Learn
The ideas behind every step, a couple of minutes each.
Fundamentals
- Ratio is coffee to water.How many grams of water per gram of coffee. It sets how strong the cup is — not whether it's sour or bitter.
- Grind is your strongest lever.Finer grinds extract more and slow the water down. Sour often means too coarse; bitter and dry, too fine.
- Hotter water extracts faster.Light roasts need heat to taste sweet; dark roasts turn bitter when the water is too hot.
- Extraction is how much of the coffee reaches the cup.Too little tastes sour and thin; too much, bitter and dry. A good cup is sweet, in between.
- Roast changes how easily coffee extracts.Light roasts are dense and like hotter water; dark roasts are soluble and like it cooler.
- Process shapes the fruit in the cup.Washed coffees taste clean and bright; naturals, fruitier and heavier — and easier to muddle.
- Coffee is almost all water.Its minerals help extract flavor. Good-tasting, filtered tap water is a fine start.
Technique
- Bloom releases the coffee's gas.Freshly roasted coffee holds CO₂. Wetting the grounds first lets that gas escape, so the following pours extract evenly.
- Pouring in stages keeps extraction even.Splitting the water into pours keeps the bed saturated without flooding it, so every particle gets a similar share of water.
- A gentle stir evens out extraction.Dry clumps barely extract. A few gentle stirs make sure all the coffee is in contact with water; stirring hard adds bitterness.
- Drawdown time reveals your grind.If it drains too fast, the grind is coarse; too slow, it's fine. The app uses this time to suggest your next adjustment.
- The first two pours set sweetness vs. acidity.In the 4:6 method, the first 40% of the water controls balance: a smaller first pour tastes brighter, a larger one sweeter.
- The last pours set the strength.The remaining 60% controls body: more, smaller pours extract more and taste stronger; fewer pours taste lighter.
Methods
- Immersion: every grain soaks in all the water.Instead of water passing through, the coffee steeps in it. Extraction depends mostly on time and grind, so it's forgiving — and easy to repeat.
- The paper filter Brazil grew up with.A small, flat-bottomed paper cone with a narrow outlet: the water lingers a little longer, so the everyday fine grind works — as long as it doesn't take more than 5 minutes.
- A moka pot brews with steam pressure.Water heated in the base builds pressure and rises through the coffee. Starting with hot water and medium heat keeps the coffee from cooking and turning bitter.
- Espresso is about ratio and time.Around 1:2 — 18 g of coffee for 36 g in the cup — in 25–30 s. Fast and sour? Grind finer. Slow and bitter? Grind coarser.
- The thick filter slows everything down.Chemex paper is much thicker than a V60's, so water drains slowly and holds back oils — that's why its cup tastes so clean, and why it takes a coarser grind.
- Pressing pushes the last of the coffee through.The plunger forces the brew through the paper. Pressing slowly avoids squeezing bitter fines into the cup; the hiss means only air is left.
- The crust is coffee that hasn't sunk yet.Grounds float at first, pushed up by gas. Breaking the crust lets them sink and finish extracting; skimming removes what would make the cup muddy.
- Waiting lets the fines settle.The tiniest particles slip through a metal mesh. Giving them a few minutes to settle — and pressing only to the surface — keeps them out of your cup.