What You Need for a Coffee and Matcha Station in Your Apartment?

Whether you reach for coffee or matcha, the morning goes better in a kitchen with counter to spare. The kitchens at Seabrook Square in Austin, TX, come with granite counters and enough space to leave a setup out, which is most of what a coffee and matcha station needs. 

The two drinks overlap more than they appear to: both start with hot water at a set temperature and a measured amount of something finely ground, and they diverge only at the last step, where coffee is filtered and matcha is whisked. Buy the shared pieces once, add the few tools each drink needs on its own, and a single stretch of counter covers both.

The Kettle and Scale Behind Both Drinks

A kettle and a scale go on the counter first because coffee and matcha both need them. The kettle heats the water, and the scale measures how much coffee and matcha go into each cup.

Buy a kettle you can pour with control. The narrow, curved spout on a gooseneck kettle sends water exactly where you aim it, which matters when you are wetting coffee grounds evenly or filling a matcha bowl without splashing powder up the sides. A variable-temperature model heats to a number you set and holds it there, so the same kettle serves coffee hot and matcha cooler.

A digital kitchen scale handles the measuring. Weighing coffee in ounces gives you the same strength every morning, since a scoop holds a different amount depending on the grind size. Matcha weighs the same, and 1 level teaspoon, about ¾ of an ounce, makes a single bowl.

Pour-Over or French Press: Picking Your Coffee Gear

The coffee side comes down to which brewer you buy. A pour-over dripper and a French press require different tools and produce different cups, so choose one before you buy anything else.

A pour-over dripper sits on top of your mug and holds a paper filter. Hot water goes over the grounds in a slow circle, drains through, and lands in the mug underneath. The cup comes out clean and bright, and you need the dripper, filters sized to it, and three or four minutes at the counter. A French press holds everything in one carafe instead. Coarse grounds steep for four minutes, then you press the plunger down and pour. The metal mesh lets the oils through, so the coffee tastes fuller, and the press brews several cups at once.

Buy a burr grinder either way. Burr grinders crush beans between two plates to the size you need, which lets you set a coarse grind for the press and a finer one for the dripper.

A Bamboo Whisk, a Bowl, and a Sifter for Matcha

Matcha takes three tools of its own. Matcha is a powder rather than a steeped leaf, so the work is breaking it up and mixing it into water instead of filtering anything out.

The bamboo whisk, called a chasen, does that mixing. Carvers cut it from a single piece of bamboo into dozens of thin prongs, and the fast back-and-forth motion pulls air into the water to build the foam on top. A hundred-prong whisk is the common starting size. Rinse it in warm water without soap and stand it upright to dry.

A wide, shallow bowl gives the whisk room to move. The motion runs side to side rather than in circles, and a mug's straight walls stop the prongs before they reach the powder at the bottom. A small sifter is the third tool, since matcha clumps as it sits and whisking doesn't break those clumps up, so they show up as bitter specks in the cup. Asahi Imports on Burnet Road carries Japanese kitchenware alongside its pantry aisles, so you can buy a whisk, a bowl, and a sifter in one trip.

Shopping for Beans and Matcha in East Austin

Tools are a one-time purchase, but your beans or matcha powder are items you buy regularly. The best part of living at Seabrook Square in Austin, TX, is that you are close to two local spots where you can grab both.

Texas Coffee Traders roasts on East 4th Street and has been doing so since 1994. They roast daily and grind to order. Tell them at the counter whether you are using a French press or a pour-over, and they will grind the bag to match. They sell French presses, pour-overs, filters, and grinders, too, so one stop covers the gear and the first bag.

Central Matcha sells ceremonial-grade powder at the Texas Farmers' Market at Mueller on Sundays from ten to two. Ceremonial grade is meant for whisking with water rather than baking, and it tastes sweeter and less bitter than culinary grade. Matcha fades in light and air, so a sealed tin in the refrigerator helps it retain its color between market trips.

Find Where You'll Have A Fresh Cup Every Morning

A kettle, a scale, a brewer, a grinder, and a bowl with a whisk beside it are a handful of purchases, and they need one clear run of counter. When all of it stays out where you can reach it, you make the drink instead of thinking about making it, and the morning starts in your own kitchen.

Our kitchens at Seabrook Square come with granite counters, brushed-nickel hardware, and a full stainless appliance package, and select apartments add a pantry closet for the beans and tins you are not using that week. Schedule a tour at Seabrook Square in Austin, TX, and find the counter your station will live on.