BREW GUIDE
Drip / Batch
Learn how to brew perfect batch that has low bitterness and balanced flavours.
Roast level
Medium and light roasts work best for batch brews. Dark roasts will work as a batch brew but you do lose a lot of the sweetness and variety of flavours.
Grind size
The grind size should be medium to coarse and should feel like sea salt granules. If your grind is too fine it will cause uneven extractions which can taste bitter and muddy.
Roast date
The ideal time to start making batch brew is from about 10-14 days after roasting. Any earlier and a build up of carbonic acid will make your coffees taste sour and hollow.
RECIPE
60g
DOSE
medium-coarse ground coffee
3-5mins
TIME
Total extraction time
1Ltr
YIELD
Espresso liquid in your cup
a 1:16 ratio in around 5 minutes.
Let's break it down some more.
DOSE
Getting Your Dose Right
The dose refers to the amount of coffee grinds going into your brewing basket (it can be stainless steel or paper depending on your machine).
So what amount should you dose at?
A standard 4 cup brewer will generally need 60g of coffee ground medium coarseness, along with 1 litre of cold water.
For smaller brews half the recipe (30g : 500ml)
TIME
Getting Your TIME Right
A batch brew should take around 5 minutes to finish a brew. Some can take up to 10 minutes but in general, the majority of coffees you want to make should fall somewhere between 5-7 minutes.
When the water has filtered all the way through the coffee, that's when it's ready to drink.
Some of the newer machines have options including bloom, several stages of brewing, resting periods etc. You can experiment with these settings on each coffee and decide on what tastes best for you.
We recommend swirling the carafe around at the end to create a uniform taste before your pour.
YIELD
Getting Your Yield Right
The ratio you use will determine how much coffee liquid should be extracted from the coffee grinds.
A standard ratio is 1:16
If you dose 60g of ground coffee, you should see just under a litre of liquid coffee end in your carafe.
Some of the water will be absorbed into the coffee grinds but the majority of it will pass through and collect all the beautiful flavours along the way.
A good starting point is 18.5g. From there adjust up or down in 0.5g increments until you find your sweet spot.
Troubleshooting Batch Brew
What is Batch Brew?
Batch brew is a filter style coffee but rather than making a single serve the brewing device makes several coffees at once.
Water is dispersed over the grinds of coffee and slowly drip through a filter (usually paper or mesh metal) into a carafe below.
What batch brew device should I buy?
The Dutch Moccamaster is by far the most popular batch brewer on the market ($250USD) but there a plenty of good an cheap brewers out there to get you started.
My batch brew tastes muddy
If you know you're using high quality coffee beans, then you might need to clean your brewing device. Coffee contains a lot of different oils and while these taste great when they are made fresh, residue can build up in the machine and the container and if not properly washed these oils will turn rancid and taste horrible.
My batch brew tastes hollow/weak
If you notice that there are a lot of bubbles when you extract your coffee and it tastes hollow and flat then it's most likely too fresh. Batch brew coffee needs to sit for 7-10 days before being used. This can be even longer in the winter as coffee takes longer to develop and release the carbon dioxide.
Which brew method is best for beginners?
Plunger (French Press) is probably the easiest of them all if you just want to get started with a good coffee. All you need is a French Press, some great coffee coarsely ground, and some boiling water. Alternatively, if you like your coffee iced cold, then making cold brew is super simple and all you need is ground coffee, a cold brewer and cold water. Put it all in the fridge for 12-14 hours and voila!
My espresso tastes sour or bitter - what should I adjust?
Too Bitter? Check the grind size and make sure its not too fine. If you are using 1litre of water and its taking 10 minutes then this can be a sign your grind is too fine.
Too Sour? This could be because your coffee is ground too coarse and if your extraction time is under 3 minutes then make your grind finer.
Another reason you could be tasting sour coffee is the coffee is light roasted and super duper fresh. These light roasts often have a fruity light flavour to them and if its too fresh, the coffee will taste like underripe fruits.
What grind size should I use for each brew method?
Each method uses a different grind size but as a rough guide: Cold Brew is very coarse (like salt flakes), French Press or Plunger is coarse, Filter/Pourover and Drip coffee is medium, Stovetop is fine, and espresso is very fine. Every brew guide includes a recommended grind range to make it easy.
Do different coffees need different recipes?
Yes. Each coffee extracts differently depending on the how it was roasted, when it was roasted, how the coffee was processed, and what flavours you want to highlight. However, Espresso is the most temperamental, and thats why every product page includes a specific recipe with the ideal dose, yield, time and temperature for that coffee.
Do I need special equipment to follow these brew guides?
Nope. You only need the appropriate brewing device. A grinder does make for a better tasting coffee in the long run, and a precision kitchen scale helps with accuracy. But don’t get caught up in the hype to buy fancy expensive coffee accessories!
Our brew guides help you understand what affects the flavour the most.
Which roast level works best for each brew method?
As a guideline:
- Filter / Pourover / Batch Brews→ Omni, light and filter roast
- Plunger / Drip / Cold Brews → medium and medium-light roast
- Espresso & Stovetop → medium and medium-light roast
Each coffee on our site notes which method it’s best suited to.
Coffees we recommend for Batch Brew brewing
These coffees are selected for balance, solubility and flavour clarity when brewed using Batch Brews
