Weigh Everything And Keep Notes For Quicker High-Quality Coffee

Good coffee, coffee worth waiting for, involves just two elements, coffee and water. But how much coffee, how much water, and what temperature they’re dancing at, are important questions. Will from the Tested blog demonstrates an important step in refining your morning cup: measuring everything and writing it down.

Exactly how geeky you want to get, and how much you want to spend, is a matter of taste. But whether you’re rocking an AeroPress, a French press, or something less finicky, you should have a measure of how much coffee you’re adding to how much water, and how long it takes to get your water to just the right temperature. Will suggests a ratio of 17 grams of water for every gram of coffee, and gets there with a recommended tenth-of-a-gram-accurate scale; in my own overly involved AeroPress coffee, I’ve adapted the Specialty Coffee Association of America standards to use 55 grams for every liter of water, or about 8.10 grams of coffee per 1.5-ounce “shot” (which makes a 5-ounce cup of “regular” coffee). That works out to just 5.22 grams of water for every gram of coffee.

The main thing, though, is to take notes the first few times you make coffee in this semi-scientific fashion. What does your coffee taste like at that ratio? How long does it take for your water to reach 80C, 85C or 90C, and which do you prefer? By having a few thumbnails to work with, you’ll spend less time looking like a mad caffeine scientist each morning, and you’ll get just the right blend every morning, without fail.

Hot Tip: How to Measure Accurately for Great Coffee [Tested]