Hard Lines is a coffee shop and roastery based in Cardiff. They have quickly risen from their humble beginnings as a coffee and vinyl concept to the hippest coffee joint in the capital, even roasting and selling their own range.
Their café in Canton (they are also in Cardiff Market), now back open 5 days a week, has a beautifully simple diner feel to it, and not only boasts great coffee – but also a sandwich that is loved so much, they’ve created a video for its return.
Over the last few months, we’ve perfected our banana breads, our sourdoughs and growing a veg patch. Today, Sam from the Hard Lines team shows us how to perfect a barista coffee at home, using an aeropress machine.
Today’s brew guide is for those inclined to using an Aeropress, and those that aren’t but have one collecting dust at the back of the cupboard because that one time you did use it you didn’t put the cap on properly and proceeded to shower your kitchen counter and floor with coffee and grounds… We’ve all done it.
We’re going to use a pretty standard 16g ground coffee and 240g (ml) water recipe; in other words, a 1:15 ratio of coffee:water. We often stick close to this ratio for all our filter brews, as it yields a nice balance of sweetness and body, but also not too heavy.
For todays brew I’m using the Cafetiere World Champs coffee, a 50:50 blend of Hard Lines Burundi Mubuga and Roundhill Colombia from Huila. Unfortunately the inaugural Cafetiere World Champs have been postponed for now, but we are ever optimistic that we can host it before the year is out.
So, on to the brew.
1. We’ll begin by weighing out the coffee:
Make sure to weigh just a little over your target weight.
If you do not have scales/grinder, and your using ground coffee, 2 heaped tablespoons of grounds is usually around this weight.
2. Next, grind size:
I’m using the Wilfa Svart home grinder (available from us, should you feel the need to upgrade your home setup), which in our humble opinion is just about the best, most cost effective home electronic grinder you can get.
I grind a little finer than what Wilfa suggest, moving a few clicks to the right of the middle of ‘Aeropress’.
Now, filter some water if you have one, or put some fresh water into your kettle. Avoid using water that has already been boiled, as this has now lost its oxygen content and will result in a flat, dull brew. You can however use this water to preheat your Aeropress, or server/mug and prewet your filter paper.
3. Get you coffee and Aeropress ready:
I always brew using the inverted method – ie. Upside down. This ensures all the coffee extracts evenly, and you don’t get any brew liquid dripping out before the coffee is extracted. Tare your scales and ready your timer.
4. Begin brewing:
Start your timer as you start pouring. Pour all 240g in at once, or if you don’t have scales, about half a centimetre below the top of the Aeropress.
Give it a good stir to make sure all coffee is saturated and you break up any clumps.
Stir again at 1:10, and place the cap firmly on.
5. Plunge:
At 1:30 flip the Aeropress onto your server or mug, and apply firm, but not excessive, pressure to push the brew liquid through the filter paper. Aim for this to take around 30 seconds.
6. Enjoy:
Lastly, take 5, sit in the glorious sun, and enjoy the fruits of your labour.