The Summer Moon Coffee Home Brew Guide

Start here: four things that matter more than a fancy coffee maker

Fresh beans. Coffee tastes best within a few weeks of its roast date. Every bag we send out from Summer Moon Coffee is roasted onsite and delivered within a couple days. If you have your coffee delivered whole bean, we recommend using it within four weeks. For a bag arriving ground, we recommend a two week window to enjoy the freshest coffee possible.
The right grind. Every brew method and brewer is best at different grind sizes, so we love having a grinder at home. It lets you adjust your grind for each brew method and for your own taste. We recommend a burr grinder for the most even grind and best flavor. It works like a pepper mill: the beans are crushed between two textured plates called burrs. A blade grinder works well, too. This is when the beans are ground, well, with a blade!
No grinder? No worries. Choose Ground for Drip when you order, and we will grind it for you. Velvet Blaze can also be ordered as Ground for Cold Brew.
A kitchen scale (and a timer). Coffee folks measure in grams because scoops aren’t consistent: each coffee is more dense than the next, and every scoop is a little different. Weighing is how a great cup becomes the same great cup every morning. Weigh your water too; 1 gram of water is 1 milliliter, so the math stays easy. Most coffee scales have a timer built in, and your phone works great too.
Good water. Coffee is about 98% water. If your tap water tastes fine, a filter pitcher is plenty. Skip distilled water: it tastes flat and can be hard on machines. If you’re making a cold brew, iced coffee or latte, be sure you use ice that was made with filtered water. As it melts, any water flavor will seep into the coffee.

Brewer’s Note: No scale yet? You can still brew a delicious cup. Every recipe below lists spoons and cups right next to the grams. Just use level tablespoons of ground coffee and standard measuring cups. For reference:

1 level tablespoon of ground coffee ≈ 5 grams
1 cup of water ≈ 240 grams

Grind Chart

Grind	Best For	Looks Like
Fine	Espresso	Between powdered sugar and table salt
Medium-Fine	Pour-Over	Table Salt
Medium	Drip Machine	Sand
Coarse	French Press	Coarse sea salt: chunky and gritty
Coarse to Extra Coarse	Cold Brew	Raw Sugar

The one rule that fixes almost any cup

If your coffee tastes…	Try this
Sour or thin	Grind finer, or brew a little longer
Bitter or harsh	Grind coarser, or brew a little shorter
Weak, but otherwise good	Use more coffee
Too strong, but otherwise good	Use a little more water

Change one thing at a time, so you know what made the difference. This works for every method in this guide, especially espresso.

Pick your way to brew

Method	You'll love it if…	Coffee to water	Grind
Drip machine	You're making coffee for the whole house	1:16, or about 2 tbsp per cup line	Medium
Pour Over	You want the cleanest, brightest cup	30 g to 500 g (6 tbsp to 2 cups)	Medium-fine
French press	You like a full, rich, heavy cup	30 g to 500 g (6 tbsp to 2 cups)	Medium-coarse
Cold brew	You want smooth iced coffee, made ahead	85 g to 1,200 g (about 1 cup to 5 cups)	Coarse to Extra Coarse
Espresso	You want to make a latte or cortado	Aim for 18 g coffee in, 36 g espresso out	Fine
Pod machine	You want it fast	One pod, smallest cup size	—

Drip machine

The easiest way to make a great pot, if you give it a little help.

Brewers Note: A heads-up about “cups.” Most coffee makers count a “cup” as 5 fluid ounces, not the 8-ounce cup in your measuring cup. So a 12-cup coffee maker brews about 60 fluid ounces. The recipe below uses the cup lines on your carafe. Always reference the brewer manual to confirm.

Cup lines on your carafe	Water	Coffee	No scale?
6 cups	890 g	55 g	About 11 tbsp
8 cups	1,180 g	74 g	About 15 tbsp (just under 1 cup)
12 cups	1,775 g	111 g	About 22 tbsp (about 1 1/3 cups)

Use a paper filter, and rinse it with hot water first if you can.
Brew at least half a pot. Many machines do their best work with bigger batches.
Stir the pot before you pour. The first and last coffee out of the machine are very different in strength.
Get it off the hot plate. Optional, but a hot plate starts cooking coffee within 20–30 minutes. Pour it into a thermal carafe instead (an insulated pitcher, like a big thermos) to keep it hot and tasting fresh all morning.
Descale every one to three months, and more often if you have hard water, like a lot of us here in Texas. Descaling clears out mineral buildup that slows your machine and dulls your coffee. Many machines have a clean button; otherwise, run a pot of descaling solution or equal parts water and white vinegar, then two or three pots of plain water. Check your manual first, since some brands ask you to use their descaler.
Shopping for a new machine? Look for one certified by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). They test home brewers for water temperature and consistency.

