How Alton Brown Makes The Perfect Cup Of Coffee

Alton Brown has been teaching Americans how to cook since the late 1990s and he's not stopping anytime soon. Most recently he's been going on tour to promote his latest book. The former Food Network star is known for his mastery of a wide variety of dishes, but he has a special passion for coffee and considers brewing to be in the same category as cooking. Because of this, he takes his coffee-making seriously, as is apparent in the pour-over coffee recipe he shared on his website. 

Brown calls for a few specific things in order to get the recipe right: unground coffee, paper filters, and a digital kitchen scale. He's also very particular about the water temperature, which he explains should be 207 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don't have an electric kettle that lets you control the temperature, he suggests boiling the water and then letting it sit for about 30 seconds. While this may seem unnecessary, experts agree that being picky about water temperature helps to keep the beans from getting burnt.

Once you have the necessary gadgets and ingredients, it's time to get cooking. Brown says to place the carafe on the kitchen scale, add the coffee to the filter, pour exactly 60 grams of water, and let the coffee sit for 45 seconds. This pause — called blooming — allows for the release of accumulated carbon dioxide which helps the coffee taste even better. After the wait is over, slowly add water until you've poured 420 grams, serve, and enjoy.

Although Brown's pour over coffee does require specific steps and gadgets, it's fairly straight-forward and following his advice will guarantee a great cup of coffee. If you want to bring it to the next level, though, there are some extra steps you can take. For example, Brown recommends pouring a bit of hot water from your kettle into both the carafe and cup or glass (he uses a Gibraltar-style glass for his). The water in the carafe should be dumped almost immediately, but you can let the water in your cup sit until you're ready to serve. We assume this tricks is intended to prevent a temperature difference between the cup and the coffee, which Brown must believe alters the taste. It's probably not a huge deal, but this kind of attention to detail is what sets excellent brewed coffee apart from its good-yet-not-amazing counterparts.

Another surprising tip comes from a "Good Eats" episode in which Brown uses a French press. Before pouring the water, he added a pinch of kosher salt to the coffee grounds. This addition gives the coffee an unexpected contrast, making the flavor more complex and interesting. The food scientist is adamant about using only filtered water, since tap water often has unpleasant or strong tastes you don't want in your coffee. We'll add extra advice: Make sure to brew your beans as soon as you grind them to ensure the best and freshest cup of coffee.