Journey

Embrace simplicity and the perfect Pour Over with the Canadiano 

Handcrafted out of a single block of wood, Cherry, Walnut or White Oak, the Canadiano is as simple and elegant as pour over coffee gets.

It’s hard to believe that perfecting the art of pour over coffee can be as simple as grind, scoop and stir but that’s precisely what makes the Canadiano so special. The brewer itself is as simple as a block of wood with a stainless steel filter. However the beauty is in the materials. Each type of wood is matched with different beans and roasts from around the world, the Walnut and White Oak editions are crafted and designed for use with darker roasts and earthier flavours and the Cherry edition is designed for beans with slight citrus hints and nutty tastes.

The process itself is equally as simple, place the Canadiano over the cup, add two spoons of coarsely ground coffee and pour freshly boiled water into the wooden bowl. Stir a little and two minutes later, you’ve got a rich, smooth and silky cup of coffee. The metal filter is also kinder on the environment when compared to use once and dispose paper filters, so you can feel good about that as you enjoy your brew. 

Words: Emily Bolack

Images via Fishtnk

Crafting a passion for life with Matthew Wheeler ||

Matthew Wheeler is a freelance photographer, adventurer & waterman based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. We caught up with Matt, shared coffee and talked all things creative & crafted.

CC: Can you tell us a little about your work? Where you most like to capture moments and with whom?

MW: Yeah sure. I’ve had a varied life. Working across many fields, from being a craft person to Engineering. However my main career was working in Advertising (The voice of the awesome Bill Hicks echo in my head “Kill Yourself”), but the longer I stayed in the industry the more it moved away from what I loved. The creative challenge and craft. So I quit after my last travels to follow my passion.

Now I work on my Photography full time. I’m still finding my voice, but currently I love shooting the rawness of nature. It really brings home how small and fleeting we are in this world…which I guess is why I chose to follow my passion over all else. The other area of focus for me is crafts people. I love making things and connecting with people who spend their lives working on their arts/crafts. It’s a real buzz watching people doing. I admire them so much. The focus. The attention to details. The single-mindedness.  

CC: Do you often handcraft coffee outdoors and what is it that appeals to you about this process? 

MW: I guess the simple answer is whenever I can, but I always wish it was more often because I love the experience. No pun intended, but I love boiling down life to it’s simplest elements. Being immersed in nature, exploring, being present and connecting with your companions over java is epic. There is something so primal about shedding the distractions of modern life and getting back to the essentials. A version of life where people and place override possessions and social standing. 

CC: Can you run us through one of your crafted coffee's? 

MW: I’m a recent convert to coffee. I didn’t start drinking it until my 38th year on this planet, when on a surf roady to Noosa. However living in Manly, i’m surrounded by a very established coffee culture. I mean I can literally see four cafes from my front door. So my learning curve has been rapid.

The perfect crafted coffee for me is all about stripping away the complexity and taking it back to basics. In my eyes the best things in life are simple. The best chocolate has only two ingredients. The best wine is only a couple. It’s the intricacies in the process that makes it. So I make sure I get a good bean that has been lovingly roasted. I grind it fresh. Boil fresh water on a natural fire and pour over the grind in the Canadiano as it doesn’t require filters. Then all I have to do is add a dash of raw sugar and enjoy either with my own thoughts or enjoying the company i’m in.

Words: Emily Bolack & Matthew Wheeler

Photography: Mathew Wheeler | @mw_out_of_office | matt-wheeler.com 

Various images across the Crafted Coffee online store were shot by Mathew Wheeler. For speficics please email us at [email protected]

Canadiano brewing with Sam Barton at Mt Cook, New Zealand ::

In this blog we catch up with Sam Barton, adventurer, father and a man passionate for Crafted Coffee in the wild. Through his images he takes us to Mount Cook, in New Zealands deep south, where he crafts a #wildbrew with the Canadiano. 

CC: Firstly, can you tell us a little about the wilderness that features in your photographs and how it is that your family find yourselves in these magnificent places?

SB: Recently my wife, Evelyn and 1-year-old daughter, Juliet decided to move from our hometown of Wellington to Dunedin, which is in the deep South of New Zealand. Being in the South Island of New Zealand has meant accessing some of those most beautiful places in the world. Places such as Mount Cook and Fiordland are right on our doorstep making it irresistible to explore!

We also live next to a beautiful beach and so when the weather looks good, an early morning coffee mission to the beach before work is in order.

CC: Can you share with us your most memorable experience brewing a Crafted Coffee in the wild?

SB: Hiking and hunting over the years with friends has meant there are plenty of memorable experiences! From being judged by other campers for bringing so much coffee gear, to forgetting or smashing crucial pieces of equipment for making a brew! Going through all of this has always been worth it for a good cup of joe!

The most memorable experience for me would be with my friends (@_southernthread and @jjmcconnell) on a trip down to the Nelson Lakes. I think we had a 4-day hunting trip planned and so lot's of coffee was in order. 

I just remember waking up to the most amazing sunrise on the stillest day of our trip. Over the lake was a thin layer of mist which was being reflected by the glassy Lake Rotoiti. My friends and I grabbed our gas cookers and coffee equipment and brewed up a couple of coffees on the jetty!

CC: Can you run us through the craft of your #wildbrew?

SB: For me, when crafting a wild brew it's important to keep the coffee hot. When you're at home the conditions are much different to the cold wild, with an enamel cup which just leaks heat! To get around this I'll often try and sit my cup on a fleece to keep it warm while brewing. 

Also looking for good shelter is important. My most recent trip to Mount Cook had some howling winds and horizontal rain. But I happened to find a nice cosy rock bivvy that kept me sheltered while making up a brew.

