The coffee recipe
for your table
Weigh out fifteen grams of beans and grind them medium-coarse, about as coarse as table salt. Freshly grinding makes the biggest difference: ground coffee releases its aroma within fifteen minutes, while whole beans retain it for weeks.
Boil the water and let it stand for half a minute after boiling, bringing it to around ninety-five degrees. Rinse the filter with some of the water and discard the water that runs through, so you don’t taste any paper and the carafe is already warm.
First pour twice the weight of the coffee, about thirty milliliters, and wait half a minute: the coffee bed expands and releases carbon dioxide. Then pour in circles until you reach twenty-five centiliters, keeping the level low so the water runs through the coffee evenly.
Let the coffee drip through completely, three to four minutes in total, and give the carafe a stir before pouring. Pour it into a preheated glass or cup, and only add milk or sugar after tasting it black.
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The story
Coffee comes from the seeds of the coffee plant, roasted and ground. Almost everything you drink is arabica or robusta: arabica is more acidic and aromatic, robusta flatter and more bitter, with more caffeine and a firmer crema in an espresso blend. What ends up in your cup afterwards depends mainly on the brewing method. With pressure, you get a few centilitres of thick concentrate, with a filter a clear cup of a few hundred millilitres, and with cold water an extract that steeps for hours and barely tastes acidic. The same bean can therefore produce three very different drinks.
The right glass
The glass you need depends on what you brew. An espresso calls for six to nine centilitres, a cappuccino around sixteen to twenty-four, a regular cup of filter coffee twenty-two to thirty, and a latte macchiato a tall glass of thirty-five to forty-five. For iced coffee, choose a tumbler or a highball glass so there is room for the ice. Double-walled glass keeps the coffee warm longer and remains warm to the touch on the outside, so you can also hold it without a handle; those models are in the double-walled coffee glasses collection.
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RCR Oasis Mug 22 cl (6 pieces)
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The right tools
For coffee, you need little besides the glass: a long bar spoon to stir sugar and milk all the way to the bottom of a tall cup, a jigger to measure out a splash of liqueur precisely, and a nutmeg grater for a little dark chocolate or nutmeg over the foam. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you can find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Glass set (our choice 01) + 3 bar tools together € 57,80.
Which splash goes into your coffee?
Without alcohol, coffee is simply coffee. Stir in a splash of liqueur, and in Italy it is called a caffè corretto; add whiskey and cream, and it becomes an Irish Coffee. Traditionally, it is made with sambuca, amaretto, or Kahlúa. On each drink page, you can read the alcohol percentage, what it tastes like, which cocktails it works in, and which glass you need.
Variations & twists
The same beans can produce very different drinks. With pressure, you get an espresso; with steamed milk on top, a cappuccino; and layered in a tall glass, a latte macchiato. It can be cold too: over ice, it becomes iced coffee, and if you leave coarsely ground coffee to steep cold overnight, you get cold brew. Looking for more inspiration? Browse more than 100 cocktail recipes.
Serving tip
Warm the glass or cup with hot water and pour it away; with a small serving of coffee, that immediately makes a difference of a few degrees. Empty the pot within half an hour, because keeping coffee warm for longer makes it bitter. Serve a glass of cold water alongside if you drink it black, and leave milk and sugar on the table so everyone can choose for themselves.
Good to know
The well-known brewing methods at a glance
With an espresso, a machine forces hot water under pressure through a compact bed of finely ground coffee in twenty-five to thirty seconds. Filter coffee flows through paper or a permanent filter under its own weight and takes three to four minutes. In a French press, coarse grounds steep in water for four minutes before you press down the plunger. A moka pot pushes water upward through medium-fine grounds using steam pressure and produces a strong cup without real crema. And cold brew steeps for twelve to eighteen hours in cold water.
Grind size by brewing method
The shorter the water is in contact with the coffee, the finer you should grind. For espresso, grind so finely that the grounds stick together; for filter coffee, about as coarse as table salt; for a French press, like coarse sea salt; and for cold brew, one step coarser still. A moka pot falls between espresso and filter coffee. If you grind too coarsely for your method, the coffee will be thin and sour; if you grind too finely, it will flow through slowly and become bitter.
The coffee-to-water ratio
For filter coffee, sixty grams of coffee per liter of water is a good starting point, roughly one part coffee to sixteen to seventeen parts water. For a single cup of twenty-five centiliters, that amounts to fifteen grams. A French press uses around one part coffee to fifteen parts water, espresso about one to two, and cold brew is often prepared as a concentrate at one to eight and then diluted. It is better to weigh than to scoop, because a level scoop of grounds weighs differently when ground coarsely than when ground finely.
Water and temperature
A cup of coffee consists of more than ninety-eight percent water, so hard water with a lot of limescale or a chlorine smell directly affects the taste. Filtered or soft water produces noticeably more aroma. The temperature should be between ninety-two and ninety-six degrees: boiling water extracts too many bitter compounds, while water below ninety degrees makes the coffee taste sour and thin. Waiting half a minute after boiling is enough to reach that range.
Storing beans
Buy whole beans and grind them per cup, because ground coffee loses most of its aroma within fifteen minutes. Store them airtight, in the dark, and at room temperature, and use them within a month of the roast date. The refrigerator is actually unfavorable: every time you take the container out, moisture condenses on the beans. If you want to store a supply, the freezer works, in portions that you can use up at once.
Which glass for which coffee
An espresso goes in a six- to nine-centiliter glass so the crema stays intact. A cappuccino requires sixteen to twenty-four centiliters, with room for the foam. A latte macchiato belongs in a tall, narrow glass holding thirty-five to forty-five centiliters, so the layers remain visible. For iced coffee and cold brew, use a tumbler or highball glass with room for ice. A regular cup of filter coffee is best in a twenty-two- to thirty-centiliter glass.
Frequently asked questions
How much coffee do you use per cup?
Allow for sixty grams of coffee per liter of water, so about fifteen grams for a twenty-five-centiliter cup. That is one part coffee to sixteen to seventeen parts water. It is better to weigh it than to scoop: the weight of a scoop of ground coffee varies with the grind size.
Which grind size is right for each brewing method?
Grind espresso very finely, filter coffee about as coarsely as table salt, a French press as coarsely as coarse sea salt, and cold brew even more coarsely. A moka pot falls between espresso and filter coffee. The rule is simple: the longer the water is in contact with the coffee, the coarser you grind.
How hot should the water be for coffee?
Between ninety-two and ninety-six degrees. So let boiling water stand for half a minute before pouring. Boiling water extracts too many bitter compounds, while water below ninety degrees produces a thin, sour cup.
Which glass do you use for coffee?
For a regular cup of filter coffee, use twenty-two to thirty centiliters; for an espresso, six to nine; for a cappuccino, sixteen to twenty-four; and for a latte macchiato, a tall glass holding thirty-five to forty-five. Double-walled glass keeps coffee warm the longest while remaining comfortably warm to the touch on the outside.
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