THE BREW FOR YOU - Atom Coffee Hub

The modern coffee drinker is becoming increasingly particular when it comes to the quality and origin of their daily brew. Such discerning tastes are well catered for at Dar’s Atom Coffee Hub. Here not only are you assured of coffee made from the finest beans farmed in Mbeya and Kilimanjaro, its expert team of baristas are also versed in the latest brewing methods – that can make Atom look as much like a science lab as a café on occasion – to help you in your pursuit of the perfect cuppa. Here, Jahazi provides a guide to the brews on offer with the help of Atom co-founder Abbas Jaffer Ali.

V60

This brewing method looks disarmingly simple yet produces a very clean and flavoursome cup of coffee. The V60 coffee dripper was designed by Japanese laboratory glassware manufacturer Hario in the middle of the 20th century, but has undergone a sharp rise in popularity in the last decade.

It gets its name from the 60 degree ‘v’ shaped angles of its cone that optimise extraction and fits on top of your coffee cup. To use it you place a paper filter inside, up against the spiral ribbing of the cone’s inner walls, which allows air to be released while brewing. Then you place the ground coffee on the filter and pour over the water, which should have been boiled and left for a minute for the optimum temperature and added at a ratio of 15g of water to every 1g of coffee. The brewing process takes about three minutes as the coffee drips into your cup.

Flavour:

V60 delivers incredibly clear flavours and aromas, allowing coffee lovers to enjoy even the subtlest notes in their coffee.

Advantages:

The materials required are inexpensive and very portable so if you love your V60 brew at Atom you can recreate it at home or on your travels. The V60 also leaves at lot of room for experimenting to find your personal brewing sweet spot by adjusting pouring speed or altering the water/coffee ratio.

Disadvantages:

The V60 is designed to make one or two cups of coffee at a time so is not ideal for your brewing to share.

Abbas says:

“The V60 brewing method extracts the most hidden and delicate notes of the coffee bean, and really allows one to truly enjoy every unique element of its flavour. It can also be adjusted to extract a stronger or a lighter tea-like drinking experience.”

Image: Osse Greca Sinare

Chemex

Like the V60, Chemex is another pourover method of brewing coffee. There are more similarities than differences between the two, but the Chemex cone is attached to an attractive hourglassshaped glass carafe so is designed for brewing multiple cups. It also uses a thicker filter so it doesn’t let any sediment pass into the carafe resulting in a brew even clearer than the V60 (which is still very clear).

Flavour:

With its heavy filter eliminating unwanted fats or oils, you get a clean, pure, flavourful cup of coffee without bitterness, acidity or sediment.

Advantages:

The all-glass construction imparts no additional flavours into your cup, ensuring that you are tasting just coffee.

Disadvantages:

Why many love the Chemex’s clean, light taste, aficionados of stronger bodied brews – such as the French press – may want something heavier.

Abbas says:

“A Chemex brew extracts brighter notes in comparison to other drip coffee methods, while maintaining the body of the coffee and giving the drinker a very rich profile.”

Image: Osse Greca Sinare

Cold brew

Cold brew coffee is rapidly becoming the drink of choice amongst many coffee aficionados, especially younger drinkers and it certainly is a refreshing alternative to a hot cup of coffee when temperatures soar in Dar. To be clear, cold brew is not the same as iced coffee, which is simply regular coffee served over ice. For a cold brew, the coarse-ground coffee is steeped in cold water for 12 to 24 hours. It is then sieved through filters to make a coffee concentrate that can be served diluted with ice and more cold water. It’s time rather than heat that extracts the flavour.

Flavour:

Heat pulls some of the most intense and aromatic chemicals out of coffee beans, giving it its acidic, slightly bitter taste. Cold brew is then slightly sweeter, a bit milder and way less acidic.

Advantages:

Cold brew can be easier on the stomach than hot coffee and once you have your concentrate prepared, you’ve got your chilly brew on tap for the rest of the week.

