Brewing Single-Origin Coffee: A Simple Guide
Great single-origin coffee doesn't need fancy gear — just fresh beans, a decent grind, and a few simple ratios. Here's how we brew the coffee we roast at Soundside Coffee in Seattle.
Start with a ratio for your method
Coffee-to-water ratio is the biggest lever on strength, and the right one depends on how you brew. Good starting points by weight:
- Drip & pour-over — about 1:16 (e.g. 30 g coffee to 480 g water).
- French press — about 1:15 for a fuller body (e.g. 30 g to 450 g).
- AeroPress — around 1:14–1:16, then dilute to taste.
- Espresso — about 1:2 (e.g. 18 g in, 36 g out).
A kitchen scale makes this repeatable, but you can eyeball roughly 2 tablespoons of coffee per 6 oz cup for drip. From there, adjust to taste: more coffee for a bolder cup, less for a lighter one.
Grind fresh
Grind just before brewing. Use a medium grind for drip and pour-over, coarse for French press, and fine for espresso. If you buy ground from us, brew it sooner rather than later — ground coffee stales faster than whole bean.
Mind the water
Use filtered water just off the boil (about 200°F / 93°C). Coffee is mostly water, so clean, fresh water makes an outsized difference.
Taste and adjust
Sour or weak? Grind finer or use a little more coffee. Bitter or harsh? Grind coarser or pull back the dose. Single-origin coffees each have their own sweet spot — half the fun is finding it. Pick up a fresh bag and start experimenting.