Simply, Simple!
Been meaning to do a proper reel with this brewer. It rocked up as we were leaving to go to QLD. So a little delayed but I finally got around to putting my thoughts out about this.
Heads up, this was never meant to be a blog post, just a caption in my reel. But suprise, suprise I couldn't stop talking, and this ended up going waaayyyy to long to fit in a caption. So if it is a little more brief than my other posts, you know why
Firstly, massive shoutout to @ricktobin from @mediumfine.co for throwing one of these @simplify.coffee brewers my way. If you need any quality brewing gear and support with anything filter coffee related, @mediumfine.co is the perfect place to start. A small but well selected range, that feels like every product has been put on the store for a reason, and not just sales.
@ricktobin is only of my favourite people to share a coffee chat with in this little coffee community of ours, and takes way cooler photos than me 😂. If you don't follow along his coffee adventure yet, I recommend doing so.
Anyway on to the brewer. A flat bed brewer, @simplify.coffee brewer by bathtub coffee is exactly as the name suggest, simple. This is designed for cosistent, tasty coffee, with little technique or attention needed.
Let me say this, it delivers on its name well! The coffee is well rounded with a pleasant sweetness, and I have really enjoyed what I have tasted. It isn't quite as complex as what you can get from a v60 when you nail it, yet, has much less variables, and I believe someone with no experience, on their first go can nail this brew.
The brewer itself, is made from a nylon compound. Some people may think that's a downside and makes it fell like cheap plastic, however I love brewers like these. Firstly they don't break, you can throw them around and travel with them, no worries. Secondly they are much easier, as they aren't finicky to preheat (removing another variable). It boasts a fast draw down technique, keeping astringency low and brews fast.
So to sum it all up, I really enjoy this brewer, it's fast, simple and consistent. It's a great brewer if you are just starting out in filter and don't want to be overwhelmed.
Here's the recipe I'm using.
Kenya Peaberry - Muranga County (hit me up if you want some of this coffee, it is like delicious oranges and cranberries)
Filter paper - Kalita 185
Grind - 19 clicks on comandante C40
Water - zerowater jug, reminralized to GH80 KH40
Recipe 15g:200g water @ 94c
- 40g bloom 30 seconds
- 160g (200g total) swirl brewer 4 time around
- draw down complete 2:20
Tasting notes mellow sweetness, well rounded with a lingering orange acidity, medium body. Super easy to drink, leaves you wanting more. Suprisingly the acidity really shone through with this recipe (I can attribute alot of that to the boldness of Kenyan coffee), as I found other coffees I have tried on this to be more mellow on the acidity side.
The guide that comes with the brewer says no bloom, just bang the all the water straight on. This does work, but I found much better results with a bloom. They also don't suggest agitation through the brew, I think this is done to keep it super simple (same reason for no bloom). Again you can skip it, but with such a fast draw down, I find it a small extra step that really helps get the most out of your extraction, with this brewer. I am using a grind on the finer side for this one, it's actually the same size I use for my aeropress with this coffee.
I'm keen to keep playing with this one, trying out a few different recipes. I will be doing some side by side tests against a few other popular brewers, testing taste and also EY to see how they all stack up.
This is a great piece of kit, for when you can't be bothered with a tricky recipe, travelling or are new to brewing. I will actually go as far as saying, this is the simplest brewer I have ever used, it's actually less fuss than the aeropress. I'm keen to throw this on the bar at work, as it could be a simple and welcome change from my standard v60's.
As always, thanks for reading and if you have tried this brewer, I would love to hear your thoughts too ✌️
Lars xx
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