Coffee can be brewed in a countless number of ways, but all these brewing methods fall under one of three umbrellas (some brew methods can be under two umbrellas). One of these umbrellas is espresso, which we will save for another time because it is quite different than any other brew method out there. Every other brew method out there falls under the other two umbrellas - immersion and percolation. The difference between the two all depends on how and when the coffee and water interact. This blog is not set out to tell you which brew method is better, but rather what characteristics each offer for you to decide which is best suit for you.
Most coffee drinkers have or have drank from a French press. This is the perfect example of immersion brewing. Immersion is exactly how it sounds - the coffee and water sit together, or steep, for an extended period of time. The time between the bean’s contact with water and when the plunger is pushed will control the brew’s strength. Because of this increased contact time with the water, relative to percolation brewing, the best brews require a slightly coarser grind, similar to coarse sea salt. This is because the finer the grind, the more surface area of the coffee is exposed to water. Some immersion brewers, like the French press, don’t use any filter, other than the plunger, so they retain all the coffee oils in the final cup. Thus, immersion brews tend to taste rich, full, and textured with an intense, bold flavor. Other immersion brewers include the Aeropress or Hario V60 Switch.
Unlike immersion brews, where the coffee and water sit together for a set period of time, percolation involves pouring hot water over a bed of coffee and letting the gravity pull the water through the bed. This includes everything from a standard drip coffee maker, Hario V60, or Chemex, to name a few. All percolation brewers use a filter or some sort to keep the grounds from getting mixed with the final brew. The filter traps some of the coffee oils, leaving the final cup with a very clean flavor. In general, percolation brews tend to taste clean, complex, crisp, with pronounced and clear profiles. Percolation brews are best for highly complex coffees with nuanced and delicate profiles. Percolation brews can be a little finicky and inconsistent, especially if you’re brewing by hand with a pour over. There are a lot more variables that go into brewing the perfect percolation brew, compared to immersion, where your variables are narrowed down to just a few.
Choosing one over the other is all up to personal taste preference, desired active time with your brew, knowledge, and equipment. Some coffees do, in fact, perform better under one brewing method compared to the other, but at the end of the day, the best brew method is the one in which you enjoy. If you’re new to coffee, we highly recommend the Aeropress for its versatility, friendliness, ease of use, and quick and easy clean up. The Aeropress combines some aspects from both percolation and immersion, but it is more of an immersion brewer. For percolation brewers, we recommend Hario V60, Moccamaster, and Chemex. If you have both types of brewers laying around, do a little experiment! Make a cup of both and try them next to each other to see what differences you can spot!
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