As Coffee Brewing Methods Go, This One's Super-Geeky

Coffee can be super-geeky when you want it to be. Not everyone is content with Nespresso or Keurig, but while drip methods can be simple and still deliver far greater results, winning awards for your brewing takes a little extra work. 2014 North East Brewers Cup champion Todd Carmichael has one such method, snatching first prize with a convoluted but fun double-filtering system that's likely to prove divisive for coffee enthusiasts. Check out the video after the cut.

Carmichael – who also presents Dangerous Grounds on The Travel Channel – calls the system "Polished Immersion – Suspended Double Filtration" and it's a complex one if your morning routine generally ends at hitting and button and drinking whatever comes out the spout.

Two filters are used, a Chemex paper cone and an Able Kone gold cone, with the former pre-wetted; there's a small air gap kept between the two. That then sits on a Chemex, but elevated from the bed thanks to three glass rods, Carmichael explained to Sprudge.

As a result, there are two air channels, which means the coffee doesn't get trapped at any stage and over-extract. Carmichael brews it separately in a cupping bowl on a scale, using 13.5g of coffee and 210g of water – which is kept at 205 degrees F by glueing the base to the kettle itself – for three and a half minutes.

The cup you end up with, as well as being competition-worthy, is said to have more sweetness to counterbalance the acidity.

Carmichael walks through his technique in the video below, though it's worth remembering the most important part: the coffee itself. He opted for an award-winner in its own right, brewing up a 2013 Best of Panama category leader, "Ironman" from Auromar Estates.