Lance Hedrick says little about these methods, so his points come first and printed manufacturer guides are labelled as such. James Hoffmann covers French press, Clever Dripper, AeroPress, moka and cold brew in depth further down.
French press and other immersion
- Pressed gently, a French press had to be ground far finer than Lance Hedrick expected to reach the strength and extraction of other brewers, even with plenty of agitation 9:31.
- Press slowly, over 1 to 1.5 minutes, and grind finer than usual. Pressing fast damages the filter and lets sediment through 5:01.
- Pressing through the built-in filter gives body with a cleaner cup. Pouring French press coffee through a V60 paper clogs it with fines 5:01.
- Printed guides (rough only): Fellow Opus 8 to 10 19:48, Millab M01 8 to 10 25:37.
AeroPress
- Printed guides (rough only): Fellow Opus 2 to 5, Prismo 2 to 3 19:48.
- On Lance Hedrick's Eureka Mignon Specialità, about three steps above touch was the AeroPress range 32:38.
- The Femobook A4Z covers filter and finer AeroPress but not espresso 0:00.
- A 1Zpresso Q2 fits inside an AeroPress for travel 1:34.
Moka
- Printed guide: Millab M01 1 to 3 25:37.
- Timemore Turbo burrs reach moka fineness but not espresso 3:04. The 078 and 064 go fine enough for moka and turbo shots 21:00.
- The Baratza Encore ESP's coarse zone (above 20) covers moka among other methods 0:00.
Cold brew
- Printed guide: Fellow Opus 10 to 11 19:48.
- An aftermarket EK43 knob that removes the end stop extends the range for cold brew 0:00.
- The Baratza Encore ESP's coarse zone also covers cold brew 0:00.
Batch brewers and cupping
- Printed guide: Fellow Opus 7 to 9 for coffee makers and cupping 19:48.
- The stock Fellow Ode Gen 1 burrs suited big batches (35 to 40 g and up) better than single cups 15:58.
- Lance Hedrick names a few grinders for cupping or bulk grinding. The EK43 is still his dedicated cupping grinder 22:55 0:00, the Ditting 807 is common in cupping labs 0:00, and the Timemore 078 is a great cupping grinder under $1,000 10:47.
James Hoffmann's methods
James Hoffmann goes into these methods much more deeply than Lance Hedrick, so this section fills most of the gaps above.
French press
Use a medium grind rather than a very coarse one, 30 g to 500 g, and a 4-minute steep. Break and skim the crust, then wait 5 to 8 minutes so the fines settle. Press only to the surface and pour gently 1:36 2:06 2:36. For light roasts he grinds French press as fine as for cupping 14:25 13:55.
Clever Dripper
Grind medium-fine, close to a two-cup V60. Put the water in first and then the coffee, which can halve the drawdown. Steep for 2 minutes, break the crust, wait 30 s and drain. A hollow cup means go finer, and a bitter one means go coarser 2:32 3:02 4:34 6:05. A better grinder drains faster at the same setting, probably because it makes fewer fines 5:35.
AeroPress
- Recipe (light roast): 11 g to 200 g, ground fine, somewhere between pour-over and espresso. Use water straight off the boil, steep for 2 minutes, swirl gently, wait 30 s and press gently for about 30 s 2:04 1:02 3:07. For darker roasts, grind coarser and use 60 to 65 g/L at about 85 to 90 °C 1:32.
- Taste fixes: if it's bitter, go coarser or cooler. If it's sour, go hotter and a little finer 3:37.
- What his tests showed: extraction flattens after about two minutes, a coarser grind has a lower ceiling, and stirring helps coarse grinds a lot and fine grinds very little 2:01 3:03 4:05. Pressing harder than about 0.7 bar made the brew harsh and uneven 18:57. Doubling the dose to dilute later needs a finer grind or more agitation 12:16. Blooming, pressing through the hiss, preheating and rinsing the paper made no difference he could detect 8:40 10:44 22:59 27:05.
Moka pot
- Grind: between filter and espresso, roughly where you'd grind a fine one-cup V60 or a fine AeroPress. The lighter the roast, the finer 4:32. In general use the finest grind you can manage, but too fine heats the pot faster and makes it sputter early 10:06.
- What his sensor tests showed: finer grinds kept raising extraction, but they also raised the brew temperature, and the hottest brews tasted worst. Any pressurised moka brews above 100 °C 7:36 8:07 8:37. On a Niche Zero he tried settings from 30 to 50 and beyond 7:36.
- Method: freshly boiled water in the base, a full basket (roughly 10:1 water to coffee), WDT if you like, and an AeroPress paper under the upper filter. Use gentle heat, cut it once the coffee flows, and stop before it sputters by cooling the base 1:30 2:00 3:01 3:31 6:34. Aim to get at least about 60% of the water through 12:44.
- By roast: light roasts get a full boiler and maximum yield, diluted if it's too intense. Dark roasts get the boiler two-thirds to three-quarters full and an earlier stop 4:32 5:02 9:35.
- If it sputters early: first turn the heat down once it starts flowing, and if that isn't enough, grind slightly coarser 10:06.
