Brew guides
Six ways to brew a better cup.
The recipes we use on the tasting bench. Pick your brewer, scale the recipe to how many cups you need, and follow the steps.
V60 pour-over
A paper filter and a slow spiral pour give a clean, bright cup that shows off light roasts. Takes practice; rewards it.
- Ratio
- 1:16
- Grind
- Medium-fine
- Water
- 94 °C
- Time
- 3:00
Steps
- 1
Rinse the paper filter with hot water and tip the water away. This warms the brewer and removes papery flavours.
- 2
Add the coffee, shake it level and make a small dip in the middle.
- 3
Bloom: pour twice the coffee’s weight in water, swirl gently and wait 45 seconds while the gas escapes.
- 4
Pour the rest in slow spirals, keeping the level steady, until you reach the total water by 1:45.
- 5
Give the brewer one gentle swirl and let it drain. Aim to finish around 3:00; grind finer if it runs fast.
AeroPress
Quick, forgiving and almost impossible to break. Our recipe is upside down, so nothing drips through early.
- Ratio
- 1:14
- Grind
- Fine
- Water
- 88 °C
- Time
- 2:00
Steps
- 1
Stand the AeroPress upside down on the plunger and add the coffee.
- 2
Pour in all the water, stir three times and fit the cap with a rinsed paper filter.
- 3
At 1:15, flip it carefully onto your mug.
- 4
Press slowly for about 30 seconds and stop when you hear a hiss.
French press
The long, patient method: steep, skim and let gravity do the work, and you get a rich cup with almost no silt.
- Ratio
- 1:15
- Grind
- Coarse
- Water
- 96 °C
- Time
- 8:00
Steps
- 1
Add the coffee and all the water, and leave it alone for four minutes.
- 2
Break the crust with a spoon, then skim off the foam and floating grounds.
- 3
Wait another four minutes so the fine particles sink.
- 4
Push the plunger down just below the surface, not all the way, and pour gently.
Moka pot
Strong, syrupy stovetop coffee. Start with hot water and pull it off the heat early, and it never tastes burnt.
- Ratio
- 1:10
- Grind
- Fine
- Water
- Just boiled
- Time
- 5:00
Steps
- 1
Fill the base with just-boiled water up to the valve.
- 2
Fill the basket with coffee, level it without pressing, and screw the pot together with a tea towel.
- 3
Put it on a medium heat with the lid open and watch for the first honey-coloured stream.
- 4
When it starts to sputter, take it off the heat and cool the base under a cold tap.
Cold brew
A concentrate that keeps for a week in the fridge. Dilute it one to one with water or milk, over ice.
- Ratio
- 1:8
- Grind
- Very coarse
- Water
- Cold
- Time
- 16 h
Steps
- 1
Stir the coffee into cold, filtered water in a jar until every ground is wet.
- 2
Cover and leave it on the counter for 16 hours.
- 3
Strain through a sieve, then through a paper filter, into a clean bottle.
- 4
Keep it in the fridge and dilute to taste when you pour.
Espresso
A double shot of Night Shift, the way we dial it in each morning in the café. Weigh everything; adjust only the grind.
- Ratio
- 1:2
- Grind
- Espresso
- Water
- 93 °C
- Time
- 28 s
Steps
- 1
Dose 18 g into a dry basket, distribute and tamp level.
- 2
Pull 36 g of espresso into a cup on the scale.
- 3
Aim for 26 to 30 seconds. Faster and sour: grind finer. Slower and bitter: grind coarser.
Not sure which coffee suits your brewer?
Every coffee page has the recipe we use for it. Or write to us with what you brew on, and a roaster will suggest a bag.