The DCN Guide to Bypass in Coffee BrewingDaily Coffee News by Roast Magazine

The first coffee I wa ever given that I did not instantly and reflesively spit out because it tasted SO BAD was brewed in a French press. Yes, a tiny Bodum Chambord third litre. While I was ready to spit it out I had also determined to give it a fair chance. I was astounded…. finished that cup and demanded a second, NOW. I learned from my friend who roasted and brewed it how to brew.. sort of. He was a seat of the pants hacker. But I was hooked. I iherited his seat of the pants "just make it" method on both roasting and brewing. Others liked what I did.. I tried to learn more, but information was difficult to come by. Finally one year at EXPO I plonked my hard earned cash down on the table and walked in to the Brewing and Estraction all day marathon event. Oh my….. head spinning, I determoned to put it to work. Sigh…. next year I volunteered to assist for that class again. Different instructor, different approach. Same the third year. I had begun playing with the five variables to try and get better. Now I had a grasp on the concepts and their function.I established a repeatable brew protocol, then began changing one variable at a time, noting the results. One issue.. the tiny French press I had could not fill "my cup" so I started dosing for the size of the cup, then "diluting" (or to use a current twenty dollar word, "bypassing") clear hot water into the cup after the strong brew had been poured in. The "brew ratio" remained the same…… I often provide coffee for events (weddings, conferences, celebrations, etc) and when dragging out the big batch brewer is not feasible I will simply bring along my 1.5 litre french presses, figure out how to make lots of water hot quickly, grind it fresh one way or another, and crank out great coffee. Bypass is my good friend. And I did not even know it was "a thing.Recently I provided coffee for a large event where hot water was simply not availble. And ot enough electric power to do it that way. Two burner camp kitchen gas rings, large stainless stock pots, and the rest is easy. Fourteen pounds of fine coffee was brewed, served, and enjoyed that afternoon. All usng a bypass brew method that was very precuse despite being all done by hand.