Cold brew
Traditional coarse cold brew under-extracts and wastes coffee 4:39 5:09. James Hoffmann grinds at moka or fine AeroPress level (about 250 µm burr gap) and uses 75 g per litre of room-temperature water. He stirs, optionally adds a fining agent, refrigerates it for 12 hours and then decants it off the sediment. Extraction is mostly done within an hour, and the rest of the time is for settling 9:44 12:20. Err finer rather than coarser, but stop short of espresso fineness, which only adds powderiness 10:16. Medium, dark and natural coffees suit cold brew, while light washed coffees are better brewed hot over ice 21:35 25:17.
Batch brewers
James Hoffmann matched grinders for equal strength on a 750 ml batch to compare them 2:01. On a Wilfa Uniform, about 28 suited 45 g to 750 g 4:38.
Daddy Got Coffee's view
Brewers that steep and then drain, such as the Hario Switch and AeroPress, forgive an uneven grind more than pour-over does, so he suggests them as first brewers 7:09.
Kyle Rowsell's view
- AeroPress: two paper filters clean up a muddy cup 4:11. For a weak light-roast AeroPress, grind finer than for V60, use 99 °C water and extend the contact time to about three minutes 3:31.
The Coffee Chronicler's view
- French press. Use about 15% more coffee than for other methods, for example 1:15 instead of 1:17 4:06. Fitting paper to the plunger strips out silt and oils, so you can grind finer and brew faster 1:00. Silt in the cup often means the plunger isn't sealing 7:44.
- Hario Switch. An open-valve first pour followed by a closed steep is a hybrid, where the pour brings brightness and the steep brings body 4:43. The size and timing of the first pour work like a dial between sweetness and acidity 1:33, and the grind is the main lever. Coarser brings clarity and finer brings sweetness 3:39.
- AeroPress. For more than one cup, refilling with a second charge of water after pressing the first beats plain dilution 5:55 1:03. With an entry-level grinder he raises the dose to 26.5 g, about 1:15 1:33. For salty, brothy anaerobic naturals, discard the first concentrate and add back about 20 g 9:44.
Sprometheus's view
- AeroPress: winning recipes grind coarser than the classic advice, because inverted brewing makes fast drainage harmless, and 18 g is a sensible one-cup dose 3:16 2:44. For a cleaner cup, go coarser, use paper (doubled if you like) and sift out fines. Brew a concentrate and set the strength with bypass water, and press slowly for at least about 30 s 4:16 4:50 6:30.
- Lower the water temperature for darker roasts and raise it for lighter ones. Stir back and forth rather than in circles, which builds an astringent dome 1:31 2:01.
European Coffee Trip's view
- French press. Gwilym Davies stirs halfway through the brew because the water near the grounds saturates and slows extraction 4:23.
- AeroPress. Kai Keong Ng prefers 85 to 88 °C or lower, adjusting for each coffee 2:39. The AeroPress was first designed to make a concentrate from a fine grind and cooler water 1:03. A recipe with a concentrate plus bypass water beat a standard one for juiciness 4:31, and the 2021 winning recipe's low temperature and coarse grind gave a round, syrupy cup 5:51. At roughly half a bar of pressure, it can't make true espresso 0:31.
- Cold brew. Cold water mutes bitterness and acidity alike, so fruity naturals suit it. If it tastes too light, grind finer or steep longer 2:36 10:49. For Alan Adler's two-minute AeroPress cold brew, grind finer or brew inverted if the water runs straight through 3:46.
Brian Quan's view
- Hario Switch (closed valve). A short closed steep of 20 to 25 s shows more acidity on washed coffees, and a longer one brings sweetness with some muddiness 9:19. A one-minute closed bloom adds body, giving the cup roughly a fifth of an immersion brew's character 13:18. If the cup turns astringent, shorten the first steep 14:48. Processed coffees may want 92 to 94 °C 12:18. Glass Switches lean acidic and black ceramic ones lean sweeter 5:04. Suki Ma's simple MAME recipe also adjusts the grind for more acidity, though which way isn't clear 4:04.
- AeroPress as a teacher. Fix the grind and vary only the steep time with a flow-control cap. Each extra minute shifts extraction by about a point 9:07.
Bluebird Coffee Roastery's view
- AeroPress. Their staple is brewed upright with a set number of stirs. Keep the recipe and the stir count the same and steer with the grind, because extra stirring adds extraction by itself 1:33 3:04. A cup that turned bitter and astringent improved one step coarser 6:09. Press slowly, over about 30 s, so the fines stay back and the paper doesn't tear 5:06.
- Batch brewer. A deep bed under a lot of water needs a coarse grind, or it drains slowly and over-extracts. Warm the machine with a cycle of plain water first and brew a full tank, because a large brewer isn't meant for one cup 6:36 5:36 4:35.
For Notchbook
For these methods there's good guidance on how the grind compares with a V60 for each roast, but few numbers for specific grinders. Starting settings for immersion, AeroPress, moka, cold brew and batch are rough, so lean on the taste fixes.
Summarised in our own words from the creators' videos, with every point linked to the moment it comes from. Notchbook isn't affiliated with or endorsed by any of these creators, so please watch the originals for full context. Sources
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