NextLevel Pulsar Recipes and Recommendations

NextLevel Pulsar Recipes and Recommendations

Know Your Sweeteners: Honey: Part One

Not all sweeteners are made equal! In this series, we’ll take a closer look at different types of sweeteners and syrups—starting with honey. BY EMILY JOY MENESESBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Featured photo by Arwin Neil Baichoo via Unsplash Though you can’t go wrong with simple syrup or the tried-and-true vanilla, there are many options when it […]


Know Your Sweeteners: Agave: Part Two—Environmental Concerns

Agave has become an increasingly popular sweetener in the coffee industry. But is it as environmentally friendly as people claim it to be? BY EMILY JOY MENESESBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Featured photo sourced via Pixabay In recent years, you may have noticed an increase in demand for “alternative sweeteners” like agave. While today, the nectar serves […]


10 Minutes With Helena Oliviero: Part One

We talk with coffee champion and Q Grader Helena Oliveriero about her career, her life in Colombia, and what it means to be a young woman in the male-dominated coffee world.   BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Featured photo courtesy of Helena Oliviero Helena Oliviero, originally from Tuscany, Italy, is 28 years old, but already she […]


4 Cool Cafés to Try Out in Bologna

Bologna, the Italian city home to the world’s oldest university, is traditionally famous for its food and drink—and it has some stellar specialty cafés. BY TANYA NANETTI SENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Featured photo by Annie Spratt via Unsplash Bologna is home to the oldest university in the world and is the unofficial “capital“ of the porticos […]

NextLevel Pulsar Recipes and Recommendations

How to roast anaerobically fermented coffee

Among the many different kinds of experimental processing methods, anaerobic fermentation is perhaps the most popular and intriguing. Interest in this processing technique is only growing, with more and more anaerobic fermented coffee available in cafés and roasteries around the world. Moreover, of all the advanced processing methods, this particular technique has one of the […]


Brewing at Home and on the Road With Diego Campos

We talk to the first Colombian World Barista Champion and Diamante Coffee Farm founder Diego Campos about his brewing habits. BY TANYA NANETTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Diego Campos The focal point of a coffee worker’s professional life is, obviously, coffee. Whether for a customer, to check a specific production batch, or to verify the […]


Design Details: A Petit Le Café Coffee in Midtown Manhattan

Welcome to Design Details, an ongoing editorial feature in Daily Coffee News focused on individual examples of coffee shop architecture, interior design, packaging design or branding. If you are a coffee…


Design Details: A Petit Le Café Coffee in Midtown Manhattan

Welcome to Design Details, an ongoing editorial feature in Daily Coffee News focused on individual examples of coffee shop architecture, interior design, packaging design or branding. If you are a coffee…

NextLevel Pulsar Recipes and Recommendations

Cup of Excellence to Offer El Salvador Immersion Program

The immersion experience will allow participants to grow their knowledge on Salvadoran culture and coffee varieties. BY J. MARIE CARLANBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Photos courtesy of Cup of Excellence Cup of Excellence is launching a new learning opportunity in 2024: the Origin Immersion Program, to be held in El Salvador from February 26 to March 5. […]


Lvl Up Coffee Hits High Scores In Normal, Illinois

Specialty coffee in the central Illinois town of Normal has reached a new stage of quality with the opening of Lvl Up Coffee Bar. Brought to life by coffee roaster…


How to roast anaerobically fermented coffee

Among the many different kinds of experimental processing methods, anaerobic fermentation is perhaps the most popular and intriguing. Interest in this processing technique is only growing, with more and more anaerobic fermented coffee available in cafés and roasteries around the world. Moreover, of all the advanced processing methods, this particular technique has one of the […]


Unique Collection in Switzerland Offers a Look at Coffee’s Rich History

Anita Vietri’s Coffee Culture Collection chronicles the brew’s journey through 1,500 artifacts. BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Anita Vietri In the rich tapestry of coffee culture, there exists a hidden gem—an extraordinary collection that chronicles the captivating history of our beloved brew. Today, we meet Anita Vietri, an ardent coffee enthusiast and […]

NextLevel Pulsar Recipes and Recommendations

NextLevel Pulsar Recipes and Recommendations

minimum dose size?

Jan 31, 2024 |

I use the Hario switch to brew my coffee and am trying to reduce my caffeine consumption. Hence I would like to brew smaller cups of coffee. I am currently using 10g of coffee with 160g of water. (1:16 Ratio) I am wondering if there is a minimum amount of coffee...

