to 3 minutes for a fine grind, to 6 to 8 minutes
for a coarse grind.
Brewing Methods There are a number of
different methods for brewing coffee. Most of
them extract between 20 and 25% of the
bean’s substance, and produce a cup
containing somewhere between 1.3% and5.5%
bean solids by weight. The facing chart places
some of the major styles in relation to each
other. Standard American filter-drip coffee is
the lightest, and Italian espresso the strongest.
The initial proportion of coffee to water is
1:15 for American, 1:5 for espresso. One clear
lesson from the chart is that it’s always best to
use too much coffee rather than too little: a
strong but balanced cup can be diluted with
hot water and remain balanced, but a weak
cup can’t be improved. This principle can help
avoid problems caused by the fact that cup
and coffee scoop measures vary, and that
scoops themselves are a very approximate