Make better coffee at home.
Start where you are — you don't need to be a coffee nerd to make great coffee at home. But if you want to go deeper, we've got you.
Every method below starts with the basics — what you need, what to do, and what Mulatto coffee works best for it. If you want to go further, each section has a deeper dive for when you're ready. No pressure. Great coffee should be enjoyable, not stressful.
How to Grind at Home
Before any brew method, you need the right grind. This is the one variable that affects every cup more than anything else — and it's the easiest thing to get wrong.
Like powdered sugar. Used for Turkish coffee. Almost no coarser coffee uses this.
Like table salt. This is your espresso grind — tight, dense, and built for pressure.
Between salt and sand. Pour over territory — good control, clean cup.
Like coarse sand. Moka pot sweet spot — not too fast, not too slow.
Like rough sea salt. French press lives here — slow immersion needs room to breathe.
Want to go further? Here's what the nerds obsess over.
Grinder types, burr geometry, and why your grinder matters more than your coffee machine.
Blade grinders chop randomly — you get dust mixed with chunks. Burr grinders crush evenly between two surfaces. Consistent particle size = consistent extraction = better coffee. If you're serious about home brewing, a burr grinder is the single best upgrade you can make.
Ground coffee goes stale much faster than whole bean. Grind just before brewing for the best flavour — ideally within a minute or two. Once ground, most of the aromatics that make specialty coffee special start escaping immediately.
When you get a new bag of coffee — even from us — you may need to adjust your grind slightly. Variables like roast level, bean density, and ambient humidity all affect how a grind setting extracts. A slightly sour cup means grind finer. Bitter means grind coarser.
Fresh roasted coffee (1–3 weeks off roast) is bright and has more CO₂, which can cause over-agitation. Coffee at 3–6 weeks off roast has settled and often extracts more evenly. Both are good — you'll notice different characters at different stages of the bag's life.
French Press
The most forgiving brew method — no special equipment, hard to mess up, and produces a full-bodied, rich cup. This is where most people start, and honestly, it's hard to outgrow.
How to brew
- 1 Add coarsely ground coffee to your French press — about 30g for a large press, 15g for a small one.
- 2 Pour hot water (94–96°C) over the grounds. Fill to about 1cm below the top.
- 3 Give it a gentle stir to make sure all grounds are wet.
- 4 Place the lid on with the plunger pulled up. Set a timer for 4 minutes.
- 5 After 4 minutes, slowly press the plunger down. Don't rush it.
- 6 Pour immediately into your cup and enjoy. Don't let it sit — it'll keep extracting.
Aim for a grind that looks like rough sea salt. Too fine and your plunger will be hard to press and the coffee bitter. Too coarse and it'll taste weak and watery.
Video coming soon — we're brewing something good for you.
The Daily is our go-to French press coffee — its full body and chocolatey notes are made for immersion brewing. This is the cup we make every morning.
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Temperature, agitation, bloom, and the cool-down technique.
94–96°C is the sweet spot for most coffees. Boiling water (100°C) over-extracts and can make French press taste harsh. If you don't have a thermometer, boil and let it sit for 30–45 seconds before pouring.
Pour just enough water to saturate the grounds (about 2× the coffee weight), wait 30 seconds. This releases CO₂ and primes the grounds for even extraction. Skip it and you'll get slightly uneven flavour — fine for everyday brewing, but noticeable in side-by-side comparisons.
A gentle stir at the start ensures all grounds are wet. Some people stir again at the 2-minute mark (breaking the crust). More agitation = slightly more extraction. Don't go wild — subtle is better.
After plunging, pour immediately — don't let the coffee sit on the grounds or it'll keep extracting and turn bitter. If you're not drinking it all at once, pour into a separate vessel (a thermos works great) to stop the extraction.
Moka Pot
The stovetop classic. Strong, rich, and deeply satisfying. No electricity, no fuss — just a pot, heat, and good coffee. A Moka pot is one of the best value investments for home brewing.
How to brew
- 1 Fill the bottom chamber with hot water up to the pressure valve (the little silver pin inside).
- 2 Fill the filter basket with medium-ground coffee, level it off — don't press it down.
- 3 Screw the top and bottom together firmly. Be careful — the bottom chamber will be hot.
- 4 Place on the stove over medium-low heat. Leave the lid open so you can watch.
- 5 As the water heats, coffee will begin to flow up into the top chamber. This takes 5–7 minutes.
- 6 When you hear a hissing, sputtering sound — remove from heat immediately and pour.
Think coarse sand or raw sugar. Don't go as fine as espresso — the pressure from steam will over-extract and turn bitter. Not as coarse as French press either — you want some resistance.
Video coming soon.
The Daily loves a Moka pot. The Colombian and Brazilian beans in the blend respond beautifully to stovetop pressure — expect dark chocolate and a thick, satisfying body.
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Pre-warming, heat control, and why you should never tamp.
