How to extract a perfect cup of coffee with your child.

Today I would like to talk about the way to extract the happy cup of hand drip coffee with your child. It is one of the way to create lovely memory with your child.

 

 

I will tell you why I’d thought of this.

The story I would like to share with you now is quite personal. I use to make my coffee between 11pm night to 2am dawn when my child is asleep. But it was utterly inefficient. It’s close to 12 midnight so I couldn’t use the grinder because of the noises it makes.

And although I succeeded in brewing nice cup of coffee I could not drink it in such late hour.

 

So, I began to think about the way to brew my coffee during the weekend or in early evening with my four years old daughter. She’s a lovely girl who would like to follow me and do whatever I am doing together. Thus, I needed to come up with the safest way for my little girl.

 

 

 

Coffee I brewed together with my child

Usually I use Hario dripper to extract my coffee. And to score the coffee I made with my child, I’ll say it’s 50~60 out of 100. The coffee will be a mix of normally extracted coffee with the over extracted coffee and under extracted coffee.

 

So, you cannot expect a decent texture or taste. But, it’s surely drinkable and you definitely had made one precious memory with your child.

 

Unavoidable condition because you are with the child

1. To avoid any burnt or accident, I prepared my water 10 degrees lower than usual.

2. The water stream pouring on coffee bed will be thicker.

3. You may only be able to utilize the center part of the coffee bed.

 

Due to No.2 and No.3, I adjusted my grind size, amount of coffee I use and the extraction time. And I will discuss on this in the later part.

 

How to extract a coffee with your child

To be safe, I used water 10 degrees lower than the usual 92~94 degrees water.

 

First, I told my daughter to help me in extraction by holding my elbow and gently move it left and right. So like on the below image shows, I started from little down to the center to move up by making zig-zag shape. Because you are doing it with a child it’s hard to brew in circular motion.

 

<The water I pour to use the grind coffee to 100% (left) and the water I pour when I am brewing with my child(right)>

 

To avoid coffee bed to burst and water leaks down the dripper’s wall, I focused on the center part of coffee bed.

 

 

 

Setting the extraction condition_Grind size

Usually it’s nicer to grind in thicker size than usual. Because, when you try to extract in a usual way, the coffee easily bursts because it cannot stand the strength of the child.

To avoid this from happening, I use only a center part of coffee bed and cannot utilize the grind coffee 100%.

 

<Like on the right, I only use the coffee in the red triangle area>

 

I used a little amount of coffee but the amount of water I used is the same as the usual. So, it might be over extracted. I wasted a lot of coffee due to this.

 

Setting the extraction condition_Amount of Coffee

It is better to use more coffee than the usual. I used about 30% more coffee than I usually do.

 

After many cups of coffee I made with my daughter, I realized the coffee taste better when the amount of coffee I used is bigger than usual.

 

 

 

Because 70% of coffee is concentrated on the center part of dripper and we are using the centre part only, increasing the amount to 30% more makes significant change in the taste.

 

However, although you are increasing the amount of coffee, the height of coffee bed must be between 2.5~5cm for 1-2 serving to get a good result. (I used Hario dripper)

 

Setting the extraction condition_Extraction Time:

Because the coffee I use is lesser than usual, I need to shorten the extraction time. Although I am using the thicker ground coffee, extracting it in usual timing might cause over extraction

 

The best result was

The coffee I made with my child was,

To be frank, you need to expect a cup of coffee mixed with the over extracted and under extracted coffee. Not once, I extracted an ideal coffee. But if you mix the ideally extracted coffee as a base with the over and under extracted coffee, it wouldn’t be so bad.

 

Like the below, you cannot avoid over and under extracted coffee. But if you put your expectation a little low, you will have the most unforgettable time and happiness with your child. And the coffee will eventually taste good.

 

 

 

Reasons for the over extraction

1. The extraction is limited to the center part of coffee bed.

2. When extracting, you pour the water in zig-zag motion so the extraction is not so even.

 

Reason for the under extraction

1. The stream of water is quite strong and fast.

2. The outer part of coffee bed is not being utilized.

3. Because of the thick and fast stream of water, the water leaks along the dripper’s wall.

4. The water temperature is lower than usual.

 

 

 

Few things you need to keep in mind

Even though you lowered you water temperature, the water is still hot. Do not let your child grasp the pot. For the same reason, you should let the child to hold the elbow not your wrist or hand.

And the over extraction is unavoidable and when the coffee bed burst, it may makes a horrible cup of coffee.

 

 

Lastly,,,

So today I shared with you how to brew a cup of coffee with your child. From past few month with my daughter, I learned how to create a happy memory with her and give her the sense of achievement.

 

 

“It’s the coffee you have made. Smell it~ and that’s it. Thank you so much for your help!”

In that few sentences I can picture my daughter smiling already. How about you make a cup of coffee with your child this weekend? Who cares if you fail? You can add some syrup make it drinkable anyway.

 

Thank You for your time.

 

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