Comparing three different Eva Solo CafÉ Solo brewing guides

I agree with one of our bloggers here that the various brewing guides available online are worth checking out, but I forgot to mention in my comment under his post that I found Intelligentsia’s guide for the Eva Solo Café Solo “off” relative to how I use mine. That got me curious about what I’d discover in other brewing guides for the Solo. I’ve just looked at two more. Here’s what stood out to me about the advice given in each.

Intelligentsia:

- Lists a brew ratio of about 63 g. per L

- Bloom uncovered for one minute before stirring? I guess they’re not worried about heat loss.

- They claim that a “vigorous and careless pour-off” can lead to overextraction, but they have no problem with leaving the coffee in the carafe for 15 min. before decanting. Does…not…compute.

Stumptown:

- Lists a brew ratio of about 62 g. per L

- Again with the uncovered bloom and stirring after one minute.

- “If you’re making more coffee than you can fit into a cup and want to hold some for later, pour the coffee into a thermal carafe. Do not simply leave the coffee in the brewer – it will get nasty-tasting.”

Has Bean:

- Lists a brew ratio of 80 g. per L (!)

- Advises adding water before adding coffee.

- Stir after the bloom, then stir again at 2 min.

- Add water in two stages: ¼ at first and then the rest after 30-45 sec.

Main similarities:

- All three brewing guides recommend a 4-minute steep and some kind of bloom. I generally stir for 10 sec. right after adding my water, so given the guides’ agreement on the second point maybe I’ll experiment with a longer pre-stir interval.

Main differences:

- Brew ratio. Has Bean’s is *significantly* higher.

- Decant immediately or not? Only Intelligentsia’s guide says “nay.”

Very interesting—to me, at least. Do the same sort of comparison with your favorite brewing method if you feel so inclined (NB: this site makes it easy). You might learn something!