Baseline recipe
- Coffee
- 30 g
- Water
- 480 g
- Grind
- Medium (beach sand)
- Temperature
- 195–205°F / 91–96°C
- Time
- 5–6 minutes
- Ratio
- 1:14 – 1:18
Scale this recipe or diagnose the next cup with the Brew Compass.
Start with this recipe
- Rinse the paper filter and discard the rinse water.
- Add 30g coffee, ground medium, and gently level the bed.
- Add 480g / ml water to the reservoir.
- Start the machine and let it finish the full cycle.
- Swirl the carafe before serving so the stronger early brew mixes with the lighter later brew.
For a larger batch, keep the 1:16 ratio: 60g coffee to 960g water, for example.
What matters most
Water temperature
A capable brewer should deliver water around 195–205°F / 91–96°C at the coffee bed. If a machine consistently brews lukewarm, changing beans or grind will not fully fix the cup.
Even wetting
The spray head should wet the whole coffee bed. Clean blocked openings and level the grounds before brewing. Do not interrupt the cycle to stir unless the manufacturer recommends it.
Filter choice
- Paper: cleaner cup with less sediment
- Metal: more oils, body, and fine particles
Neither is automatically better. Pick the cup texture you prefer.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | First change |
|---|---|---|
| Sour, sharp, thin | Under-extraction | Grind slightly finer |
| Bitter or drying | Over-extraction | Grind slightly coarser |
| Weak but not sour | Too little coffee | Use a lower ratio |
| Uneven from batch to batch | Dirty or blocked spray head | Clean the machine |
| Slow brew | Scale buildup or grind too fine | Descale, then reassess grind |
Change one thing, brew again, and take a short note. Randomly changing dose, grind, and water together makes the result harder to understand. The grind guide covers how far to move the dial each time.
Keep the machine clean
Rinse removable parts after use, wash the carafe and basket regularly, and descale according to the manufacturer’s instructions. A warming plate can make coffee taste stale or burnt; use a thermal carafe when possible and drink the batch while fresh.
Scale builds fastest in hard water, so how often you need to descale depends on what comes out of your tap — see water for coffee.
If you like what drip does but want more control over the result, pourover is the same process done by hand.