drip brewer

The drip coffee brewers that call our counter tops home have become an essential part of our family gathering spaces. You know them well and have probably bought more than your share over the years. While the common drip brewers certainly do the job, technology has given us the ability to make excellent brewed coffee at home with minimal investment—read about our favorite drip brewers here. Regardless of which brewer you use, follow these 7 easy steps for how to make drip coffee and you’ll end up with a rich, full-bodied cup every morning.

things you'll need:

Drip brewer
Whole bean coffee (we recommend Morning Glory Blend or Guatemalan Dark Roast)
Coffee grinder
Filter
Filtered water

things you’ll want

Gram scale
Quality burr grinder

step 1: weigh coffee

Acquire fresh-roasted, whole bean coffee and measure out approximately 1 tbsp per 5 fl oz of water
If using a scale, weigh your coffee to your desired brew ratio—we prefer 1 part coffee to 17 parts water, so our brew needed 75 g of coffee

Please note: These instructions are specific to a BonaVita 8-cup brewer, but the ratios and tips can be applied to any high-quality drip coffee machine. We recommend weighing the brew water and coffee to assure proper extraction. To do this, divide total water weight by 17 to get the ideal coffee weight. For example, our brewer holds 1.3 Liters of water (~1300 grams) so our coffee weight for a full batch will be 75 grams (1300/17 = 75).

step 2: grind coffee

Grind your coffee on a medium setting
Coffee should be the consistency of coarse kosher salt

step 3: prepare & level coffee

Add ground coffee to the filter basket and shake so that the bed of grounds is level

step 4: add filtered water

Fill the water reservoir with filtered water, coffee is 98% water after all
If you like your tap water, feel free to use that as well

Pro tip: Do not use distilled or spring water as they are so pure that it will leave your coffee tasting flat

step 5: pre-infuse coffee

If you are using one of our recommended brewers, it will most likely have an option to pre-infuse the coffee in the brewing process—use it

Pro tip: Pre-infusion simply means that the brewer will take a short rest after an initial dose of water ‘blooms’ the coffee grounds, this greatly increases flavor and even extraction

step 6: watch and listen

Watch the brewer make its magic
Notice in this photo how our Bona Vita brewer spray head looks more like a shower; with multiple spouts to evenly disperse the hot water over the coffee grounds

step 7: check the bed

After the brew cycle is over, check the filter basket for dry grounds or peaks/valleys in the ground bed
If there are, that is a good indicator that the brewer is not extracting coffee properly
You’re missing out on flavor, so go ahead and invest in a new brewer, your palate will thank you