The four ways water meets coffee
Every coffee brewing method is one of four things, Wikipedia's article on brewed coffee says: boiling the coffee with water (decoction, as in Turkish coffee), steeping it (infusion, as in a French press or cold brew), letting water drip through it by gravity (drip and pour over), or forcing water through it under pressure (espresso). The moka pot sits between the last two, pushing water up with steam at low pressure.
The method you pick decides three things: how fine to grind, how long the water and coffee spend together, and how much of the coffee's oil and sediment reaches the cup. The table below lines up seven methods you can use at home.
Seven methods side by side
| Method | How it works | Grind | Time or pressure | In the cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drip machine | Gravity, through a paper filter | Medium | Machine sets the time | Clean, easy, made by the pot |
| Pour over | Gravity, poured by hand | Medium to medium-fine | A bloom, then a steady pour | Clean and bright; you control the pour |
| French press | Steeping, then a metal mesh plunger | Coarse, like cooking salt | 4 to 7 minutes | Full body, a little sediment |
| AeroPress | Steeping, then pressed by hand through paper | Fine to medium | 30 to 60 seconds of steeping in competition recipes | Clean, and as strong as you make it |
| Moka pot | Steam pressure pushes water up through the grounds | Fine, not packed | 1 to 2 bar | Strong and dense |
| Espresso | Pump pressure through packed, fine coffee | Fine | 9 bar, give or take 1, for 25 seconds, give or take 5 | Small, concentrated, with crema |
| Cold brew | Long steep in cold or room temperature water | Coarse | 8 to 24 hours | Smooth and low in bitterness |
Numbers from Wikipedia's articles on brewed coffee, the French press, the AeroPress, the moka pot and espresso. Grind words are the usual starting points, not rules: adjust by taste.
Two patterns run through the table. The longer water and coffee sit together, the coarser the grind has to be, which is why cold brew and the French press use the coarsest grounds and espresso the finest. And the filter decides the body: paper holds back oils and fine particles for a cleaner cup, while a metal mesh lets them through for a heavier one.
How much coffee to use
For filter coffee, the long-standing American target is the American standard: 55 grams of coffee per liter of water. Wikipedia's brewed coffee article gives that figure: about 13 grams for a 240 ml cup, or 14 to 16 grams across the 55 to 63 grams per liter range it cites. Norway's standard is stronger, at 63 grams per liter. The same article gives the target yield as 20 percent of the coffee's weight dissolved into the cup, give or take 2 points.
Other methods move off that ratio on purpose. Wikipedia's French press article gives about 30 grams of coffee to 500 ml of water. A moka pot runs close to 1 part coffee to 10 of water. Certified Italian espresso uses about 7 grams for a single shot of about 25 ml. The brew ratio entry in our glossary explains how to adjust from there.
What each method is good for
Drip machine
The right answer for a household or an office that wants a full pot with no fuss. Use a medium grind and fresh beans, and the machine does the rest.
Pour over
The method for tasting a single origin clearly. Paper filtering holds back oils, so a washed Kenyan or a light Ethiopian keeps its detail. The first pour is the bloom, when fresh coffee bubbles as it lets go of carbon dioxide. Melitta Bentz, working in Dresden, patented the paper coffee filter in June 1908, and every paper pour over since has followed her.
French press
The easiest route to a heavy, rich cup, and the most forgiving. Early press designs date to an 1852 patent by Henri-Otto Mayer and Jacques-Victor Delforge; the sealed-plunger version most people own was patented in the United States in 1929.
AeroPress
A plastic brewer that steeps coffee and then pushes it through a paper filter by hand. Alan Adler unveiled it in November 2005 at a trade show in Seattle. It travels well and makes one strong cup at a time.
Moka pot
A stovetop pot that makes coffee close to espresso in strength without an espresso machine. Our moka pot guide has the full method and fixes.
Espresso
The base of lattes, cappuccinos and flat whites. It needs a machine that holds about 9 bar and a grinder that can go fine and consistent. Angelo Moriondo patented a steam-driven coffee machine in 1884, and Faema's E61 made the motor-driven pump the cafe standard in 1961.
Cold brew
A long, cool steep that produces a smooth concentrate for iced coffee. Plan a day ahead: Wikipedia gives 8 to 24 hours. Cold drip, where cold water drips slowly through the grounds instead of sitting in them, takes about two hours.
Picking one
If you are choosing a first brewer, match it to your mornings. One person, black coffee, time to fuss: pour over. A household that wants a full pot: a drip machine. You love a heavy cup and hate paper filters: the French press. Lattes at home: espresso, or a moka pot if you want the strength without the machine. Hot summers: cold brew. Plenty of people who get into coffee end up with two brewers, one for weekdays and one for weekends.
Roasters here who brew and teach
Several Massachusetts roasters we list sell coffee built for a specific method, and some teach the methods too, as their own pages showed on September 27, 2026. Broadsheet in Cambridge pitches its Headliner blend for pour over, drip or espresso. Atomic in Peabody and Red Barn in Upton both can their own cold brew, and Mike Shea's in Bridgewater has nitro cold brew on tap. For lessons, Acoustic Java in Worcester runs Specialty Coffee Association classes at its roastery, and Speedwell in Plymouth holds a monthly espresso class for four students at a time.
Fresh beans matter in every one of these brewers, and a roaster in the state gets them to you after a short trip. Buying them here keeps a small roaster in business and puts the money back into a Massachusetts town. Why local roasters matter.
If you want a different Massachusetts roaster's beans for your brewer every few weeks, Bay State Coffee Club sends one per box, whole bean or ground to suit your method.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Brewed coffee: the four brewing groups, the brew ratios, yield, French press and cold brew times.
- Wikipedia, French press: ratio, grind and the 1852 and 1929 patents.
- Wikipedia, AeroPress: Alan Adler, the 2005 unveiling, steep times.
- Wikipedia, Moka pot: pressure and ratio.
- Wikipedia, Espresso: pressure, dose, time and volume for certified Italian espresso.
- Wikipedia, Espresso machine: Moriondo's 1884 device and the 1961 Faema E61.
- Wikipedia, Melitta Bentz: the 1908 paper filter patent.
- Roaster facts: our roaster profiles, checked September 27, 2026.
By Joe McRose, Bay State Coffee Club. Updated .