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  Read Korean posts →   Following up on the French press, let's dig into the Moka pot. In theory, it's simple: add coffee and water, put it on the stove, and coffee comes out. The structure and process are straightforward, but in practice, plenty of people end up with a burnt or overly bitter cup. This post revisits the Moka pot's structure and brewing principles, walks through its pros and cons, and then covers the variables that shape flavor along with a go-to recipe.   Jump to the recipe →   What Kind of Brewer Is the Moka Pot? Structure and Brewing Principle A Moka pot has three main parts: a boiler that holds the water, a basket that holds the coffee, and an upper chamber where the brewed coffee collects. Here's how the brewing actually happens: As the water in the boiler heats up, the steam pressure that builds pushes the water upward. That water passes through the coffee grounds in the basket, extracting the coffee. The now-brewed coffee...

  Read Korean posts →   In the last post, we compared the French press, the Moka pot, and the AeroPress. Starting with this post, we're getting into how to actually brew with each one — beginning with the French press. It's a great place to start because, unlike pour over, there's no pour technique to worry about. Just add coffee and water, time it, and press. This post covers the French press's characteristics and trade-offs, the core variables that shape your extraction, how to adjust for taste, and a set of practical recipes for both hot and iced coffee.     What Kind of Brewer Is the French Press? Let's revisit its characteristics and trade-offs first. Characteristics Full immersion brewing: Rather than pouring water through the grounds like pour over, the French press fully submerges the grounds in hot water to steep out the flavor. Metal mesh filter: Instead of paper, it uses a metal mesh to strain the coffee. Consistent results: As l...

  Read Korean posts →   The Hario V60 is one of the most widely used drippers in Korea — and really, one of the most widely used drippers anywhere. It's popular enough that plenty of World Brewers Cup champions have relied on it too. This post covers the V60's history, design features, honest pros and cons, and how it differs across materials.     A Brief History of the Hario V60 Hario, a Japanese company, released the V60 dripper in 2005. The name comes from "Vector 60" — a reference to the dripper's signature 60-degree cone shape. It was originally developed in ceramic and glass, with plastic and metal versions following later. Today, the Hario V60 is used in more than 75 countries around the world. Matt Perger won the World Brewers Cup in 2012 using a Hario V60, and it's remained a favorite among champions ever since — Stefanos Domatiotis in 2014, Odd-Steinar Tollefsen in 2015, Tetsu Kasuya in 2016, Chad Wang in 2017, and Matt Winton in 20...

  Read Korean posts →   Start looking into hand-drip coffee and you'll quickly run into a dripper aisle that's more crowded than you expected. Hario, Kalita, Melitta, Origami, Tricolate, Orea... it's a lot to sort through. This post breaks drippers down by shape, walks through the standout products in each category, and helps you figure out which one actually makes sense as a beginner home barista.       Four Shapes, Four Approaches Drippers can be grouped by shape, material, or brewing style (immersion vs. filter, for instance) — plenty of ways to slice it. Here, we're sorting by shape and internal structure, which breaks down into four main categories: cone , flat-bottom , trapezoid , and cylinder .    Cone-Shaped Drippers Exactly what it sounds like: wide at the top, narrow at the bottom, with a single hole at the base. Because water funnels toward the center and drains out quickly, extraction tends to move fast. (That said, th...

  Read Korean posts →   For a lot of people, that first cup of coffee in the morning is a small but essential ritual. So when it doesn't taste the way you expected, it can throw off your whole day. A bitter, harsh cup in particular can be genuinely disappointing. The good news is that once you understand what's causing it, it's usually easy to fix.     Start With the Root Cause Before you can fix bitter coffee, you need to understand why it's happening. In most cases, bitterness comes down to over-extraction — pulling more out of the coffee than you actually want. This usually happens when the brew time runs too long, the water is too hot, or the grind is too fine. Let's break down each cause and how to fix it.     7 Ways to Reduce Bitterness 1. Grind Size A finer grind breaks the coffee into smaller particles, which increases the total surface area in contact with water. The finer the grind, the more of that surface gets exposed — and...