Over the past few weeks, I have been doing quite a bit of travelling and coffee drinking. Since coming back from my long Mexico and Guatemala trip, I have had the chance to visit Madrid, The Italian Alps and Lisbon. Both the Spanish and Portuguese capitals have so much to offer in terms of specialty coffee that I left wanting more. Be sure to check out my City Guides on Instagram to get the details of where I went.

However, this entry is about the Coffeevine brew guide for the February 2025 editon that features seven talented roasters from around Europe. Selecting these coffees was a real joy and trust that I’ve been brewing them with intention for the past weeks. I really hope you will enjoy this fine selection of coffees and that they will be your companions as we – hopefully – make our way towards spring. I really miss that sun!!!

Basic Setup

As in any good kitchen or bar, you want to be sure to have a few key items at your disposal that will aid you in preparing a delicious cup of coffee.

These include:

• • Scales (with or without a timer – you can use your phone or your watch)
  • A good quality burr grinder such as the Comandante Grinder
  • Your favourite brew method (Origami, Kalita Wave, V60, AeroPress etc)
  • A clean vessel for brewing and decanting
  • A ladle or stirrer for agitating the grounds
  • Water for brewing. I mix my own using the Lotus mineral drops. I’ll share a recipe soon!
  • A pouring kettle but a regular kettle will also do, however, it requires more precision

It’s very important to always freshly grind your coffee just before preparation because coffee is very volatile and quickly loses its full aroma in a matter of minutes.

You can also vacuum pack your coffee in portions, name and number each batch and then keep it in a dry cool place or put it in the freezer.

For espresso, I use my home espresso machine, a Profitec Pro600 espresso machine and a Profitec ProT64 grinder.

Lucid’s recipe for filter:

Brewer: Orea V4 Dosage: 18g of coffee Grind: Medium-fine Water: 300g Temperature: 95°C

Use a flat paper filter. Start your bloom with a circular pour of 75g of water and wait for 0:35 seconds. Then add another 75g of water. At 1:30 minute, add another 50g in a circular motion and then finish it off with another 100g of water poured into the center. Give it a quick swirl and wait for the drawdown to finish. Enjoy!

Lucid’s recipe for espresso:

Dosage: 18.5g Grind size: Fine Yield: 40g Extraction time: 0:28 – 30 seconds

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Kafferäven’s recipe for filter:

Brewer: V60 Dosage: 12g of coffee Grind: Medium-fine Water: 200g Temperature: 95°C

Start with a bloom of 0:45 seconds using 30g of water. Continue with one long pour making sure the grounds are wet at all times. Aim for a total brew time of around 3 minutes.

Kafferäven’s recipe for espresso:

Dosage: 19g Yield: 38g Extraction time: 0:30 seconds

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Ineffable’s recipe for filter:

Brewer: V60 Dosage: 17g of coffee Grind: Medium-fine Water: 280g Temperature: 94°C

Ideally, use specially mixed water for brewing; BWT Bestmax 0, GH 107 (ppm as CaCO3) KH 30 (ppm as CaCO3). Bloom with 50g of water and then continue with two pours. Finish drawdown at 3:50 minutes.

Ineffable’s recipe for espresso:

Dosage: 18g Yield: 46g Extraction time: 0:32 seconds

Metric’s recipe for filter:

Brewer: V60 Dosage: 22.5g of coffee Grind: Medium-fine Water: 400g Temperature: 92°C

Use a traditional pour-over method for this. Start with a 0:30 second bloom using 70g of water and then continue adding your water in 3 pulses using 110g of water each. Total brew time should be around 3:30 minutes.

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What did you think of these recipes and and the coffees themselves? Feel free to leave a comment down below to share your own recipes and favourite brew methods. Find all of our current offerings.