Coffee Brewing Styles

For many of us, a cup of coffee only means a delicious espresso. But what about Americano coffees, Turkish coffees, filtered coffees, Dutch slow dripped coffee and all the other ones you encounter traveling overseas? They indeed reflect the diversity of brewing methods available around the globe. Brewing is the indispensable step of the coffee preparation, when carefully chosen beans, roasted to perfection and finely ground are turned into a fantastic beverage when it is finally mixed with water. Hundreds of different machines are still used from the simplest tin pot to the latest espresso maker. Brewing styles and trends have evolved over centuries and are highly dependent on cultures and consumer tastes. However four main methods remain: Boiling, Steeping, Filtering and Pressuring. Until the 1930s, the main brewing approach was Boiling. Between 195F to 205F water is poured on ground coffee, progressively releasing aroma and acidity. These Mud coffee, Cowboy coffee or Turkish coffee, etc can be enjoyed only when coffee grounds have dropped to the bottom of the cup. In some traditions, fortune-tellers claimed they could read the future in the darkness of the coffee mud! The steeping method uses a French press. Hot water is poured over a metal cylinder full of ground coffee. After a few minutes, the cylinder is plunged slowly through the water, pushing the coffee grounds down the press.

Filtered coffee is obtained with hot water poured over grounded coffee contained in a muslin filter. Water infused with coffee components will drip, very slowly, drop by drop, in the pot underneath. Percolators are the most famous devices in this category. Finally, espressos are the result of the Pressuring method. Hot water is forced at high pressure (8 to 155 bars) through ground coffee. Pressure not only creates the inimitable foam at the top of your coffee cup but also the most bodied coffee. Any of those methods require experience and almost scientific know-how. Wrong temperature, wrong timing, wrong amount of water, wrong quantity of ground coffee… Mistakes are unlimited. And this is one of the reason espresso is so popular. The beauty of espresso is that espresso machines are calibrated to provide you with exactly what is necessary for the perfect coffee moment.

Capsules make it even easier to enjoy. By pressing a button, you can taste a single or a double espresso, pure or maybe softened by a delicate mousse of milk to form the perfect cappuccino. HiLine Coffee is dedicated to providing you with the greatest espresso experience with our line up of premium Nespresso capsules.