The Brewer Is the Recipe

In this episode, I explore a question that seems simple on the surface but actually runs deeper than most coffee conversations go: what is a recipe, really? I walk through a recent experiment where I brewed the same coffee using three different methods — the Hario V60, a French press, and the AeroPress — with the same ratio, the same grind size, and the same water temperature. My goal was to keep every variable constant. What I discovered almost immediately is that I couldn't. Not really. Because the brewer itself is a variable. A significant one. And it's one we almost never talk about when we're chasing recipes online or dialing in a new coffee.

I came to a realization mid-experiment that changed how I see the whole thing: the brewer is part of the recipe. The geometry, the mechanism, the brew process unique to each device — all of it shapes what ends up in your cup. You can't steep a V60 for four minutes the way you would a French press. You can't treat an AeroPress like either of them. These are different instruments, the same way a violin and a piano are different instruments. You might be playing the same song, but the approach has to change completely. By listening to this episode, you'll walk away with a clearer understanding of why mastering one or two brewers deeply will always outperform collecting many and mastering none, and why the brewer deserves more of your attention than any recipe you'll ever find online.

Transcript

00:00
What is a recipe? This has been hard for me to come around to. But it finally came to me. It's a form of instructions. Instructions written by someone who hopefully has skills and expertise. Passed on to others who are interested in the results and the outcome of following those instructions. Okay, sounds good.

00:37
But what about a coffee recipe? I guess the same thing. Instructions for a coffee maker to make a coffee that is delicious and tasty. But then you start to think of all the variables. And that is where things can start to get fuzzy. Not realizing that the brewer is part of the recipe.

01:00
So let's start with the recipe. About a week ago, I decided to do a coffee experiment. Something simple. Something most people will see or think of. I was going to brew the exact same coffee in all these brewers the exact same way. Same water temperature, same amount of water, same grind size, same coffee. Everything was going to be constant.

01:44
But as I was going through the experiment, I had some friction. Because I couldn't really do everything exactly the same way.

02:00
With the Hario V60, which was one of three contestants in this experiment, it was a 30-second bloom like we normally do. There are variations in it. Then you pulse once, twice, three, four, five times. In this case, I did it twice. Same 1 to 15 ratio.

02:28
Then I picked up the French press. Put 150 grams of water on 10 grams of coffee inside the vessel. Stirred it. Let it steep for about four minutes. Same temperature.

02:48
AeroPress. Same ratio. Different design. Different recipe. Stirred it. That's the way I usually do it. Waited about two minutes, then pressed down. Not all the way down. There are various things online about how to properly do the AeroPress. All these recipes have their own ways of making coffee.

03:27
But as I was sitting there and enjoying the coffees, even though they were all the same type of coffee, they had variations in taste and flavor. I didn't take a TDS reading, which is fine because at the end of the day, I was testing those coffees for what they were.

03:54
And then as I was sitting there, contemplating what I was going to talk about today, I realized I was probably going about it all wrong. I was already set up for failure from the get go.

04:17
Coffee doesn't care what you put it in. Coffee already has a personality. Will it change from time to time with different vessels, different recipes? Yes. But at the end of the day, one thing I really forgot is that the coffee brewer, to an extent, is the recipe.

04:49
I couldn't do the same thing in one vessel versus the other. Besides the grind size, the ratio, the temperature, everything else had to have its own life. Its own way of actually making that coffee. And I didn't realize that.

05:13
Why is that a big deal? Because a lot of times, whenever we talk about recipes, we don't even think about the brewer itself. How important and critical it is to understand this thing. It's a variable. It's a huge variable. And even when we look at a particular vessel, it has a different geometry. It has a cone shape. And then you get different papers, different tools like a booster, and now you're really changing things up. That's within the same exact vessel.

06:01
Same thing with the French press. There are so many intricate, different details and recipes out there that we can use. But one thing I truly forgot is that this vessel is set. How different would it be if it was a square-shaped French press? Would that change things? Yeah, it would. By a crazy amount? Probably not that much. But look at the cylinder. Look at the plunger. Look at the way it actually brews and steeps the coffee.

06:51
The AeroPress is more similar to the French press in some ways, but it has that pressurized function that makes it unique. I forgot that. I forgot that the brewer is what we should understand more than anything.

07:04
I realized at that point I was already losing the game of truly understanding these brewers. I got the point in the grand scheme of things. I was brewing, tasting something different in each of the coffees. But I just didn't realize that the brewer was a part of the whole playing field. Part of the whole recipe. The thing we're trying to use to make something tasty.

07:54
So what do I leave you with? There are many variables in coffee. We know that. But one thing I have to understand and try to provide to you as best and as honestly as I can is that this thing is important. It's critical. We have to pay attention to it. We have to study it. We have to understand it to the point where we know what we're going to get out of the coffee.

08:27
I don't know everything. That depends on the coffee too. That's part of the recipe as well. Something we don't talk about enough. A story for another day.

08:37
But we have to really understand what's going on here. Because I know for the most part, I can't steep a V60 for four minutes. It's a different type of mechanism than even the AeroPress.

09:01
And once you start to understand that piece of the pie, it's critical. We're going to be in a better spot because of it.

09:18
I have an analogy I thought about just yesterday. We don't play the violin the same way we play a piano. We may have the same tunes, the same song, all that good stuff, but they're totally different beasts. It's like taking an expert violinist and asking them to do the same thing on a bass guitar. They probably couldn't really do it. Because they're different instruments. Just like all these coffee gadgets that we love and geek out over. That's exactly what this is.

10:08
And I think the biggest takeaway in all of this, as I sit here and think about everything I have, is that I need to take my own advice about staying in a pocket. Staying with a brewer long enough to understand it. To grasp it. To know its pros and cons. What it can and can't do. Knowing that if I do this to the coffee, I'm going to get this result. Because it's really just about understanding the device more than anything. Beyond the grind size, the ratio, the temperature, the swirl or the technique.

11:04
The recipe. All of it matters. Especially the brewer. Because you can't isolate that piece of the whole dance we play with this.

11:22
Let me know what you think. Let me know if you've had these thoughts about what a recipe really means. Because now you're the expert. You're the one trying to make something tasty. Pick your choice. Pick it wisely. Go deep into that rabbit hole of understanding this vessel, or that vessel, or even that one.

11:47
You can learn all of them. You really can. But at the end of the day, pick one or two. Really master it. Because you'll realize that that's the secret weapon in all of this. You understand exactly what you want to do with your coffee because you understand the vessel. And then eventually you stop worrying about what the vessel can do, because you've already gone through the gauntlet with that thing. Now you're just thinking about the coffee itself. The way it's prepared. How you're going to bring the best out of it.

12:37
Let me know what you think. Talk to you later. Bye.