How to brew coffee at home.

Lighter roasts are denser and give up their flavour more slowly, so they like hotter water, a finer grind and more contact time. Darker roasts extract easily, so they like slightly cooler water and a coarser grind, and they can turn bitter if you push them. That's why some methods suit some roasts better than others.

Our blends at a glance

Let the beans rest

Freshly roasted coffee is full of carbon dioxide, which gets in the way of brewing. Give it a few days after the roast date printed on the bag. Espresso needs a little longer than other methods.

Grind fresh, and get the size right

We only sell whole beans, because ground coffee goes stale within days. Grind just before you brew. Grind size matters more than almost anything else.

Weigh it

Scoops vary. A set of kitchen scales that reads to 0.1g is the cheapest upgrade in coffee. Use fresh, filtered water if your tap water is hard.

Espresso pushes hot water through a tightly packed puck of finely ground coffee at high pressure. The result is short, intense and the base for every milk drink on a café menu.

The standard starting point

18g of ground coffee in, 36g of espresso out (a 1:2 ratio), in 25–30 seconds, at about 93°C. Almost every espresso recipe starts here.

1. Flush the group head and dry the basket.
2. Weigh your dose into the basket, distribute it evenly and tamp it level.
3. Lock in, put the cup on scales and start the shot and a timer together.
4. Stop the shot when it reaches your target yield.

Our espresso recipes

We set the doses, yields and times. The temperatures are standard starting points for each roast level, if your machine lets you set one.

Community favourites

• Longer shots for lighter roasts: many home baristas pull light roasts at 1:2.5 for a sweeter, clearer espresso. Try Ctrl_Alt_Shift at 17g in and around 42g out if you drink it black.
• Shorter shots for milk: a tighter 1:1.5 to 1:1.8 ratio gives a thicker shot that cuts through steamed milk. Try Ctrl_Alt_Home at 18.5g in and 30–33g out for a flat white.

The stovetop moka pot pushes steam-pressured water up through a basket of coffee. Done carelessly it tastes burnt. Done well it's rich, sweet and very good value.

The method that stops it tasting burnt

This is James Hoffmann's widely used technique. The ratio is roughly 1:10 coffee to water, but the pot sets the dose for you.

1. Boil the kettle and fill the base with just-boiled water to just below the safety valve. Hot water means the coffee spends less time cooking on the hob.
2. Fill the basket with ground coffee, level it off and don't tamp. Brush any grounds off the rim.
3. Optional: put a round AeroPress paper filter on top of the coffee for a cleaner cup.
4. Use a cloth (the base is hot) to screw the pot together, and put it on a medium heat with the lid open.
5. As soon as coffee starts to flow, turn the heat right down. You want a slow, steady stream.
6. When it starts to gurgle or turn pale, take it off the heat and run the base under a cold tap to stop it brewing.
7. Stir the coffee in the top chamber before pouring.

Our blends in a moka pot

• Ctrl_Alt_Home: the classic moka coffee. Keep the heat low and take it off the moment it gurgles. Great topped up with hot milk.
• Ctrl_Alt_Esc decaf: smooth and chocolatey, a very good decaf moka.
• Ctrl_Alt_Shift and Ctrl_Alt_Pause: grind at the finer end and always fill the water right up to the valve so these lighter roasts extract fully.

The AeroPress is a plastic syringe for coffee: steep, then press through a paper filter. It's quick, forgiving and almost impossible to break. Here are three recipes, from easy to ambitious.

1. The official AeroPress recipe

One heaped AeroPress scoop (about 17g) of medium-fine coffee, with water to the (4) mark (about 200g). Use 85°C for medium and lighter roasts and 80°C for darker ones. Stir briefly, put the plunger in, wait about 30 seconds and press gently until it hisses. Drink it as it is or top up with hot water or milk.

2. James Hoffmann's "Ultimate AeroPress"

1. Put a paper filter in the cap. There's no need to rinse it or preheat the brewer.
2. Add 11g of coffee ground at the finer end of medium, with the AeroPress the normal way up on your mug.
3. Pour in 200g of water straight off the boil, wetting all the coffee.
4. Put the plunger in about 1cm to stop it dripping, and wait 2 minutes.
5. Hold the brewer and plunger together and give it a gentle swirl.
6. Wait 30 seconds, then press gently all the way down.

