Brew Guide

We want you to brew the best cup of coffee possible, no matter how you make it. Go ahead and share these secrets for getting the best from our beans!

Keep it fresh: Whole beans can stay fresh for up to a month, but ground coffee begins to lose its freshness and flavor just hours after grinding. The sooner the coffee is brewed after grinding, the better! See our guide on How to Store our coffee for ultimate freshness.

Not the same old grind: Too fine a grind can produce a bitter coffee, while too coarse a grind will result in a weak, unfavorable cup. Each coffee-making method requires a specific grind ranging from very fine to coarse. The type of grind determines the proper brewing time:

What’s brewing: Choose the right amount of ground coffee and water for your preferred brew method. Our Brew Guide to help you get it just right.

Honestly, Lauren wishes she could come to your house and personally make you the perfect cup of coffee! She and her team put so much care into ensuring that our beans are grown, harvested, processed and roasted to exacting standards that she wants to make sure you get the maximum coffee bliss possible. So having the right brewing process is just as important as all the work that went in before the beans got to you. Here are a few recommendations:

 Regular Drip

1. Grind beans just before brewing.
2. Use two tablespoons of ground coffee per six ounces of water.
3. Start with cold, filtered water.
4. Serve immediately after brewing, or place coffee in an insulated thermos.

 Single Cup Reusable Filter

Fill the filter with your desired amount of ground coffee — typically 2 tablespoons of coffee for every 6 ounces of water used. Filter holds approximately 2.7 tablespoons of coffee so you can adjust to your preference.

1. Place the filter basket in the filter holder and screw on the lid.
2. Lower the handle of the machine and brew as you normally would with regular single cups.
3. After brewing, remove the filter and discard the grounds, then rinse out the filter basket and holder and use again and again

 French Press Carafe

Choose coarsely ground coffee beans for your French Press.

1. Place coffee grounds in the carafe. Add 1 tablespoon for each 6 ounces of hot water.
2. Pour in the hot water. You can either pour just enough water into the French Press to cover the grounds and stir gently (allowing the coffee to “bloom” or create a foam, especially if the coffee is freshly ground) before adding the rest of the water, or pour all the water in at once.
3. Put the top back onto the carafe, with the filter raised all the way up (above the liquid).
4. Brew for a maximum of four minutes.
5. Stir again just before compressing the plunger—this increases the body and the flavor and then press the filter down gently.

Wait 30 seconds for the grounds and thick sediment to settle to the bottom of the French Press. Then pour the coffee slowly into your favorite coffee mug and enjoy!

 Mokka Pot

The Mokka Pot can be a very tricky mode of preparation. Because of the propensity for the water to be too hot, scalded, harsh coffee can be the result if you’re not careful. The grind is very important in Mokka Pot coffee – a burr grinder gives better results.

1. Grind your coffee very fine, and fill the filter full so that the coffee is mounded above the level of the top of the filter in the center. Do not compress the coffee as you would in an espresso machine.
2. Fill the pot slightly below the line indicating the water level – use filtered water.
3. Put the heat on low – the brewing cycle should take 4-5 minutes. The goal is to prevent the water from boiling, just let the heat push the water through the grounds.

 Espresso

Here are some basic instructions for making espresso at home.

1. Pour cold, filtered water into your machine’s water chamber and make sure the boiler cap is secured. One shot of espresso is about 1 ounce. For a double shot, use two ounces. Some machines let you make as many as four shots at once.
2. Place the coffee basket in the filter holder and lightly pack in the ground coffee. Your filter should have a measure for how many shot of espresso your are making.
3. Brush off any grounds on the sides and top of the filter and place the filter holder in the machine.
4. When the coffee starts to flow into the cup, it should have brown foam, or “crema,” on its top. When the foam becomes almost white in color, the good-tasting liquid is no longer flowing. Remove the cup immediately

Here are some things to remember when storing your coffee. Our best advice? “Coffee is the opposite of wine – the sooner you drink it, the better!”

1. Once roasted coffee is exposed to air, its flavor begins to deteriorate.
2. Don’t store your coffee in the refrigerator or freezer. Condensation and moisture from such storage practices can also harm your coffee.
3. If possible, buy coffee weekly and store it in airtight containers or use our Java Beans & Joe canister and keep it in a cool, dry place (not in the fridge) away from other foods.
4. Brew your coffee within a week to two weeks of opening