Disadvantages:

This may be an advantage to some, but the steeping process ups the caffeine content of your brew. So, it’s a great pick-me-up, but not the best evening drink if you need a restful night’s sleep.

Abbas says:

“Cold brew is brewed for an extended period of time with cool water, and therefore removes any bitterness from the coffee. The result is an extremely smooth and sweet, highly caffeinated and cooling cup.”

Image: Osse Greca Sinare

Siphon

The Siphon brewing method looks like something out of a mad scientist’s lab with its bulb-like vessels and liquids bubbling away over the heat of a Bunsen burner. It is so visually impressive that the process becomes a bit of a theatre in itself and an opportunity for the master baristas at Atom to really show their skills. A siphon coffee pot has two chambers, a carafe on the bottom and a coffee brewer on top. When water is heated in the bottom chamber it begins to vaporise, creating pressure that pushes it up into the top chamber to mix with the ground coffee in the top chamber. Once the heat is removed, the pressure reverses and the liquid is drawn back to the carafe, passing through a filter that retains the coffee grains. What’s left is rich, fresh coffee.

Flavour:

It’s a sophisticated coffee making method and has a flavour to match with a smooth, full-bodied and crisp flavour.

Perks:

It may have been developed in the 1840s, but many of today’s coffee cognoscenti still think it’s the best you can get.

Crashes:

It takes time so not ideal for coffee lovers on a tight schedule.

Abbas says:

“Siphon produces a smooth, tea-like cup and it is a lot of fun to watch this coffee brew!”

Image: Osse Greca Sinare

Aeropress

It may look like the giant syringe of a particularly sadistic doctor, but the Aeropress brews amazing tasting coffee. Its plunger presses the ground coffee and water that is steeped inside through a filter and the brewed coffee is captured in the chamber below.

Flavour:

There is plenty of scope for brewing different flavour profiles, but it is mostly used for espresso-style brews.

Advantages:

The Aeropress weighs almost nothing so is great for travellers or those who want to enjoy coffee in the great outdoors, which is fitting as it was devised by the inventor of ‘Frisbee on steroids’ the Aerobie. It also brews very quickly – taking between 30 and 60 seconds.

Disadvantages:

Can’t brew coffee for more than two persons at once.

Abbas says:

“The Aeropress brewer extracts a very clean, and smooth cup of coffee. It does not however do as well in extracting subtle and hidden notes in the coffee.”

Image: Osse Greca Sinare

Kalita Wave

This is another pour-over brew method that stands out with its textured stainless-steel cone and design elements that combine for a more even extraction while brewing. It is used by speciality coffee houses across the globe and in professional coffee making competitions because its filter’s wide brew bed and multiple drainage points contribute to a fuller flavour. Experts also like it, because the key to maximising these qualities depends on a slow spiral pour of water, which takes time to master. Visit Atom if you want to see a pouring masterclass.

Flavour:

The Kalita Wave method is renowned for making a balanced, yet intricately flavoured cup of coffee.

Perks:

The flat-bottom filter design and the three holes in the bottom of the dripper allow for a more even extraction when compared to a cone-shaped brewer such as a V60 or a Chemex.

Crashes:

It takes plenty of will and practice for home brewers to up their pouring game. Might be worth leaving it to the experts.

Abbas says:

“Flavour-wise, you can expect a sweet cup of coffee with lots of body and notes that are carried in the coffee bean.”

Image: Osse Greca Sinare

More information

The seasoned baristas at Atom Coffee Hub can demonstrate all of these brewing methods and you get to taste the results. There is also the chance to try out the café’s range of modern brewing gadgets and create your own brew from house beans or finesse your coffee tasting palate at weekend coffee cupping sessions.

Where: Mayfair Plaza, Mwai Kibaki Road, Dar es Salaam. When: Monday 7am to 8pm, Tuesday to Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am to 9pm.

For more information, visit atomcoffee.co.tz or @atomcoffeehub on Instagram.