Brew guides

Start here, then taste.

These are the recipes we give across the counter when someone asks. They are starting points. Water, grinder and the coffee itself will move the result.

A ceramic pour-over dripper on a glass jug of coffee, with a scale and a dark cup on a pale counter.
Brew method

V60

A clear cup. Bloom properly and the rest is just even pouring.

18 g
12 g24 g
1:16
1:141:18

Water temperature

94°C
Water on the coffee
288 g
Grind
Medium-fine, like table salt

Timer

0:00

  1. 0:00
    Bloom

    Rinse the paper, discard that water, add the coffee and tare the scale. Pour about twice the dose in water and swirl the dripper once. Wait.

  2. 0:45
    First pour

    Pour in a slow spiral to the edge of the bed and back in, until you have about 60% of the water.

  3. 1:25
    Second pour

    Pour the rest the same way. Keep the water level steady instead of flooding the cone.

  4. 2:30
    Drawdown

    Leave it. A flat bed and a finish between 2:45 and 3:15 is the aim. Slow and bitter means coarser next time. Fast and sour means finer.

A glass V60 dripper brewing on a glass server, with a gooseneck kettle beside it.
Rinse the paper. It tastes like paper if you do not.

V60

Use a paper filter, a scale, and water just off the boil. If the bed clogs, go coarser before you blame the coffee.

AeroPress

A slightly cooler cup than a V60, and kinder to a very bright lot. Press gently. The hiss is the end, not a target.

French press

Coarse grind, four quiet minutes, then pour it all. Leaving it on the grounds is how press coffee got its reputation.

Espresso

Chase the time with the grind, not the dose. Taste the shot before you steam milk over the evidence.