Amalie Auguste Melitta Bentz, a German housewife, experimented with different ways of brewing coffee on the pursuit of a better way to make coffee. Using her son's blotting paper and puncturing a brass pot, she created a two-part filtartion system: the pour over was born. The Kaiserliche Patentamt granted her a patent on June 20, 1908 and on Decemeber 15, 1908, her business began. Employing her husband and sons as her first employees, their family business continues today; Melitta USA was established in 1963.
The Zero Japan Beehouse Dripper is a Japanese update to a classic manual pour over: it is easy to use and the ceramic wedge creates a clean brew every time. The Beehouse Dripper has proven itself as a time-tested brewer and is an absolute Abide family favorite.
While there are different brewing methods using the Beehouse, this is our preferred method at Abide Culture Coffee Roasters:
Laundry List:
Abide Culture Coffee: whole bean coffee [30g]
Beehouse
Cone filters [#2 or #4]
grinder•
gram scale
gooseneck kettle
cup or decanter
hot water [600g](off-boil, around 195°F-200°F)
timer
•a burr grinder allows the grind to be more consistent.
measure out 30g of coffee [dose] and grind it medium: about 900µm .
NOTE: when using a lighter roast—for better extraction—grind a little finer and lower your water:bean ratio. if using a 16:1, try a 15:1 or 14:1.
Step 2
place the beehouse onto the cup or decanter. unfold a cone filter and set it inside the top of the beehouse. rinse the filter using hot water: in a circular motion, starting in the center, outward. this is important because it rinses the paper flavor and heats the cup or decanter. dump the water and place the beehouse combination on your scale.
Step 3
pour your ground coffee into the center of the filter, leveling it out with a little shake to create a flat bed. tare—or zero—the scale. start your timer and begin the pour, from the center outward, careful not to pour on the filter. pour 60-90g of water and stop, allowing the coffee to "bloom", or expand. the bloom should last about 45-55 seconds. the coffee will not bloom a second time.
NOTE: first pour water amount should be between double to triple the amount of your coffee dose.
the kubomi method: the kubomi method is an old brewing technique which is used to create a downward spiral divot in your coffee dose to help evenly saturate the coffee grounds during the bloom. after the filter is rinsed, the filter is properly dosed, and the coffee bed is flat; using either a chopstick or glass stir stick [we prefer the glass]: vertically place the bottom of the utensil into the coffee and gently press down to the bottom of the bed. careful—as to not rip through the filter—slide the utensil to the side brewer [preference: left or right] using a circular counter/clockwise [again, preference] motion to the center of the bed. once in the middle of the spiral, remove the utensil. this is the kubomi method.
Step 4
begin the second pour, following the same pouring pattern, center outward; avoid pouring on the filter.
Step 5
continue your pouring process until you finish at 480g of volume on the scale. the whole pour process should take about 2 minutes.
Step 6
allow the water to drip through the coffee entirely. once finished, discard the filter and coffee grounds.
NOTE: if using a decanter, transfer the product to a favorite coffee cup.
TIP: instead of throwing away used coffee grounds, we like to add them into our compost mixture.
Step 7
swirl. pour. sip. enjoy.