Brew Guide

Light vs Dark?

Light roast coffee retains more of the original bean’s characteristics, often showcasing bright acidity, floral or fruity notes, and a lighter body. It's best brewed using slower, gentler methods like pour-over (e.g. V60 or Chemex) or Cafetiere, which allow the complex flavors to shine through—ideal brew times range from 3 to 5 minutes. You can cold brew this, but you're looking at more like 18-24 hours.

Dark roast coffee, with its bold, smoky, and bittersweet flavor, benefits from faster, more robust methods like espresso, moka or aeropress, and contradictory, cold brew. Brew times are generally shorter (20–30 seconds for espresso, max 4 minutes for Cafetiere).

Roast level affects solubility and extraction: darker roasts extract more quickly and can taste overly bitter if over-brewed, while lighter roasts may taste sour or weak if undere-xtracted, making method and timing crucial to getting the best cup.

 

Water Temperature

Water temperature plays a huge role in how coffee roasts taste after brewing. Light and dark roasts behave very differently due to their density and solubility, so they need different water temps to bring out the best flavour.

  • Light - 92–96°C (198–205°F) - Higher temp helps extract delicate flavours and acidity.
  • Dark - 85–90°C (185–194°F) - Cooler temp prevents over-extraction and bitterness.

Too much effort?

Just boil your kettle, for a light roast wait ~30 seconds; for dark roast wait 1–2 minutes after boiling

How much coffee and water?

The Ratio of coffee to water, eg. 1:15 would be 16g of coffee to 240ml.

Ideally you should weigh coffee as it can vary, but if you're winging it, 16g of coffee is 1/8 cup firmly packed roughly equals 2 heaped tablespoons

240ml of water is about the size of a normal mug when you leave some space for milk.

Brew Machines and Devices

Device Ratio Brew Time Best Suited Roast Medium Grind Suitability Notes

French Press		 1:15 3-4 mins for Dark, 4-5 mins for Light Roast Medium to Dark ✅ Ideal Full immersion extracts body well.

V60 / Pour-Over		 1:15 3-5 mins Light to Medium ⚠️ Can work, but finer grind better Brings out bright, fruity notes in light roasts; adjust pour rate.

AeroPress		 1:15 3-4 mins Light to Dark (versatile) ✅ Excellent Adaptable; great for experimenting with grind size and roast level.

Espresso Machine		 1:2 25 secs Medium to Dark (classic) ⚠️ Can be too coarse, ideally needs fine Requires fine grind; medium grind = under-extracted.

Moka Pot		 1:10 ~4 mins Medium to Dark ⚠️ Too coarse, needs fine-medium Works better with slightly finer grind; intense flavour.

Cold Brew		 1:5 18-24 hours Medium to Dark ⚠️ Best with coarse grind Medium can work, but may over-extract or clog filter.