Pour-over

The cleanest, brightest cup, and a nice slow morning ritual.

You'll need: a pour-over dripper or Chemex®, paper filters, a kettle, a scale and a grinder. New to pour-over? Our ORIGAMI Single Serve Pour Over Brewing Bundle has everything but the coffee and kettle: a handmade porcelain dripper from Japan, a holder and 100 filters. It brews one or two cups, just right for the recipe below.

For 2 cups: 30 g coffee (about 6 tbsp), ground medium-fine, and 500 g water (about 2 cups) just off the boil, around 200 –205°F. For dark roasts, let the water cool for a minute first.

Place the paper filter in the dripper or top of the chemex. Make sure there is a mug under a dripper.
Rinse the paper filter with the hot water, then pour that water out.
Put the dripper, paper filter and mug or Chemex on your scale. Zero out the scale.
Add the coffee and give the dripper or Chemex a gentle shake to level it.
Following measuring your coffee, zero your scale once more to measure the water.
Bloom: Pour 60 g of water (about 1/4 cup) and swirl so all the grounds are wet. Start your timer and wait 45 seconds while it bubbles and settles.
Pour slowly and steadily in small circles, keeping the coffee covered, until the scale reads 500 g.
Allow the water to fully drain through the bed of ground coffee. It should finish around 3:00–3:30.

Why a gooseneck kettle? Its long, skinny spout lets you pour slowly and exactly where you want, so every bit of coffee gets evenly soaked. Our favorite is the Fellow Stagg EKG Pro Electric Kettle. Set it to the exact temperature (205°F for most of our roasts, about 195°F for darker ones), and it holds there while you grind and weigh. It even has a built-in brew timer.

Brewing more (or less)? Use about 1 gram of coffee for every 16 grams of water. Bloom with twice as much water as coffee, then follow the same steps.

1 mug: 15 g coffee (about 3 tbsp) and 250 g water (about 1 cup)
3 mugs: 50 g coffee (about 10 tbsp) and 800 g water (about 3 1/3 cups)

Bigger batches take a little longer to drain, up to about 4:30. Brewing with a Chemex? Its “cups” are 5 oz, so a 3-cup Chemex makes about two mugs.

No scale? Bloom with just enough water to wet all the grounds, then pour the rest in slow, steady circles.

Brewer’s Note: Read your brew

Drains much slower than the times above? Grind a little coarser.
Drains much faster and tastes sour? Grind a little finer.
Check the coffee bed when it’s done. A flat, even coffee bed means a good brew. A slick, muddy layer on top of the grounds means there were too many tiny particles in the grind, so try a touch coarser next time.

French press

Full, rich, and very forgiving.

For 2 cups: 30 g coffee (about 6 tbsp), ground coarse like coarse sea salt, and 500 g water (about 2 cups) just off the boil.

Add the coffee to the bottom of the carafe, and pour in all the water and start a timer.
At 4 minutes, a “crust” of coffee grounds will have risen to the top. Gently stir the crust on top, then spoon off any foam that may have accumulated.
Put the lid on and slowly press the plunger down.
Pour all the coffee into your mugs right away. Coffee left sitting on the grounds keeps brewing and gets harsher.

Brewer’s Note: Want an even cleaner cup? After you stir at 4 minutes, wait 5–8 more minutes so the fine grounds settle to the bottom. Then lower the plunger just below the surface (looking to strain the coffee grounds, not press) and pour gently, leaving the last little bit in the pot. Pour out all your coffee right away so it doesn’t keep steeping and turn harsh.

Cold brew

For about 5 cups: 85 g coffee (about 1 cup), ground medium-coarse like raw sugar, and 1,200 g cold water (about 5 cups). Ground for Cold Brew is ready to go.

Put the coffee in your cold brewer’s filter (or straight into a large jar or pitcher).
Pour the water in slowly, stirring gently so there are no dry pockets.
Cover and steep in the fridge for 12–16 hours. Want it stronger? Give it a stir once or twice along the way.
Remove the filter, or strain through a mesh strainer and then a paper filter.
Pour over ice and enjoy. It’s ready to drink as is, no diluting needed.

Using a Hario Mizudashi? Our step-by-step guide walks you through it.

