Brew Guide

Coffee beans
No Label Coffee

Brew
Better

Six methods. The science behind each one. A dose calculator so you never have to guess. And a timer, because coffee waits for no one.

The Foundation

Before you pick a method, three fundamentals separate a good cup from an extraordinary one.

1:15
The Golden Ratio
1g of coffee per 15ml of water. Your starting point for every method. Go stronger or lighter from here — but start here.
93°C
Water Temperature
Boiling water scorches coffee. 90–96°C is the extraction sweet spot. Let boiling water rest 30–45 seconds before brewing.
Fresh
Grind to Order
Coffee loses 60% of its aromatics within 15 minutes of grinding. Buy whole beans. Grind just before every single brew.

Grind Size Guide

Grind size controls extraction speed. Too fine = over-extracted (bitter). Too coarse = under-extracted (sour, watery). This is the dial you turn when something tastes off.

Extra Fine
Turkish
Fine
Espresso
Med-Fine
AeroPress Moka Pot
Medium
Drip Machine
Med-Coarse
Pour Over
Coarse
French Press
Extra Coarse
Cold Brew
Choose your method
Espresso
Under pressure

Espresso

Espresso is the foundation of café-style coffee — hot water forced through finely-packed grounds at 9 bar of pressure in under 30 seconds. When it's dialled in, the flavour is concentrated and layered like nothing else. When it's off, you adjust one variable at a time until it sings.

1:2
Ratio (in:out)
93°C
Water Temp
25–30s
Shot Time
Fine
Grind Size

Dose Calculator

2
36g
Coffee in
72g
Espresso yield
01
Preheat everything
Run a blank shot through your machine before brewing. A cold portafilter and cold cup kill your brew temperature before extraction even starts. Preheating is the most skipped step and the most impactful.
02
Grind and dose
Grind fine — the texture of table salt or fine sand. Dose 18–20g into the portafilter. Distribute evenly by tapping or use a WDT tool to break up clumps before tamping.
03
Tamp level and firm
Apply ~15kg of even, level pressure. An unlevel tamp causes channelling — water finds the easiest path, under-extracting everything else. A cheap levelling tool costs $10 and solves 80% of espresso problems.
04
Pull the shot — time it
Start your timer the moment you hit brew. The shot should flow as a thin, dark reddish-brown stream, thickening slightly. Aim for 25–30 seconds to yield roughly double the dose weight.
0:28
05
Dial in by taste
Too bitter? Grind coarser, or reduce dose. Too sour or sharp? Grind finer, or increase brew temp. Shot ran in under 20s? Grind finer. Over 35s? Coarsen. Change one variable at a time — always.

Keep a brew log for your first week — grind setting, dose, yield, shot time, and tasting notes. You'll dial in faster than you think, and you'll understand your machine intuitively from then on.

Pour Over
Clarity in every cup

Pour Over

Pour over is the most transparent brew method there is — every flavour in the bean ends up in the cup, unmasked. Great beans taste extraordinary; average beans have nowhere to hide. For a single origin like Tanna Island coffee, this is where the volcanic terroir truly shows up.

1:16
Ratio
94°C
Water Temp
3–4 min
Total Time
Med-Coarse
Grind Size

Dose Calculator

2
31g
Coffee
500ml
Total water
62ml
Bloom water
01
Rinse the filter
Place a paper filter in your dripper and rinse with hot water. This removes papery taste and preheats your vessel. Discard the rinse water from the server below before adding grounds.
02
Bloom — the most important 30 seconds
Add grounds and pour twice the coffee weight in water in slow circles, saturating every ground. This releases CO2 that would otherwise block extraction. Watch it dome and bubble — that's fresh coffee doing its thing.
0:30
03
Pour in slow spirals
Pour remaining water in 3–4 additions, spiralling slowly from centre outward. Keep the water level consistent and don't let the bed run dry. A gooseneck kettle is essential — the narrow spout gives you control no standard kettle can match.
3:30
04
Read the bed
Once drained, look at the grounds bed. Flat and even? Perfect extraction. Cone in the centre? Channelling. Dome in the middle? Grind slightly too fine.
05
Taste black — then adjust
Watery? Grind finer or increase dose. Bitter? Grind coarser or cool water 2°C. Sour? Grind finer or hotter water.

Pour over with Tanna Island single origin is one of the best cups you can make at home. The volcanic mineral character comes through as a clean finish that lingers — the kind of coffee you drink slowly, on purpose.

French Press
Bold, rich, full

French Press

French press is full immersion brewing — grounds sit in contact with water for the entire steep. The result is a heavier, oil-rich cup with more body than any filter method. It's the most forgiving method to learn and produces a deeply satisfying, textured cup that's hard not to love.

1:15
Ratio
94°C
Water Temp
4 min
Steep Time
Coarse
Grind Size

Dose Calculator

2
27g
Coffee
400ml
Water
01
Preheat and grind coarse
Rinse your French press with hot water and discard. Grind coarsely — rough sea salt consistency. Too fine and you'll get a sludgy, bitter cup that's impossible to plunge cleanly.
02
Add coffee then pour all water at once
Pour all your hot water in one go. Make sure every ground is saturated — stir gently once to ensure full coverage. Place the lid on with plunger pulled all the way up.
03
Steep for 4 minutes — no more
Set the timer and walk away. 4 minutes is the sweet spot between full extraction and bitterness. Full immersion means it's always extracting — don't overshoot.
4:00
04
Break the crust, skim, then plunge slowly
Stir the top crust gently, then skim foam and loose grounds with a spoon. Press the plunger slowly and steadily over 20–30 seconds. Rushing tears the filter and pushes grounds through.
05
Pour out immediately
Don't leave coffee in the press after plunging — it keeps extracting and goes bitter. Pour everything out right away, even if you're not drinking it all yet.

