Brewing Tips

BUYING HIGH QUALITY COFFEE BEANS ISN’T THE ONLY STEP IN ENJOYING GREAT COFFEE AT HOME.

Brewing them as best you can is vital as well.

To ensure that you are enjoying your coffee at its highest potential, we’ve provided some basic tips for how to brew your coffee at home. These are industry standard recommendations and backed by our professional opinions but ultimately, brewing good coffee is all about your preference. We can give you guidelines, but keep adjusting everything until it’s to your desired taste!
Keep in mind: this is just the start! We love to nerd out with everyone about the science (yes - it is a science!) of roasting and brewing coffee. Stay tuned for more in-depth coffee explanations!

1. GRIND FRESH

Within 30 minutes of grinding coffee, the flavor is compromised, even if it’s in a sealed bag. For this reason, we only provide whole bean coffee. Try to grind as close to brewing as possible. Home grinders can run starting at around $35. Make sure that if you buy a grinder it is a “burr grinder”. A blade grinder does not offer a consistent grind size.

2. PROPER GRIND SIZE

When choosing the optimal grind size for your brewing method, there are all kinds of comparisons made between coffee ground sizes to measure them. Some say to look for the texture of “table salt” to equal a medium-fine grind size or “sand” to equal medium. Any brewing method which calls for a coarse grind will probably look like ground peppercorns.

Each brewing method has a different optimal grind size so that it tastes best. Espresso is prepared using a very finely ground coffee. For a pour over, use a medium grind. A grind size slightly larger than medium works great for regular drip coffee. A medium-course grind is optimal when brewing with a French press. Perhaps the coarsest grind size of all is used in making cold brew.

Basically though: it’s all trial and error. If coffee tastes to weak or very sour, it is under-extracted. This means that the grind size is too coarse. If it tastes very strong and bitter, it is over-extracted, meaning your grounds are likely too fine. If you are brewing with a proper coffee to water ratio, adjusting grind size until it hits the sweet spot between these two will provide you with the best cup you can get!

 

3. BUY FRESH

Even if left as a whole bean, sealed bags of coffee have a shelf life of no more than a month. Optimally, coffee should be used with two weeks of its roast date. We ship our coffee the day it is roasted to ensure that it reaches you with ample time for you to consume it before it begins to stale.

4. STORE WELL

Coffee storage is key. We recommend using an air-tight container. Keep it stored away from light, in a cool dark place. Do not store it in the refrigerator or freezer; coffee is absorbent, and it can absorb unwanted flavors of the different food in your fridge.

5. MEASURE BY WEIGHT, NOT VOLUME

Before coffee is roasted, it starts as a very dense green bean as hard as a rock. As it’s roasted, CO2 is released inside the bean, causing it to swell up as air bubbles form inside the bean. This makes it brittle, so that it can be ground to make coffee. Coffee from different regions can swell up differently, meaning that 1 tbsp of grounds from one growing region might hold more solid material than 1 tbsp from a different region - or even from a different roasting batch. It all depends on how much air was released from the CO2 when roasting.

 

Watch how to make the perfect pour over;