The reference method. If you are new to brewing coffee at home, learn pour-over first. Everything else is a variation on what this teaches you.

Method

01 · Rinse the paper

Fold, place, and rinse the paper filter with hot water. This removes the paper taste and pre-heats the dripper. Discard the water.

02 · Dose and grind

18 g of Kahawa Nzuri Bugisu, ground medium-fine. If your grinder gives inconsistent particle size, sift out the fines with a 200-micron sifter.

03 · Bloom

Pour 40 – 50 g of water in a slow, even spiral. Let it sit 30 seconds. The grounds should rise, breathe, and settle.

04 · First main pour

Pour to 150 g total, in slow concentric circles. Keep the level even.

05 · Second main pour

Pour to 288 g total. The drawdown should finish between 3:00 and 3:30.

06 · Taste

If the cup is sour, grind finer or brew longer. If the cup is bitter, grind coarser or brew shorter. Adjust one variable at a time.

The coffee

Any of our coffees will brew well on this method — the recipe above is calibrated for Bugisu, our flagship. For lighter African coffees (the Ethiopian and Kenyan lots when they land), consider dropping water temperature by 2 – 3 °C and grinding one step finer.