Brew guides
Brew guides
How to brew it.
Seven ways to brew our coffee at home, written by our head of coffee. Pick your brewer. The timed recipes have a clock you can brew along with.
Espresso.
Short, concentrated and quick. This is the recipe to start your machine on, then let taste take it from there.
- Coffee
- 18g
- In the cup
- 40g
- Shot time
- 27 to 32 seconds
The step you're on lights up as you brew.
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Dose 18g of ground coffee into a clean portafilter.
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Distribute the grounds so the bed is as flat as you can get it, then tamp firmly and level.
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Lock the portafilter in, put your cup on the scale and tare it.
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0:00
Start the timer as you start the shot.
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0:27
Stop at 40g in the cup, somewhere between 27 and 32 seconds.
-
Flush the group after every shot to keep the shower screen clean.
Adjust by taste from there. If the shot runs fast, go finer. If it runs slow, go coarser.
Words in this guide: Dose, Grind size, Tare, Yield, Portafilter, Tamp, Group, Shower screen, Dial in
Stove top.
A moka pot makes a small, strong cup on the hob in a few minutes.
- Coffee
- Fill the basket
- Water
- Up to the fill line
- Heat
- Medium-low
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Fill the basket with ground coffee and level it off without pressing it down.
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Fill the base with water up to the fill line. Never go above the safety valve. Once the pot is hot, pressurised water can escape through it.
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Screw the pot together and put it on a medium-low heat.
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When you hear it bubbling, it's ready. Take it off the heat and pour.
Words in this guide: Grind size, Moka pot, Safety valve
AeroPress.
Quick, forgiving and small enough to take anywhere.
- Coffee
- 12g
- Water
- 200g at 90°C
- Brew time
- 2:30, then press
The step you're on lights up as you brew.
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Fit the filter, lock it onto the brewer and stand the brewer on your cup.
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Add the coffee.
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0:00
Start the timer, pour in 200g of water at 90°C and set the plunger on top.
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0:10
Move everything off the scale onto a solid surface. Don't press down while it's on the scale.
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2:00
Give it a gentle swirl so any floating grounds sink.
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2:30
Press slowly. Stop when you hear a hiss.
You should be able to press without leaning your weight on it. If you have to push hard, the grind is too fine or the dose is too high. You're pressing hot liquid, so take care.
Words in this guide: Dose, Grind size, Dial in
V60.
The classic pour-over. Three pours, and a clean, bright cup at the end of it.
- Coffee
- 18g
- Water
- 270g at 90°C
- Brew time
- About 2:30
The step you're on lights up as you brew.
-
Heat your water. 90°C is a good place to start.
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Put the V60 on your server. Place the filter and rinse it with hot water so it sits flush against the walls. Tip the rinse water away.
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Add the coffee to the centre and give it a gentle side-to-side shake to level the bed.
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0:00
Start the timer. Pour 60g of water in small circles about 2cm across, spout close to the coffee, until there are no dry patches.
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0:10
Let it bloom.
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0:45
Pour 105g in the same circular motion, at around 8g a second.
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1:15
Pour the final 105g.
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1:30
Let it drain. It should finish at around 2:30.
Words in this guide: Dose, Grind size, Pour-over, Server, Coffee bed, Bloom, Drawdown
Chemex.
The same three pours as the V60, through a thicker filter and a slower drain.
- Coffee
- 18g
- Water
- 270g at 90°C
- Brew time
- About 4:30
The step you're on lights up as you brew.
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Heat your water. 90°C is a good place to start.
-
Put the filter in the Chemex and rinse it with hot water so it sits flush against the glass. Check it isn't blocking the pouring spout, because air needs to move through while it brews. Tip the rinse water away.
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Add the coffee to the centre and give it a gentle side-to-side shake to level the bed.
-
0:00
Start the timer. Pour 60g of water in small circles about 2cm across, spout close to the coffee, until there are no dry patches.
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0:10
Let it bloom.
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0:45
Pour 105g in the same circular motion, at around 8g a second.
