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:
Any type of kettle (pouring spout type not important)
Digital gram scale
Good quality water for coffee making
NextLevel Pulsar and filters
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