Step by step

Brew it properly, without guessing

Pick what you are brewing with. We work out the quantities, tell you how hot the water should be in plain terms, and then walk you through it a step at a time.

Brewing something from the catalogue?

1 · What are you brewing with?

Pick the thing you are actually brewing in.

A paper filter in a cone, poured by hand. The cleanest cup, and the one where your technique shows most.

2 · How many cups?

3 · How strong?

Your recipe
Coffee
15 g
or about 3 heaped teaspoons
Water
250 ml
1 cup
Water temperature — 93°C
Boil the kettle, then wait about 30 seconds before pouring.
Grind — Medium-fine
about the texture of table salt

What you need

4 · Brew it

0:00
  1. 0:00

    Rinse the paper

    Put the filter in the cone and pour hot water through it into your mug. Tip that water away. This washes off the papery taste and warms everything up.

  2. 0:00

    Add the coffee, then start pouring

    Tip the grounds in and level them with a tap. Pour just enough water to wet all the grounds — roughly twice the weight of the coffee.

  3. 0:45

    The bloom is done — pour to about half

    The grounds will have puffed up and released gas. Now pour steadily in small circles until you are about halfway to your total water.

  4. 1:20

    Pour the rest

    Keep pouring in circles, staying away from the very edge, until you reach your full water weight.

  5. 2:00

    Let it drain

    Stop pouring and let the water work through. The bed should look flat and even when it finishes.

  6. 3:00

    Done

    Give it a gentle swirl in the mug and drink it while it is hot.

If it does not taste right

Sour or thinUnder-extracted — water passed through too fastGrind a little finer, or pour more slowly.
Bitter or harshOver-extracted — water sat too longGrind a little coarser, or use slightly cooler water.
It drained very slowlyGrind too fine, or the bed was disturbedGo coarser and avoid pouring hard on to one spot.

These are mainstream published starting points, not rules. Ratio, grind and temperature all interact — change one at a time and taste, and you will find your own numbers within a few brews.