Day after day, we experience in our café in Hamburg St. Pauli that our guests feel uncomfortable, almost ashamed, when they have to admit that they "only" make their coffee at home with the good old-fashioned filter coffee machine, that they don't own an expensive filter machine or a fancy Chemex.

The fact is that despite the wide variety of fully automatic coffee machines, various espresso machines and capsule systems that are now available on the market for the home kitchen, over half of all Germans still prefer to drink their coffee in the form of filter coffee. Quite simply. Without much fuss. Just like back home with Muddi and Vaddi.

The comeback of filter coffee

And there's absolutely no reason to be ashamed of it. We love filter coffee! And not just because filter coffee, lovingly brewed with a fancy hand filter, has celebrated its comeback in Germany in recent years. Good filter coffee is simply delicious. Especially when it's made with freshly roasted and freshly ground beans. Whether you actually use the fancy ceramic hand filter or fire up the coffee maker is simply a matter of taste.

If you haven't fallen for the filter coffee hype yet, you might after this step by step guide. Give it a chance, it can be really good!

In 7 steps to the perfect filter coffee 

What you need for a perfect filter coffee: 

• a hand filter, e.g. the Hario V60 or the Origami Dripper
• the right filter paper
• your favourite cup
• a scale
• a coffee grinder, either electric or manual
• a watch accurate to the second

• 15g coffee beans e.g. Santa Rosa, Gujira or King Kongo
• 250ml water at 95 degrees

Step 1 - The coffee beans

Weigh 15g of coffee beans and grind them by hand or with an electric coffee grinder (medium grind).

Step 2 - The filter paper

Put the filter paper in the hand filter and moisten it with hot water, so you rinse out the flavors of the paper. Make sure that you use the right and good filter paper for your filter.

Step 3 - Introduce coffee and filter paper to each other

Put the freshly ground coffee powder in the filter. The two like each other...

Step 4 - Let it bloom, let it bloom, let it bloom....

Now place your favorite coffee cup and filter on the scale and moisten the coffee powder with 95 degree hot water. If your kettle doesn't have a temperature gauge, simply bring the water to a boil and let it cool for about a minute before using it to brew coffee. This will give you about the 95 degrees you need. 

Use about 30ml of water to moisten the coffee powder. Give the powder 30 seconds to "bloom". The coffee grounds swell during this time, so that the carbon dioxide contained can escape. In coffee circles, this process is also called "blooming". Blooming is of course not a must, you can also pour the full load of water directly onto the coffee powder, but your finished coffee will taste fuller and smoother as a result of this little extra step. So just give it a try!

Step 5 - Your coffee needs water

After the 30-second blooming phase, pour the remaining water evenly over the coffee powder using a thin stream of water and slow, circular movements until you have reached 250ml. Always pour the water directly onto the coffee and not onto the filter paper, otherwise the water may run past the coffee powder without extracting any coffee.

Step 6 - Your coffee is almost ready

Before you enjoy your coffee, stir it briefly and let it cool down to drinking temperature. This has the advantage that you don't burn your tongue - but above all that you can let the fine nuances of taste work better. 

Step 7 - Ready

Enjoy your coffee! And if you feel like it, check out what you can do with the remaining coffee grounds while drinking coffee on our blog. We've put together 7 ways to use coffee grounds for you. 

As you can see, good filter coffee is not a big science. But with a few little tricks, it becomes even better!