I like taking brewing equipment into the bush that is hardy and easy to clean. My go to is usually the Aeropress but more recently, the Canadiano has come along with me. I like that it's not complicated and I don't need to bring filters with it.

For a good coffee, you need good beans and so going to your local roastery before a trip is key! For brewing, I tend to follow the golden coffee ratio of 15g coffee to 250ml of water.

Words: Emily Bolack & Sam Barton

Photography: Sam Barton @sambartron

Outdoor brewing with the Canadiano ||

Close your eyes. Take a moment. See yourself sitting in the wild. Its early. Sitting snug in your hand is your handcrafted coffee. Its warm. It smells like heaven. You breath it in. The fresh air of the outdoors and the smell of your wild brew make for a heady concoction. You sip and exhale. Captivated. Content.

Brewing coffee with the Canadiano is the prettiest way to brew pour over coffee. Carved out of Cherry, Walnut, Ash and White Oak, the wooden piece will remember each cup of coffee you make. Overtime the coffee oils of your specific beans and roast will be absorbed into the wood and be a part of your morning coffee experience. Different types of wood are matched with different beans and roasts from around the world. The Walnut & White Oak are crafted and designed for use with darker roasts and earthier flavours. The White Ash & Cherry are designed for beans with slight citrus hints, floral aroma and nutty taste. 

The design of the metal filter is to reduce waste and lower our environmental impact by not using paper filters similar to other pour-over techniques. The result is a rich, smooth and silky cup of coffee like nothing you have experienced before. 

Here’s how to make your #wildbrew an exceptional experience every time: 

Throw your Canadiano into a backpack, add your Copper Kettle & enamel cup, your favourite filter beans & Handgrinder, matches & a litre or so of water (if you can’t set up a camp fire then take our Handpresso Flask, it will keep your water hot enough for a brew for three hours).

Get outdoors. 

Boil two cups of water, thats enough to craft your coffee as well as heat your enamel cup. Put your Canadiano on top of the cup. Grind your beans at a course setting, #9 on a 1-10 scale and approximately two tablespoons worth. Pour the ground coffee into the bowl to cover the metal filter. Wet the coffee, allowing it to bloom for 30 seconds. Pour the boiled water slowly and evenly on the coffee. Wait for about 1 minute for the coffee to brew. Stir your coffee a few times during the process and pour more hot water if needed. Your crafted coffee should take between 2-4 minutes to brew. Sit. Sip. Savour. Compost the grinds shortly after your done.

Words and photography by Emily Bolack. 

Outdoor brewing with Josiah Watson ::

Josiah is a freelance photographer and cinematographer based in Wellington, NZ. His wild images are captivatingly moody and have an almost other-worldly beauty. We caught up with Josiah, our first of many feature artists on the Crafted Coffee blog, and chatted a little about his #wildbrews.

CC: After looking at your impressive Instagram account, @_southernthread, it looks like you’ve mastered pairing adventure with the #wildbrew. Tell us about your captivating work & where you’ve found yourself brewing coffee.

JW: First of all, thank you for the kind words, I’m stoked you guys love the work! Coffee has always been something I’ve taken with an uncommon amount of seriousness, life is too short to drink bad coffee right!? 

My mates (@samdavidsmith @samrbarton, @jjmcconnell,) and I first started experimenting with brewing coffee on hunting trips, having to get up early made coffee a compulsory supplement to start the day. We started by taking old v60’s and Aeropresses into the mountains and brewing filter coffee before our day’s walk. We soon realised that the concoction of the mountains and coffee were made for each other, photographing it was a way of documenting the experience which was beautiful. We’ve all brewed coffee at home, but there is something about taking that morning ritual and bringing to the outdoors. I think that when you bring these 2 elements together, it makes for a captivating image that really sets a scene and creates a wanderlust for the viewer. The beauty of a ‘bush brew’ is that it’s so accessible, it’s not like you need to take a full espresso machine into a forest along with ya stereotypical bearded-hipster barista. 

CC: Are adventure and crafted coffee inseparable?

JW: For me the two go hand-in-hand. Every adventure has always been accompanied by coffee. It’s an experience that’s unmatched - the aroma and taste of coffee looking over snow covered alps from the comforts of your tent is something you have to experience for yourself. The coffee itself is better in the wild, it’s a full sensory affair unequalled when you’re  at home. It’s a touch more effort than your average instant coffee but the process from start to finish is infinitely better. Adventurers were made to brew coffee.

CC: Can you run us through the craft of your #wildbrew? 

JW: So I generally take a V60 or an Aeropress into the mountains or on road trips. I have taken Chemex’s but they can’t afford to be thrown into a backpack, which makes them a pain in a rear end to carry around. These will be accompanied by a kettle and a trusty enamel cup that can afford to be beaten up  and thrown around a bit. I’ll also take a Jetboil or just a throw the kettle over a fire to boil water. For coffee I take a fresh batch of filter beans from my local roastery. Make sure to take a hand grinder if your beans aren’t pre-ground, I learnt that the hard way…

I’ll boil up the water and start by wetting the filter and pre-heating the v60 by pouring the boiling water over it. The worst thing is lukewarm coffee, so I always boil more than enough water to heat the vessels up. Once I’ve started pouring, I’ll use a spoon to stir the coffee through, making sure all of the excess on the sides of the filter gets scraped back into the water. I stir every 10-15 seconds until the brew is complete. Pour. Sip.

Words: Emily Bolack & Josiah Watson

Photography: Various images other than product shots across the Crafted Coffee online store were shot by Josiah Watson @_southernthread