Brewing the perfect cup of coffee might seem daunting, especially when you’re relatively new to specialty coffee, but it doesn’t have to be. Every coffee is as unique as the people who produced and roasted it, and as a result, asks for its very own preparation method to get the most out of each delicious little bean.

From now on, we will be publishing the custom recipes that we receive from each one of our monthly roasters on this site to make sure that our subscribers, customers and anyone with a particular curiosity for brewing great coffee has access to them at any time.

Step 1: A great set up is half the rent

When brewing filter coffee, you want to make sure that you are properly equipped. No matter which method you prefer, be it the Aeropress, V60, French Press or even the good old Moka Pot, it’s important to have a few basics in place.

We recommend:

• A good quality burr grinder with different finesse settings
• A set of electronic scales
• A pouring kettle, ideally an electronic one with built in temperature regulator
• Your brew method of choice
• A decanter vessel
• Your favourite mug or cup or glass
• Finally, nothing but the finest single origin coffees, ideally from our monthly coffee box (hint, hint).

Step 2: Follow the recipe of the roaster or make your own

Our roasters take the greatest care to source, roast and share their finest beans with our customers and they always supply us with custom recipes for each of their coffees. While you’re of course not required to follow their guidelines, it makes sense to give them a shot – no pun intended – and see for yourself if they got it right or whether your own recipe makes for a better cup. Coffee, like food, is all about personal preference and experimentation.

In our June ’17 coffee box: Root & Branch, Coaltown and Artisan Roast

Root & Branch: Kenya, Gatuyaini AB (omniroast)

Recipe filter

Kalita Wave: Take 16g of our coffee and grind it medium fine. Bloom with 30g of freshly boiled water at 94 – 95° for 30sec, then add remaining 215g in slow circular motions. Brew time: 3:15min.

Recipe espresso

Take 20g of our coffee and grind it fine. Extraction time varies according to machine. Yield: 40g.

Coaltown: Colombia, Acevedo (filter & espresso roast profiles)

Recipe filter

Hario V60: Take 21g of our coffee and grind it medium fine. Bloom coffee with 40g of freshly boiled water at 90 – 94° for 30sec, then add remaining 260g. Brew time: 2:30min.

Recipe espresso

Take 20g of our coffee and grind it fine. Attempt to achieve an extraction time of 27 – 32sec. Yield 40 – 42g. Brew temperature should be 94.5°.

Artisan Roast: Ethiopia, Aricha (filter roast) & Colombia, La Esperanza (espresso roast)

Recipe for filter

Hario V60 (2): Take 31g of our coffee and grind it medium fine. Next, boil 540g of water and let cool to reach 95°. Edinburgh water is low in mineral content so aiming for a water with <85ppm and around 6.7pH will help bring out our experience. Add 100g of water, stir for 5sec and then let bloom for a total of 45sec. Brew time: 3:30min with a TDS of approx. 1.24.

Aha!

ppm = parts per million. This measurement is the mass of a chemical or contaminate per unit volume of water.

pH = (potential of hydrogen) is a scale of acidity from 0 to 14. It tells how acidic or alkaline a substance is.

TDS = Total dissolved solids (TDS) comprise inorganic salts (principally calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, bicarbonates, chlorides, and sulfates) and some small amounts of organic matter that are dissolved in water.

Recipe espresso

Take 20g of our coffee and grind it fine. Extraction time including pre-infusion: 28-32sec. Brew ratio: 1:8 to 1:9. Yield: 36 – 38g.