Why do I love blogging for food & coffee in Zurich?

We are surrounded by a dynamic world of culinary offers. All of these international people and expatriates living here bring a great influence and trends to our city. It is absolutely inspiring. I have the feeling that every moment either online or offline I am getting in contact with new coffee and food places.
It’s like Alice in wonderland. By talking to people I find out, that we all get more and more sensitive to really good quality food or coffee. Consumers want to know more about where the products come from. It goes even further; we love to have the knowledge of preparing all of this at home, too.

Bean Bros & Beats introduce me a bit to the topic of filter coffee

My first reaction as an Italian is scepticism since I like coffee dark and strong. But I admit, after tasting this coffee at their coffee place I feel completely taken into this new coffee culture. I love the idea to have 2 coffees a day, a flat white in the morning and a filter coffee in the afternoon.

What is really good filter coffee and what is a flat white?

Two complete different coffee experiences! A flat white consists of a double shot espresso and has microfoam on it. It comes in a smaller glass (1.8 dl) to make the taste more intense; it can be nuttier in taste. Here I refer to the Fifty Fifty blend used at Bros Beans & Beats, roasted by Henauer. There are blends that have a taste of chocolate, too. A different machine is used to brew the coffee.

Filter coffee has an other preparation procedure. Coffee is brewed with water, using the right temperature it draws out fantastic flavors and aromas. A real coffee pleasure for your tongue. It is more aromatic and pure, if I may say it this way. The coffee from „vertical coffee” that Bros Beans & Beat prepare as filter coffee is fruity in the taste.

Let’s get a bit more into filter coffee, I researched some topics for you

First: you need some equipment

• Good quality coffee beans. Find some online here
• Buy a French press to start. It’s a cylindrical pot with a plunger and built-in filter screen that presses hot water through ground coffee.

Find some instructions here for your perfect cup of coffee:

• Best French press brewing guide
  or stop by at Bros Beans & Beats and get some professional advice!
• If you like a more professional machine: go for a moccamaster, it’s about 250 CHF. This works all automatic but needs a bit of knowledge. This brand is used at Bros Beans & Beats. A valuable website to find your ideal espresso coffee machine is available here.
• Grind your beans with a manual grinder! You smell an explosion of flavours when you grind the beans. There are two manual grinders I suggest, the commandante C40 nitro blade it is not only fancy in the look but works fantastic or the Hario Mill bit cheaper but good. Both are burr grinders, so they’ll produce a nice, consistent grind, and they’re relatively compact.
• You need to weigh your coffee, so get an electronic scale
• For the Moccamaster you need a paper filter.

Buy this equipment either on amazon or on coffeecircle.com. Get a great choice and good price ranges.

After you have your equipment get familiar with some more information on coffee preparation

• How fine or rough should the coffee be ground?

For the French press or the moccamaster, you would want a coarse grind. Using a simple Moka machine you go for a fine grind. Somehow, find your grinding and play with it!

• Some insights about the roasting of the coffee beans

Dark coffee beans display a lot of visible oils, this is typical of your dark roast and espresso roast blends. The oil simply means the beans were roasted longer than their less oily counterparts.

• Light or dark roast for your coffee?

Darker coffees have less caffeine than lighter roasts. Lighter blends still contain oil, however, the oils are “lighter” and are not as visible since they are contained inside. These blends are roasted for shorter periods giving them more caffeine. For filter coffee use light roasted beans.

• How much coffee do you need for your cup of coffee?

About 3 tablespoons per 3dl water. But play around with how much you use in proportion to how much water you use and you’ll end up finding the perfect combination for your taste.

What else to say? Let’s start playing and explore this world of coffee together. And if all of this is just too complex, stop by at Bros Beans & Beats and order your coffee there!