Choosing the Right Digital Scale for Pour-over Coffee Brewing

Digital Scale GuideChoosing the right digital scale for pour-over coffee brewing. A great cup of Pour-over coffee requires technique and the proper equipment. A digital kitchen scale is an integral component for success. But what kind of scale? Not all kitchen scales work for pour-over coffee brewing. It’s not enough to be able to weigh the coffee grounds, you also need to weigh the water, and you need to time it all perfectly.

A digital scale that has auto-off might shut off before brewing is complete. Leaving you hanging. The scale must stay on for at least 5 min., most scales turn off after a few minutes. Stick to the digital scales you find on specialty coffee shops and suppliers. Going for the least expensive digital scale will result in bad pour-over. Spend a little more and you’ll be satisfied with your pour-over brewing results

Features to look for:

  • Metic or standard weighing to 01 gram or 1/10 of an ounce
  • Zero/Tare
  • Timer (optional)

Recommended Scales:

Best: Hario Coffee Drip Scale/Timer – $45 Amazon 4 1/2  Stars

Tare/Zero. Measures .1 gram increments. Brew timer. Buy Here

 

Good: ProScale XC-2000 Extreme Capacity Digital Scale – $33-35 Amazon, Prima Coffee 5 Stars

Tare/Zero. Measures 10th of oz, .1 gram increments. No timer. Small compact, good for travel. Buy Here

 

Good: Jennings CJ600 Scale – $40 Amazon 4 Stars

Tare/Zero. Weight displayed in .1 gram increments. Auto-off can be disabled. 20-year Warranty. No timer. Buy Here

If you know of other scales let us know: [contact-form subject=’Digital Scales’][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’I certify that am human’ type=’radio’ required=’1′ options=’Human,Bot’/][/contact-form]

Starbucks Clover Brewing System

Starbucks Clover Brewing System

Starbucks-Clover-Brewing-SystemUPDATE (11/13/22): Starbucks announced on March 2022 that the Clover is being relaunched (and rebranded as Clover Vertica Brewer) and will be deployed nationwide beginning this fall. With the completed rollout by 2025. read more here.

Visit a Starbucks and ask for pour-over coffee brew and you might be asked if you’ve heard of Clover (they are perfectly willing to make a pour-over for you). To the uninitiated, that might not even make sense, “Clover what?”. But give it a try, you’ll be happily surprised because the Clover Brewing System is an amazing thing.

I have never been Starbucks hater. I used to buy cappuccinos back in the eighties in the Pike Place Market. My experience walking into any independant coffee shop is not a guarantee of a quality cup. Starbucks for all its faults has stringent standards that all baristas must follow. And they now offer small batch coffees. (A review of some of the Reserve Coffees are forthcoming, stay tuned.)

Now Clover

Forget french press, take a break from drip and save pour-over for home.

My Barista humbly offered Clover and asked what type of bean I preferred, I chose the Sun Dried Ethiopia Yirgacheffe. It was ground and placed into an opening on the top of the Clover machine. The piston-like hopper lowered, a preset amount of water, at the correct temperature, poured on top of the grounds, then he gave it a stir. After about a minute of steeping the plunger came up creating a vacuum that drew the brew down and into my waiting cup. My initial thoughts were that it was quite nice tasting, and with no sediment, almost silky. I even had it black so as not to influence the taste in anyway. I am going to be ordering Clover instead of drip next time I visit Starbucks.

How it works

It’s not really a press, and it’s not pour-over. It’s a unique system combining a plunger and a vacuum. The Clover is a very expensive machine and only widely available at Starbucks but supposedly Ritual Coffee has a couple machines.

Here’s a video of the Starbucks Clover Brewing System:

Next time you’re at a Starbucks that has the Clover Brewing System, give it a try.

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