Start with hot (not boiling) water in the bottom chamber. Cold water takes longer to heat through and can over-extract the bottom of the grounds before pressure builds. Pre-heated water gives you a faster, more even brew.
Unlike espresso, you should never press down the grounds in the moka pot basket. Just level them off with your finger. Tamping restricts the water flow and creates dangerous pressure build-up inside the pot.
Medium-low heat gives you more control and a better cup. High heat rushes extraction and gives you that burnt metallic taste. Watch for a slow, steady pour into the top chamber — that's what you want.
When you hear the coffee start to sputter and gurgle, remove from heat immediately. That sound means most of the water has pushed through — leaving it any longer burns the last coffee through steam rather than water.
Espresso Machine
More variables, more reward. Espresso has the steepest learning curve of any home method — but once you dial it in, there's nothing like it. A good home espresso machine plus a decent grinder is a life upgrade.
How to brew
- 1 Warm up your machine — this usually takes 15–20 minutes for the group head to reach temperature.
- 2 While warming, grind your coffee. Dose 18g into the portafilter basket.
- 3 Distribute the grounds evenly across the basket — a gentle tap and level with your finger.
- 4 Tamp firmly and evenly with about 15kg of pressure. Keep it level.
- 5 Lock the portafilter into the machine and start your shot immediately.
- 6 A good shot should flow in about 25–30 seconds and yield around 36g of espresso. Taste and adjust your grind from there.
Espresso grind is the most sensitive of all methods. A small change in grind size has a big impact on flavour. If your shot runs fast and tastes sour, go finer. Slow and bitter, go coarser. Small adjustments only.
Video coming soon.
The Daily was built for espresso. We roast it to bring out sweetness under pressure — expect a rich crema, chocolate-forward flavour, and a finish that lingers. It's our most popular grind for a reason.
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Extraction ratios, pre-infusion, channeling, and how to dial in a new bag.
A classic espresso ratio is 1:2 — 18g of coffee in, 36g of liquid espresso out. Specialty coffee often uses a longer ratio (1:2.5 or even 1:3) to highlight sweetness and complexity. Weigh your output to understand what's happening in the cup.
Many modern machines offer a pre-infusion stage — low pressure water saturates the puck before full pressure kicks in. This reduces channelling and gives a more even extraction. If your machine has it, use it.
Channelling is when water finds a path of least resistance through the puck rather than passing through evenly. Signs: fast shots, sour or weak flavour, uneven colour in the cup. Fix with more even distribution and a level tamp.
Every new bag requires a small adjustment — even from us. Start with your usual settings and taste. New crop or lighter roasts often need a finer grind. Darker roasts need coarser. Give yourself 3–4 shots to find the sweet spot before making big changes.
Pour Over
The method that shows off everything a great coffee can do. Clean, transparent, and incredibly nuanced. If you want to truly taste your coffee — its origin, its processing, its character — pour over is the way.
How to brew
- 1 Rinse your paper filter with hot water, then discard that water. This removes paper taste and preheats your dripper.
- 2 Add medium-fine ground coffee to the rinsed filter. Aim for 22g for a large cup.
- 3 Start your timer. Pour just enough water to saturate the grounds (about 50g) and wait 30–45 seconds. This is the bloom.
- 4 Continue pouring in slow, circular motions — working from the centre outward. Add water in 3–4 pours total, waiting for the level to drop between each.
- 5 Aim to finish pouring by the 2:30 mark. The last drip should fall around 3–3:30 minutes.
- 6 Remove the dripper, discard the filter and grounds, and enjoy a remarkably clean, flavourful cup.
Pour over is about control and clarity. Your grind affects how fast water flows through — finer slows it down, coarser speeds it up. Target a total brew time of 3–3:30 minutes from first pour to last drip.
Video coming soon.
The Explorer was made for pour over. Single origin coffee at its most transparent — you'll taste the origin, the altitude, the processing. This is coffee at its most honest. And it changes every season.
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Want to go further? Here's what the nerds obsess over.
Pour technique, TDS, bypass brewing, and water chemistry.
A gooseneck kettle gives you precision. Pour in slow, concentric circles starting from the centre. Avoid pouring directly onto the filter paper. Consistent flow rate = consistent extraction. Pulse pouring (pouring in stages) gives you more control over flavour development.
With fresh coffee especially, blooming (2–3× coffee weight in water, wait 30–45 seconds) is essential for pour over. Skipping it means CO₂ escapes during extraction and creates an uneven, under-extracted cup. The bloom is not optional here.
Pour over is transparent enough that water quality is genuinely noticeable. Heavily chlorinated tap water can dull flavour. Filtered water (not distilled — you need some minerals) makes a real difference. Aim for water around 75–150 ppm TDS.
Always rinse a paper filter with hot water before brewing. This removes paper taste, preheats your dripper, and eliminates a surprising amount of off-flavour from an otherwise perfect brew. Pour it out before adding your grounds.