Let's start here..

There is a lot that goes into a good cup of coffee, but the starting point is ALWAYS a high quality, fresh roasted coffee, sourced locally whenever possible.. preferrably from your favorite local coffee roaster :)

Water qulity is also of utmost importance. Clean, filtered water is fine. We take water from our refridgerator door to brew our coffee at home.. but if you want to get super nerdy, grab some test strips and check your mineral content. You can actually dial in your water mineralization to target extraction. We add magnesium to all our espresso water in our shops, and it does make a difference.

Now that your water is dialed in, you need to bring it up to temp. Each coffee is unique, and with that, likes different temperatures. Some coffees need a high heat, like 205 degrees, to help and pull out those bright lemony acids and brighter florals, and other coffees really like lower temperaturs.. like 195 does wonders for that milk chocolate sweetness in a more developed full natural. The game here is to learn by trial and intuition.. it's a game of hide-and-seek!

Now, on to the fun stuff.. BREWING GEAR!

This cannot be understated. THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF OUR COFFEE BREWING ARSENAL IS YOUR GRINDER! With a poor grinder, you end up playing the law-of-averages with particle distribution, and you will ultimately overextract the finer grinds and underextract the courser ones. The resulting cup is still lightyears better than preground coffee, but if you've made it this far, drop the coin and grab a decent grinder. Check our grinders page for some ideas. If we sell it, we endorse it's ability to grind coffee evenly and predictably.

As far as brewing needs are concerned, the brewer is actually the lowest block on the totem pole. As long as you have good, clean water at the proper temperature, and a consistent, even grind for your special coffee beans, then all that's left is passing that water through the bed of coffee and collecting it in a cup.. but don't let me undersell this one.. most of the home-brewers don't get the water hot enough, fail to saturate the coffee bed evenly, and even cook the coffee on the hot plate, releaseing free-radicals and making otherwise defiling our sacred seed.