Find the right coffee for your brewer
You do not need a separate kind of bean for every brewer. The same coffee can make an enjoyable espresso or filter cup, but the grind, recipe and brewing method change how its flavours appear.
What kind of cup are you looking for?
Espresso is a small, concentrated drink brewed under pressure. Filter brewing uses more water relative to the amount of coffee, making a larger, less concentrated cup. Both can highlight sweetness, fruit or chocolate; concentration and texture help explain why the same beans can taste different.
Coffee for espresso and milk drinks
If you want a rounded starting point, try Crosswind House. Its milk chocolate, caramel and pear notes work across espresso and filter recipes. For a medium-dark option with chocolate, caramel and apple notes, explore Brazil Poços de Caldas.
If you prefer a fruitier espresso, consider Lift or Colombia Nariño. These are suggestions based on the coffees' flavour profiles, rather than rules about which brewer you must use.
An espresso starting recipe
- Dose: 18 g of coffee, where appropriate for your basket.
- Yield: 36 g of espresso in the cup.
- Ratio: 1:2, measured as dry coffee to finished beverage.
Use whole beans and a grinder that allows fine espresso adjustments. Distribute and tamp consistently, then weigh the drink rather than relying only on volume or crema. Keep the dose and target yield steady while adjusting the grind. Flow time is a useful clue, but taste should guide the final recipe.
A 1:2 ratio is a common starting point, not a requirement for every coffee. See the Specialty Coffee Association's discussion of espresso recipes for more context.
Coffee for pour-over and drip
For an aromatic cup, try Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Konga, with honey, stone fruit, black tea and jasmine notes. Colombia offers pear sweetness and floral character. If you prefer chocolate and caramel in your filter cup, House or Brazil are good places to begin.
A filter starting recipe
- Coffee: 20 g.
- Water: 320 g.
- Ratio: 1:16, measured as dry coffee to brewing water.
The espresso and filter ratios measure different things: espresso uses the drink collected in the cup; filter uses the water added to the brewer. Some filter water stays in the grounds, so the finished drink weighs less than 320 g.
For a larger batch, keep the same starting ratio: 30 g of coffee with 480 g of water. Scale your recipe to the brewer's capacity and adjust if a much larger batch changes the flow.
Choose the right grind
Whole bean gives you the most control. A burr grinder helps you make repeatable adjustments; both conical and flat burr designs can work well. Start around medium-fine for pour-over and medium for drip, then refine for your brewer.
Our ground option is intended for filter and drip brewing. It is not a substitute for the finer, adjustable grind needed by a conventional espresso machine.
Change one thing at a time
If a filter brew tastes thin or sharply sour, a slightly finer grind may help. If it tastes dry or harsh, try a slightly coarser setting. These are starting adjustments: uneven wetting, water and the recipe can also affect the result. Write down the dose, water or beverage weight and grind setting so a good cup is easy to repeat.
Use our full brew guide for technique and troubleshooting, or find your next coffee.