THE SLOW BREW

Manual brewing is so meditative: setting the water to boil, warming up your tools, measuring out the coffee and observing the extraction process. It’s a pause from the frenzy of the day, a chance to slow down. Fact: manual brewing has become so popular, it accounts for nearly 80 per cent of the workshops that Common Man Coffee Roasters run. Give it a go at home with these manual-brewing apparatus. For under $70, you can make your coffee exactly how you like it.

CHEMEX COFFEE MAKER

What’s special about it: The lter paper is thick – to remove coffee oils and compounds responsible for the bitter and sour notes. How to use it: It’s a pour-over apparatus, so brewing is similar to the Kalita Wave 185 Dripper (second from right). The taste: Clean, with a light body. You could mistake it for tea. Buy it: $69.60, from Jewel Coffee.

BIALETTI MOKA EXPRESS

What’s special about it: Brewed over a stove, the water in the bottom chamber is heated into steam and forced up through the coffee lter basket. How to use it: Set it over medium heat and when the coffee that streams out turns a honeyed tone, remove from heat. The taste: Potent and thick, like an espresso. Buy it: From $65, from Espressocups.

AEROBIE AEROPRESS

What’s special about it: This is extraction through pressure rather than gravity. It’s the fastest of the lot here – just one minute to steep and plunge; the other apparatus take four to ve minutes to get your coffee ready. How to use it: Place grounds in the cylindrical chamber, pour hot water to the desired level, stir briey, cap the plunger and steep for 30 seconds. Then, push down the plunger and hold for 30 seconds. The taste: Full-bodied with robust avours, and very little acidity. This one’s for those who thrive on strong coffee. Buy it: $55, from Common Man Coffee Roasters.

KALITA WAVE 185 DRIPPER

What’s special about it: A barista favourite for its at bottom, three drip holes and horizontal ribbings on the vessel, which all help extract the coffee evenly. How to use it: Wet the coffee grounds to release the coffee gases. To extract the avours, steadily pour hot water in a circular motion to steep the grounds, pausing intermittently to let the coffee drip. It sounds tedious, but each step is straightforward and the payoff, beautiful. The taste: Keith Yee, barista-trainer at Common Man Coffee Roasters, says this device produces a balanced cup of joe – avourful without being astringent. Buy it: $48 for the ceramic version, from Common Man Coffee Roasters. What’s special about it: Leave the grounds to fully steep before dripping the coffee through the lter paper. No skill needed in controlling the way you pour in the hot water. How to use it: Pour all the hot water onto the grounds at once, stir briey, steep for a few minutes, then set the dripper over your mug to release the coffee. The taste: More fullbodied than those brewed with Kalita Wave 185 Dripper and Chemex coffee maker. Buy it: $28, from Common Man Co ffee Roasters.

The most tea-like coffee

The most balanced coffee