The manual and the carton call it a brewer and I’ve been caught calling it that too but in our market that invokes terrible memories of 1980’s dripolator machines which overheated the water and we are then fed with stale coffee only to wonder why it tasted bad. I’m calling this an “accurate electronic pour over” which is much more descriptive of what it actually does.
How is the Brazen different?
Nearly every domestic brewer and filter machine on the market heats water to near boiling to get it to rise to the bed of coffee, typically the temperature that the water hits the coffee is too high and that imparts many flavours that you don’t want in the cup. Often those other brewers will drip in the middle of a cone causing over extraction in the centre, and under-extraction on the outer bed of coffee. Then to make it worse other filter machines often have a hot plate that stews the coffee for hours creating a nasty bitter brew that you have to dose with sugar to consume.
The Brazen:
* Heats water to an accurate and adjustable temperature before releasing it.
* Uses a wide shower head to better distribute water over the whole bed of coffee.
* Has an inbuilt and adjustable “pre-soak” time, which allows the coffee to bloom first then extract more evenly.
* Uses a thermal carafe to keep the coffee hot without stewing.
* Can use much lower brewing temperatures as it uses gravity to release the water.
* Has a “wake-up” timer function so you can set it up the night before and wake to the smell of coffee.
Standards met and exceeded
The Brazen coffee brewer is one of only a handful of machines worldwide that meet the SCAA brewing standard. It was important to the Behmor Company that their brewer met these standards. More important to me, it managed to far exceed those standards and has a lot more functionality while consistently producing better coffee than any other brewer I’ve tested.
Rules for use
Here is the good bit, THERE ARE NO RULES. I get annoyed at regurgitated Internet stories that say you have to use a super light roast, you have to grind to a particular size or you have to brew within a specific temperature range or you will produce rubbish. Please throw the rules out the window and do what tastes good to you.
The SCAA standard defines the brewing temperature of 92C – 96C as being the “right” range. The Brazen will brew within those temperatures but following my “no rules” mantra please try your coffees at different temperatures too. In many blind taste tests of the same coffee, same grind, same dose the lower than “standard” temperatures have been the favourites across a range of palates. Personally I tend to start at 92C and move around from there but have also had some great fruity coffees at temperatures as low as 88C (well outside the accepted standard).
The beauty of the Brazen is that you get to determine what suits your taste the best. Other brewers (even those costing double) have one temperature setting that falls somewhere in the 92-96 range. The best you can hope for is a lucky hit instead of being accurate and repeatable every time.
Grind Size
Like espresso, different coffees at different ages will require different grinder settings. In filter coffee too fine and you risk producing a muddy cup reminiscent of a Turkish ibrik, grind too coarse and it will be watery without body. Follow Goldilocks and try too fine, too coarse and then you will hone-in on the just right spot. For a starting point try coarser than espresso, if it’s bitter go a little more coarse, if it lacks body and depth go a little finer.
Dose Size
55g per litre (SCAA standard) or 60g per litre (the accepted Cupping Standard)
Are all good starting points and in the 1.2 litre Brazen that equates between 66g and 72g in the basket. If you are using the scoop and not a set of scales don’t worry, you can just use 6-7 scoops and you should be in the ball park. You will certainly taste the difference between 6 and 7 scoops too so try both and see what suits your tastes the best. I would also suggest dosing the same each time when you start and only vary the grind size, too many changes at once can become confusing.
Roast Depth
WHATEVERYOULIKE. I’m of the strong opinion that good coffee roasted well can be brewed in a variety of devices for different results and most will be enjoyable. Often a change of grind or dose can compensate for a less desirable roast depth. A bean roasted correctly will have good development and caramelisation of sugars, a bean that was briefly pan fried will be sour-grassy or even taste like cardboard, a bean that was roasted too much will taste like char grilled BBQ. If you normally have a preference for a particular roast depth start there and adjust the grind size to yield what you want. Break the rules, you might be surprised. In blind tests many medium espresso roasts have yielded excellent long blacks in the Brazen with a coarser grind and by the same token, lighter roasts that produce disinteresting espresso can produce a crisp, bright pour-over that’s far more interesting.
Coffee Age
This is an interesting one. Like everything else I’ve said above, please do this to your own taste but I think you will find similar post-roast rest times to other brewing methods. On more than one occasion I’ve walked from the roaster to the Brazen and used “still warm” beans in the grinder. The biggest risk with very fresh coffee is that the bloom might rise to the top of the basket but typically you would also have to grind very fine too. Flavour wise anything within a couple of weeks is usually the most interesting.
Drink Before
From memory, consume within 20 minutes is either in the manual or the SCAA temperature standards. Such is my life that half my coffees get finished stone cold an hour later. The beauty of the Brazen is that it uses a thermal carafe to keep the coffee hot for a long time so it doesn’t stew if left alone. I’ve poured a second cup a couple of hours later and it was still hot. I’ve also drunk it cold many hours later with no negative flavour changes. I have also known Brazen owners to microwave a cup later in the day and they said it was still great.
The Behmor Brazen Plus produces some of the best and most repeatable filter coffees I’ve ever had and with a retail price tag under $250 its great value too.
Andy Freeman owns and runs coffeesnobs.com.au. Fresh roasted coffee, green beans and Australia’s biggest coffee forum www.coffeesnobs.com.au