Hoffmann's recipe is written for light roasts. For darker coffee, he suggests a slightly bigger dose and a coarser grind. Community versions use 12–13g with water at 85–95°C.

3. The 2025 world champion's recipe

For the competitive: Némo Pop won the 2025 World AeroPress Championship brewing upright with 18g of coffee, two paper filters and 100g of water at 84°C. Stir at 25 seconds, start pressing gently at 50 seconds, and press for about 20 seconds into a jug holding 70g of 50°C water. He also sifted his grounds and used a flow-control cap, but it's still very good without either.

Our settings for each blend

The cafetière is the most forgiving brewer there is, and the one most often brewed badly. The usual complaint is a gritty, muddy last cup. This method fixes that.

The quick, classic way

Use 60g of coffee per litre of water (30g for a 500ml cafetière), with water just off the boil. Stir, leave it for 4 minutes, plunge slowly and pour straight away so it doesn't keep brewing.

The cleaner way (James Hoffmann's method)

1. Add 30g of medium-ground coffee to the cafetière and pour in 500g of just-boiled water. Don't stir.
2. Leave it alone for 4 minutes while a crust forms on top.
3. Stir the crust gently so most of the grounds sink.
4. Use two spoons to skim off the foam and any floating bits.
5. Wait another 5–8 minutes while the fine particles settle. Longer is fine.
6. Lower the plunger only until it touches the surface. Don't push it down, it's a strainer here.
7. Pour gently and leave the last bit, with the silt, in the pot.

Our blends in a cafetière

• Ctrl_Alt_Esc decaf: our top cafetière pick. Full, smooth and chocolatey, at 92–94°C.
• Ctrl_Alt_Shift and Ctrl_Alt_Pause: bright and fruity, and the Hoffmann method really shows off the plum, citrus and berry notes. Use 91–94°C.
• Ctrl_Alt_Home: heavy-bodied and sweet. Use water a little cooler, at 90–92°C, so it stays caramel rather than bitter.

Mix 40g of Ctrl_Alt_End hot chocolate with a splash of hot water to make a paste. Pull your espresso, or pour your moka pot coffee, straight onto the paste and stir. Top up with steamed milk. Ctrl_Alt_Home or Ctrl_Alt_Esc decaf work best.

Which coffee is best for a cafetière?

A medium roast with plenty of body. Our Ctrl_Alt_Esc decaf and Ctrl_Alt_Home are both good in a cafetière. The Ctrl_Alt_Shift and Ctrl_Alt_Pause blends work too and taste brighter and fruitier.

Can I use espresso beans in a cafetière or AeroPress?

Yes. "Espresso blend" describes what a coffee was designed for, not a rule. All of our blends work in all four methods. Only the grind size and water temperature change.

How long should coffee rest after roasting?

Our medium-light blends (Ctrl_Alt_Shift and Ctrl_Alt_Pause) are best 5–7 days after the roast date for filter-style brewing and 10–14 days for espresso. Our medium and medium-dark blends are ready sooner: 3–5 days for filter-style brewing, and 5–7 days (Ctrl_Alt_Esc) or 5–8 days (Ctrl_Alt_Home) for espresso.

Do you sell ground coffee?

Not at the moment. We only sell whole beans, because ground coffee goes stale much faster. Grind just before you brew, using the grind sizes in this guide.

Why does my coffee taste sour or bitter?

Sour, thin coffee is usually under-extracted, so grind finer, use hotter water or brew for longer. Bitter, harsh coffee is usually over-extracted, so grind coarser, use cooler water or brew for less time. Change one thing at a time.

Is moka pot coffee the same as espresso?

No. A moka pot makes a strong, concentrated coffee, but it brews at much lower pressure than an espresso machine. It tastes closer to a very strong filter coffee, and it's great with milk.

What's the best brew method for decaf?

Any of them. Our Ctrl_Alt_Esc decaf is a medium roast with dark chocolate notes, so it's especially good in a cafetière or moka pot.