Polished immersion brewing

Coffee preparation techniques besides espresso like pourover.
User avatar
Eastsideloco
Posts: 1657
Joined: 13 years ago

#1: Post by Eastsideloco »

Anyone else riffing on this theme?

http://dailycoffeenews.com/2015/05/25/a ... -brew-bar/

If so, what does your setup or recipe look like?

FWIW, this is setup I'm using for polished immersion brewing:



And I brew starting from this basic recipe:

http://www.coffeebos.com/step-by-step-p ... n-brewing/

brianl
Posts: 1390
Joined: 10 years ago

#2: Post by brianl »

Just for my curiosity. Google Now decided I should read that article and I did but what makes this different than using the Clever brewing device?

Advertisement
MWJB
Posts: 429
Joined: 11 years ago

#3: Post by MWJB replying to brianl »

The Clever would have the grinds sit in the cone & the brewed coffee drain through the bed, pouring a French press through a filter allows you the choice of only pouring liquid & holding back the grinds from the cone (just filtering out the smaller particles), or pouring the whole lot into the cone.

Lately, I have been using a Hario Cafeor for this purpose, holding back the grounds...less polished, but quicker draw down, less silt kicked up into the brew than using the French press plunger (which stays in the cupboard).

brianl
Posts: 1390
Joined: 10 years ago

#4: Post by brianl »

MWJB wrote:The Clever would have the grinds sit in the cone & the brewed coffee drain through the bed, pouring a French press through a filter allows you the choice of only pouring liquid & holding back the grinds from the cone (just filtering out the smaller particles), or pouring the whole lot into the cone.
So basically it just eliminates the drawdown (Assuming you hold back the grinds when polishing). However, how does this affect taste? At the end of the day they are both water going through coarse grinds and a paper filter.

MWJB
Posts: 429
Joined: 11 years ago

#5: Post by MWJB »

It eliminates draw down through the entire bed of grounds, but it can still take a little while to filter, even when just filtering the smallest particles.

Drawing down through the whole bed, sitting in the brewer (Clever style) will bump up the strength a tad, may not give as good flavour clarity, in favour of perceived body? I use the Clever itself both ways, as intended & just to polish another immersion. As long as you steep to a flavour you like, in either case, the brew will taste good (taste off the top, cupping style, before you draw-down/polish), we're really talking about playing with clarity & mouthfeel.

Plus a large French press, or insulated press will hold it's heat much better than a Clever.

Personally, out of the filter papers I have tried, I preferred polishing results with Filtropa white & white Chemex 6 cup papers, over the V60, but I guess flavour shift depends on the brew before polishing as to the final outcome.

I tend to grind on the fine side for immersions in the Clever, Bonavita & French press.

User avatar
jesse
Posts: 181
Joined: 9 years ago

#6: Post by jesse »

I've been doing some experimenting with polished immersion. It's pretty forgiving and yields a nice cup, but so far, lacking a too much in the acidity department. Going to start trying some different ratios and possibly a hair finer grind as well.

Related, but a little OT: Did anyone ever try anything similar to Todd Carmichael's 'polished Immersion, suspended double filtration' method? There was a video clip of it on Youtube at one point, but it got taken down.

User avatar
Eastsideloco (original poster)
Posts: 1657
Joined: 13 years ago

#7: Post by Eastsideloco (original poster) »

I don't have a [cone-shaped] metal filter with which to try this out. But conceptually adding a metal filter probably improves the efficiency of the polishing process by eliminating some of the micro-fines that otherwise plug up the paper filter. I don't see how this step would appreciably change the taste, except in so far as it changes the coffee temperature. One of the side benefits of the polishing process is that it cools down the coffee, which will open up the cup.

While I also don't have a Clever Dripper, polished immersion brewing generally seeks to minimize agitation of the coffee grounds. With the Clever, you start with an immersion brewing process, then you filter the slurry both through a filter and the bed of grounds. Intuitively, it seems like this latter process would pull additional flavors out of the coffee as compared to polished immersion brewing.

[Actually, I could add a metal filter stage using a Snowdon filter ahead of the paper filter. I'll try that tomorrow.]

Advertisement
User avatar
baldheadracing
Team HB
Posts: 6226
Joined: 9 years ago

#8: Post by baldheadracing »

I'm not sure if this "polished immersion brewing" - should I change something?

1. Grind 40g coffee (Vario, metal burrs, drip grind)
2. Pour coffee in #4 gold cone (dry). Bang out some fines.
3. Coffee into an Espro press.
4. Add 750g hot water, stir.
5. Wait maybe a half-minute, then push down coffee.
6. Cover, but no plunge.
7. Wait a half-hour or so
8. Grab the carafe and filter assembly from my drip machine. Put in a #4 paper filter. Prewet. (For some reason, I prefer a used paper filter - like, I rinse them out and dry them and reuse them.)
9. Remove Espro plunger (I used to plunge, but it seems unnecessary.)
10. Gently and slowly pour most of the coffee through the #4 filter into carafe. (Grounds stay at bottom of Espro press.)
-"Good quality brings happiness as you use it" - Nobuho Miya, Kamasada

jyounk
Posts: 30
Joined: 9 years ago

#9: Post by jyounk »

Here is a link from Sprudge which describes Todd Carmichael's technique: http://sprudge.com/interview-todd-carmi ... 51297.html
"Polished Immersion - Suspended Double Filtration" method. I "polished" a full-immersion brew - in a cupping bowl (13.5g coffee, 210g water at 205 degrees) for three and a half minutes pouring from a constant heat kettle (I glued the pad to the kettle) - I then dumped (with cupping spoon assistance) the whole stew through a Chemex with three bent glass rods in the bed suspending a double filter combination: Able's Kone gold filter as the pre-filter and a Chemex paper filter as the finishing. Note that the glass pieces provide an air channel between the paper and the glass and the angle differences between the Kone and the Chemex paper provided another air channel. This gives a short and clean drop of 30 seconds or so, with no choked paper or elongated extraction and thus over dissolving.

I used this method for the body and sweetness advantages. The accentuated sweetness offered a great counterpoint to the distinct acidic fruit, giving it a form and structure that made me really happy.

User avatar
Eastsideloco (original poster)
Posts: 1657
Joined: 13 years ago

#10: Post by Eastsideloco (original poster) »

Right. Todd won the regional round using that method, then introduced the Dragon brewer in the US finals, where he came in second.

http://sprudge.com/enter-the-dragon-tod ... 55792.html

As near as I can tell, using the term polished in this context likely comes from the water purification industry (i.e., water polishing).

Post Reply