Whole 30 Coffee

In college I bought a Keurig and I thought it was the best thing in the world.  I usually only drank one cup a day except for the days I needed to stay up late to study, so having something that just made one cup was ideal.  Fast forward a few years and Kyle and I were each drinking 2 cups of coffee every morning.  Buying K Cups got ridiculously expensive, so it was out with the Keurig and in with a traditional coffee maker!

When we made the switch, I quickly realized just how important it was to use quality coffee and filtered water.  I’m not saying you have to go out and buy the most expensive coffee in the world, but like most things in life, you generally get what you pay for when it comes to coffee! 

Our normal morning routine starts with one of us, usually Kyle these days, making our coffee in our Cuisinart Coffee Maker that we got as a wedding gift.  It’s programmable and the carafe can hold up to 10 cups of coffee, so it works great for busy mornings and when we want to brew a lot of coffee.  But one thing I noticed when I started drinking my coffee black on Whole 30 was just how bitter our coffee tasted. 

My struggle with bitter coffee is something a lot of people on Whole 30 complain about.  Not many people drink their coffee black and actually enjoy it – if you can, more power to you!  While on Whole 30, some people stop drinking coffee altogether, some finagle compliant “creamers” and some just suck it up and drink it black.  I fall into the last category because I cannot go without my morning cup of Joe and I knew if I started trying to create a complaint creamer, I wouldn’t be fully breaking my bad habit of having to have something in my coffee.

So, when Atlas Coffee Club reached out to me and offered to let me try their coffee, I decided to put a couple of new brewing methods to the test.   As much as I love coffee, I surprisingly hadn’t tried to brew with any other method at home so this process was definitely a learning experience! 

I chose their Brazilian roast, which is a medium roast coffee with tasting notes of cocoa and hazelnut.  I wanted to try something that was pretty similar to the coffee we were currently drinking at home and this one just happen to be the closest!    

I chose to try a French press and v60 pour over based off brewing recommendations and the equipment that I had on hand.  In true fashion, I actually managed to shatter the French press I had days before I planned on shooting the pictures for this post #theclumsylife.  So off to HomeGoods I went!  In case you’re looking for one, they have a great selection in lots of sizes and designs.

Below are the instructions I used for the two methods I tried.  You can definitely play around with how many scoops of coffee per 6 oz. of water you use as well as how long you decide to let your coffee brew in the French press depending on how strong you like your coffee.  The more coffee you use and the longer you let your coffee brew will result in stronger coffee and vice versa!

French Press

For this brewing method, you’ll need a French press, a timer, a kettle and if your coffee isn’t already ground, a coffee grinder. 

1. Boil water
2. Grind and measure out your coffee (one scoop per 6 oz. of water)
3. After water boils, take it off the heat and let it cool for about 45 seconds
4. Set the timer for 4 minutes, pour water over grounds and pull the plunger to the top. 
5. After the four minutes are up, press the plunger down slowly, pour your coffee and enjoy!

Pour Over (v60)

 To make pour over coffee, you’ll need a v60, timer, water, a paper filter, kettle and a coffee grinder if you’re starting out with whole beans. 

1. Boil your water and place the filter in the v60. 
2. Wet the filter with warm water to rinse and pre-heat your brewer, and then once the water completely drains, pour it out. 
3. Make sure that you filter is still sealed to the v60 and place your grinds in the filter. 
4. Once your water has boiled, let it sit for 45 seconds before pouring enough water into the v60 to wet your coffee. 
5. Let it “bloom” for 30 seconds and then slowly pour the water over the coffee in a circular pattern.  **With this step, it’s important to make sure you pour evenly over the coffee and slowly enough to not overfill the v60. **

After trying coffee brewed three different ways – the French press, the v60, and our traditional coffee maker – I have to say there is such a difference in how your coffee tastes based on how you brew.  In terms of taste, our traditional coffee maker and the v60 produced very similar tasting coffee that was slightly less bitter than the coffee I brewed in the French press.  The French press was still full of flavor, but it had a little more of a bitter taste than the other two and took longer to do, so I can’t say that I’ll be using this method regularly.

For every day coffee drinking, I think we will be sticking to our regular coffee maker as it takes the shortest amount of time and we can be doing other things while our coffee brews.  Now that I’m basically a barista, I’ll be checking out some other brewing methods Atlas Coffee Club recommends in their brewing guide! I’m also interested in trying the cold brew method which I read (hours after finishing this post) is one of the best for those who like to drink their coffee black.

If you're looking to up your coffee game, I highly recommend checking out Atlas Coffee Club.  They offer ethically sourced coffee from all over the world that you can buy by the bag, or have delivered to you once or twice a month depending on how quickly you go through coffee!  

What brewing method is your favorite?

xoxo,

Kathryn

Coffee courtesy of Atlas Coffee Club.  All opinions are my own.