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1:15
Pour the final 105g.
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1:30
Let it drain. It should finish at around 4:30.
Words in this guide: Dose, Grind size, Pour-over, Coffee bed, Bloom, Drawdown
Cafetière.
Also called a French press. Full-bodied, and most of the work is waiting.
- Coffee
- 15g
- Water
- 250g
- Brew time
- 8 minutes
The step you're on lights up as you brew.
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Add the coffee to the cafetière.
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0:00
Start the timer and pour in the hot water, making sure all the coffee is wet.
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4:00
Stir the crust on top gently with a spoon and let it sink.
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4:10
For the cleanest cup, spoon off the foam and any grounds still floating.
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4:20
Wait another four minutes.
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8:00
Put the lid on and lower the plunger until it sits just below the surface. Don't press it all the way down. The fine particles settle at the bottom, and pressing would push them up into your cup.
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Pour slowly to keep sediment out of your cup.
Words in this guide: Dose, Grind size, Ratio, Crust, Fines
Cold brew.
Made the night before and ready in the morning.
- Coffee
- 70g
- Water
- 1000ml
- Brew time
- 8 to 12 hours
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Add the water to the coffee and give it a good stir. A wide-mouthed glass bottle works best.
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Leave it to brew for 8 to 12 hours.
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Pour it slowly into another container. Most of the grounds will have settled at the bottom, and a gentle pour leaves them there.
Words in this guide: Dose, Grind size, Ratio, Fines
Words worth knowing.
Coffee comes with its own vocabulary. These are the words used in the guides above, in plain English.
- Dose
- The weight of ground coffee you start with. Every recipe here gives it in grams, so a scale makes a real difference.
- Grind size
- How fine or coarse the coffee is ground. Finer slows the water down and pulls out more flavour. Coarser lets it run through faster. Each brewer needs its own.
- Ratio
- How much coffee to how much water. Keep the ratio the same and you can make more or less without changing the taste.
- Tare
- Setting the scale back to zero with your cup or brewer already on it, so it only weighs what you add next.
- Yield
- The weight of liquid coffee that ends up in the cup. Mostly used for espresso, where 18g of coffee gives about 40g in the cup.
- Portafilter
- The handle with a basket on the end that holds the coffee and locks into an espresso machine.
- Tamp
- Pressing the coffee down firmly and level in the portafilter, so the water runs through all of it evenly.
- Group
- The part of the espresso machine the portafilter locks into. Hot water comes out of it through the shower screen.
- Shower screen
- The metal mesh on the group that spreads the water evenly over the coffee. Flushing it after each shot rinses off the old grounds.
- Dial in
- Adjusting the grind, dose and time until the coffee tastes how you want it. Every new bag needs a little of this.
- Moka pot
- Another name for a stove top brewer. Steam pressure pushes the water up through the coffee into the top chamber.
- Safety valve
- The small valve on the side of a moka pot's base. It lets pressure out if it builds too high, so keep the water below it.
- Pour-over
- Making coffee by pouring hot water by hand over coffee in a paper filter. The V60 and Chemex are both pour-over brewers.
- Server
- The jug or carafe the coffee drips into.
- Coffee bed
- The layer of grounds sitting in the filter. A flat bed means the water passes through it evenly.
- Bloom
- The first small pour that wets the coffee. Freshly roasted coffee gives off gas and puffs up. Letting that settle helps the rest of the water brew evenly.
- Drawdown
- The time it takes for the last of the water to drain through the coffee. Too quick usually means the grind is too coarse, too slow means too fine.
- Crust
- The layer of grounds that floats on top of a cafetière while it brews.
- Fines
- The very smallest particles of ground coffee. They settle at the bottom and make a cup gritty if they get into it.
Ground for your brewer.
Every bag is roasted on our own roaster in East London. Choose whole bean, or ground for any of the seven methods on this page. Free UK delivery over £30.
Need a hand dialling in?
Tell us what you're brewing on and how it tastes, and we'll help you get it right. info@treelogycoffee.com
Or let us make it.
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