Rest your coffee.

• In our cafe, we rest all of our coffee for a minimum of 7 days post-roast before using it for espresso or filter brewing. The coffee can actually peak in flavor anywhere between 2-4 weeks after roast, and continue to taste great, but maybe lacking higher end acidity, for up to 3 months after roast. It’s best to start drinking at 7 days post-roast and watch the coffee develop. If you do not rest your coffee, your coffee will be difficult to brew consistently and exhibit “tight” and “green” flavors, fresh coffee is not better.

Limit your variables when brewing.

• We typically never adjust brew temperatures and coffee to water ratios when brewing filter and espresso, using only grind size to adjust taste. Coarsening and tightening grind has a more linear, easily understood effect on brewing than brew temperature or ratio, and adjusting multiple variables can leave you running in circles. We use water off-boil (208-212 degrees F), and a 1:16-17 coffee to water ratio for filter brews. High temperature water is especially important for guaranteeing high and even extractions with our roast profile.

Grind your coffee.

• We can always grind your coffee for you, but we really think you should grind your own. Not only will preground stale quicker, but we have no way of guaranteeing that the grind setting we use will actually produce a quality cup with your exact method and environment, and the coffee will change over time. You can purchase a quality burr grinder for the cost of 4-5 of our bags of coffee, and it will make the largest difference in your brewing than probably any other equipment or variable.

Taste and adjust.

• If your coffee is “sour” and “salty,” you are under-extracting. Try a finer grind, and make sure your water is hot enough. If it’s more “dry/astringent” and “chewy,” you have unevenly extracted your coffee. Try a coarser grind, so water can more easily pass through the coffee.

Our only recommendation for traditional pour-over brewers. Other brewers, like the Chemex, chronically underextract coffees by design. The V60 is quite  capable of making a great cup, but requires proper brewing technique that can be difficult for new brewers to master. Our favorite V60 model is the plastic one, as it retains heat the best. The v60 recipe by Scott Rao is our recommendation, here on the Hario website.

Our favorite manual brewer, this zero-bypass device includes a valve and showerhead to make even, high extraction brews achievable by anyone, with minimal equipment and technique required. Coffee from the Pulsar will taste more full-flavored, punchy and sweeter, and will highlight good roasting more than any other brewer. Perfect for experts and beginners alike. We enjoy Scott Rao’s recipe.

We use the following recipes in our cafe:

• 9 Swans Seasonal Coffee: 19g in, 40g out, 23-32 seconds.
• Single Origin Espresso: 20g in, 50g out, 23-32 seconds.

A great option for brewing for a crowd. We recommend a brew ratio of 1:16-17 (so, 60g of coffee for a 1 liter batch), with your coffee ground to a setting that allows a 5-6 minute brew time, until the basket completely drains.

If you live in the Seattle area, you are in luck, our municipal water supply is actually excellent for brewing coffee. Even a simple filtration step to Seattle tap water will make near-ideal water. If you do not live in Seattle, or want to get extra fussy with water chemistry, we recommend Lotus Water Drops’ “Light and Bright” formula.