NextLevel Pulsar Recipes and Recommendations

 

 

As many of you know, the much-anticipated NextLevel Pulsar launched earlier this month. The Pulsar is a collaboration between Jonathan Gagné, astrophysicist, coffee nerd, and author of The Physics of Filter Coffee, and NextLevel, manufacturer of the LVL10, and now the Pulsar. When the first generation of such brewers hit the market, Jonathan dubbed them “no bypass” because, unlike most coffee drippers, these brewers do not offer the water a way to bypass the coffee bed. The Tricolate and LVL10 were the most prominent no-bypass brewers. After using those brewers for some time, Jonathan realized they could be improved by the addition of a valve to allow a the grounds to stay submerged throughout the bloom, and by changing a few other features, such as the shower screen. The result is a dripper that makes great coffee and even extractions incredibly easy to achieve.

By now the first customers should have received their Pulsars, so I’d like to offer some tips here. While there are myriad ways to use the Pulsar, I recommend this as a starting recipe and technique before trying variations.

What you’ll need:

 

Here’s a video of me making a Pulsar using this recipe

 

Recipe outline:

  • 25g coffee, ground coarser than for hand pour, finer than batch brew

  • Prewet with 75g boiling water

  • Bloom 45-60 seconds

  • Total brew time of 3:30-4:30

  • 17:1 ratio of water: coffee (by weight)

Technique

  • Grind 25g of coffee coarser than for pourover, finer than for batch brew

  • Boil water.

  • Set filter in base of Pulsar

  • Wet filter in Pulsar base with hot water, with valve open

  • Drain water

  • Mount barrel firmly on base, with threaded side of barrel down

  • Pour coffee in Pulsar

  • Shake Pulsar to level grounds, or use a WDT tool to stir and level grounds

  • Start timer

  • With valve open, pour 75g water just off the boil

  • Immediately close valve

  • at 45-50 seconds, Pour enough water to make slurry height 1cm above the grounds

  • Open valve

  • Pour in several short bursts. Attempt to maintain a slurry height of 1cm — 2cm during the entire brewing process

  • Swirl Pulsar gently, immediately after last pour

Notes and Pro Tips

I prefer water chemistry with approximately 100 ppm general hardness and 40 ppm alkalinity for most coffees

For the uber-geeks, an 800-micron PSD peak is about the right grind size for a 25-g dose

I recommend using no less than 20g; 25g—30g provides adequate bed depth to decrease risk of astringency

Use WWDT (Wet Weiss Distribution Technique) during the bloom to ensure even flow through the coffee bed

If total brew time is shorter than 3:30, grind finer

If total brew time is longer than 4:30, grind coarser

Short blooms seem to enhance clarity and aroma

Longer blooms seem to enhance body and texture

For an in-depth discussion of the Pulsar and more tips, please see Jonathan’s recent blog post

NextLevel Pulsar Recipes and Recommendations

Perfect Little Beans

Chinmey Hill Coffee uses specialty-grade beans with zero primary defects (such as black beans or sour beans) and less than five secondary defects (such as broken beans). This is important because primary defects will greatly affect the taste of the coffee. Having zero defects allows the coffee to be the most optimal flavor.

Window for Optimal Flavor

Chimney Hill Coffee ships our coffee the same day it was roasted, so you will receive it before it enters the window of optimal flavor.  This means you’ll never miss the opportunity to enjoy the coffee’s peak flavor.

Coffee Ratings

Coffee undergoes many scoring processes by professionals who achieved their Q Grader certification. Coffee is first graded when it’s green. If there are defects the coffee is determined to be “not-specialty grade”. For those coffees that pass green grading, they are sample roasted and cupped. (Cupping is the official term for critically tasting and scoring coffees. The official cupping form is standard worldwide, and where the 100-point scoring system comes from.) A coffee’s dry fragrance, wet aroma, flavor, aftertaste, body, acidity, balance, and overall impression are taken into consideration while uniformity issues and defects, will lower the overall score.

Specialty Coffee

Specialty coffee, coined by Erna Knutsen in 1974, refers to a coffee that receives a quality grading score of 80 percent or higher. While “premium” or “gourmet” seem like they’re synonymous with “specialty,” they simply are marketing terms with no defined standards. Specialty coffees are grown in specific and ideal micro-climates, and have distinctive and unique flavor profiles, with little to no defects.

Third-Wave Coffee

We’re currently in the third wave of coffee. The first wave of American coffee put pre-ground, vacuum-sealed cans in kitchens across America. The second wave started with the late ‘60s introduction of Peet’s coffee (by Alfred Peet) through the proliferation of Starbucks. The third wave of coffee focuses on origin transparency, nuanced flavors, and artisan roasting. The term “third wave” is synonymous with specialty coffee.

NextLevel Pulsar Recipes and Recommendations

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