: Grind your beans to a fine consistency, using the guidance on your grinder.
Step 4: Deposit the ground coffee into the portafilter basket and tamp evenly.
Step 5: Secure the basket to the machine and begin your extraction, with a cup underneath.
Step 6: Remove the basket, place an empty container under the group head, and flush to clean.
Filter coffee
Perhaps the most common form for filter coffee is the classic french press/cafetiere/plunger. Sizes vary, from little one-cup travel utensils to big eight-cup family-friendly ones. Nevertheless, the steps are the same, and the Black Insomnia golden ratio is the most important thing to keep in mind - 15g of coffee (about 2 level tablespoons) per 200 ml of water. For ease, we are referring to a 600 ml cafetiere below.
Step 1: Put your kettle on the boil and measure out 45g (6 tablespoons) ground coffee. Add to cafetiere.
Step 2: Once your water is boiled, pour enough hot water into the cafetiere to cover the grounds and stop pouring. Wait for 30-45 seconds - this is called the bloom. By reducing the amount of water in the first pour, flavours and aromas are intensified and not diluted by more water.
Step 3: Top up the remaining water, give a good stir, and leave to steep for three minutes.
Step 4: Apply the plunger, making sure to plunge evenly and smoothly to avoid pesky grounds escaping between the edge of the plunger and the glass.
Step 5: Serve immediately and completely. If you leave some liquid remaining and come back for more, the coffee will continue to extract and the second cup will be sub-par.