Some grounds at the bottom are normal. For a cleaner result, let the cup sit 2 minutes before drinking — sediment settles and the last sip is no worse than the first.

AeroPress
The Swiss army knife

AeroPress

A plastic tube with a plunger — and somehow it makes some of the best coffee in the world. The AeroPress combines immersion brewing with gentle pressure for a clean, smooth, concentrated cup in under 2 minutes. There are thousands of competition-winning recipes. This is a great place to start.

1:12
Ratio
88°C
Water Temp
1–2 min
Brew Time
Med-Fine
Grind Size

Dose Calculator

1
13g
Coffee
150ml
Water (concentrate)
01
Set up inverted
Flip the AeroPress upside down — plunger inserted about 1cm into the chamber. The inverted method stops water draining before you're ready, giving you full control over steep time.
02
Add grounds then water
Add medium-fine grounds. Pour 88°C water (hotter for lighter roasts, cooler for dark) and stir gently for 10 seconds in a figure-eight until fully saturated.
03
Cap and steep 60 seconds
Wet your paper filter, snap into the cap, and screw onto the AeroPress. Steep for 60 seconds.
1:00
04
Flip and press steadily
Carefully flip onto your cup. Apply even, steady pressure over 25–30 seconds. Stop the moment you hear a hiss of air — that's the signal. Pressing further pushes bitter grounds water through.
0:30
05
Dilute and serve
Add 60–80ml of hot water for a long black style, or drink straight as an intense short. Add milk and it becomes a flat white with surprising clarity.

Lower temp (80–85°C) with Tanna Island single origin in an AeroPress produces a startlingly sweet, clean cup — almost tea-like. Temperature is the most powerful variable this method offers, and it costs you nothing to experiment.

Cold Brew
Time is the extraction

Cold Brew

No heat. No rush. Cold water extracts coffee over 12–24 hours, pulling smooth, sweet, low-acid compounds while leaving the harsh bitter ones behind. The result is a silky concentrate that lasts two weeks in the fridge and makes the best iced coffee you'll ever taste. Make it Sunday. Drink well all week.

1:8
Ratio (concentrate)
Cold
Water Temp
12–24h
Steep Time
Extra Coarse
Grind Size

Batch Calculator

4
63g
Coffee
500ml
Cold water
~500ml
Concentrate (dilute 1:1)
01
Grind extra coarse
Like rough breadcrumbs. The long steep does the extraction — fine grounds over 24 hours becomes harsh and over-extracted. This is the coarsest setting on your grinder.
02
Combine and stir well
Add grounds to a large jar. Pour cold filtered water over them and stir thoroughly until every ground is saturated. Dry pockets mean uneven extraction.
03
Steep 12–24 hours in the fridge
12 hours: lighter, sweeter, delicate. 18 hours: balanced and full. 24 hours: bold and intense. Taste at 12h and decide. Room-temp brewing works in 8–10 hours but needs more attention.
04
Strain twice
First through a fine-mesh sieve, then through a paper filter or cheesecloth. Cold brew is thick — the second pass takes time. Don't rush it. The result should be almost syrup-clear.
05
Dilute 1:1 and serve over ice
Mix 1 part concentrate with 1 part cold water or milk over ice. Store sealed in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. The flavour often improves after day 2.

Cold brew with Tanna Island single origin is remarkable — the volcanic mineral terroir comes through as clean sweetness with none of the bitterness that heat extraction can introduce. Make a big batch and drink great coffee all week.

Moka Pot
The stovetop classic

Moka Pot

Invented in Italy in 1933 and unchanged since — because it didn't need to be. Steam pressure pushes water up through a basket of coffee, producing a dark, rich brew that sits beautifully between filter coffee and espresso. In the right hands it's exceptional. The key is low heat and patience.

Fill
Basket (no tamp)
Low–Med
Heat Setting
4–5 min
Brew Time
Med-Fine
Grind Size

Dose Reference

3
~21g
Coffee (fill basket level)
~180ml
Water (below valve)
01
Pre-boil your water — this changes everything
Fill the bottom chamber with already-boiled water up to just below the safety valve. Starting hot means less time on the stove, which means less scorching of the grounds. This single tip transforms moka pot results.
02
Fill the basket level — never tamp
Fill the basket and sweep flat. Do not tamp. A moka pot needs airflow — tamping creates pressure the pot can't handle safely and results in burnt, over-extracted coffee.
03
Heat low and slow, lid open
Assemble and heat on low–medium with the lid open so you can watch. The slower the heat, the better the extraction. High heat = harsh, burnt edges. Slow heat = sweet, complex, nuanced.
04
Watch and listen for the moment
Coffee flows as a dark, steady stream. When it lightens and starts to sputter — remove from heat immediately. That sputtering is steam. Continuing pushes burnt, bitter water through.
4:30
05
Stop the extraction, then pour
Run cold water over the base to stop extraction. Pour right away. Serve black, or as the base for a milk drink — the rich, strong flavour holds up beautifully under steamed oat milk.

A pinch of salt in the grounds cuts perceived bitterness — counterintuitive but genuinely effective, especially with dark roasts. Also: clean your moka pot with water only. Soap strips the seasoning that took months to build.

Ready to brew?

The coffee makes the difference.

Every technique on this page only works if the beans are worth it. Ours are grown in volcanic soil on Tanna Island, bought direct from the farmers, and roasted in Mona Vale. Grind them fresh.

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