Mizudashi Cold Brew Coffee Maker

Iced coffee in 4 minutes

Want iced coffee now? Make the pour-over recipe, but put 150 g of ice (about 1 cup) in your mug or carafe first, and brew with 30 g of coffee (about 6 tbsp) and 350 g of hot water (about 1 1/2 cups). Grind a touch finer. The ice chills the coffee as it drips, keeping the bright, aromatic notes that cold brew softens.

AeroPress

One rich, smooth cup in about three minutes, and it’s practically unbreakable. Perfect for small kitchens, campsites and road trips.

Get to know your AeroPress. It has three main parts. The chamber is the larger tube with numbers on the side. The plunger is the smaller tube with a rubber tip that slides into the chamber. The filter cap is the small round piece with holes that twists onto the bottom of the chamber. It also comes with a funnel, a stirring paddle and paper filters.

You’ll need: your AeroPress, a paper filter, a kettle, and a sturdy ceramic mug with a wide, flat rim. Skip thin glass and travel mugs, since you’ll be pressing down on it. A scale is helpful, but not a must.

AeroPress® Clear Coffee Maker with Filter

For 1 cup: 15 g coffee (about 3 tbsp), ground medium-fine like table salt, and 230 g water (about 1 cup) just off the boil.

Set up the filter. Put a paper filter inside the filter cap. Rinse it with a little hot water so it sticks in place, then twist the cap onto the bottom of the chamber until it locks.
Set it on your mug. Stand the chamber straight up on top of your mug, cap side down, so the wide ring around the chamber rests flat on the rim. Make sure it sits level and doesn’t wobble. Then set the funnel in the open top of the chamber and pour your coffee grounds through it. Remove the funnel and give the chamber a gentle shake to level the coffee.
Add the water. Start your timer and pour all the water into the chamber. It should come up to about the number 4. Stir for about 10 seconds so all the grounds are wet.
Let it steep. Push the rubber tip of the plunger just inside the top of the chamber, about half an inch, so it seals. This keeps the coffee from dripping through too early. Let it steep until your timer reads 2:00.
Press slowly. With one hand, hold the chamber and mug steady, so nothing slides or tips. With the other hand, press the plunger straight down with gentle, even pressure. It should take about 30 seconds. You should see coffee coming out of the cap in a steady stream into your mug. If it’s very hard to push, ease up and let it take a few extra seconds, and grind a little coarser next time. Stop when you hear a hiss: that’s air, which means the coffee is done.
Clean up. Lift the AeroPress off your mug. Hold it over the trash, twist off the cap, and push the plunger the rest of the way. The used grounds and filter pop right out in a puck. Rinse and you’re done!

Brewer’s Note: Love lattes? Use 18 g of coffee ground a little finer and just 100 g of water to make a strong, concentrated shot. Then top it with steamed or cold milk. It isn’t espresso, but it makes a lovely at-home latte.

Espresso

For the home brewer ready to go all in. Lattes, cortados and Saturday-morning shots, right from your kitchen.

These steps are written for Breville home machines like the Bambino, Barista Express and Barista Pro, but they also work on most home espresso machines. Espresso is the one method that needs a grinder made for it, so it can go fine enough. Machines like the Barista Express have one built in.

The recipe: 18 g of coffee in, 36 g of espresso out. That’s a 1:2 ratio, and it’s the classic starting point for a double shot. Ideally the shot takes 25 – 30 seconds to give water the right amount of time to extract flavor from the coffee. Too short the coffee is thin, sour and acidic. Too long creates a harsh and bitter espresso.

Turn on your machine and let it heat up fully. Run a shot of plain water through the portafilter to warm it.
Make sure the basket in your portafilter (the handle that locks into the machine) is dry. Then grind 18 g of coffee into it.
Tap the portafilter to settle the grounds, then tamp firmly and evenly so the bed is level.
Lock in the portafilter to your espresso machine. If you have a scale handy, place your cup on top of it so you can measure your espresso shot. When you have your cup positioned under the portafilter, you can start pulling your shot.
The first drops should appear around 8 – 12 seconds. Ideally your shot will pull 36 g of espresso in 25 – 30 seconds.

Dial it in

Runs fast and tastes sour? Grind finer.
Runs slow and tastes bitter? Grind coarser.
Change one thing at a time, and keep your dose the same while you adjust the grind.

No espresso machine? An AeroPress makes a rich, concentrated coffee that’s lovely with milk.

Pod machine

Fast, easy and still delicious.

Pick the smallest cup size for a fuller, richer cup. Want a bigger mug? Top it off with hot water rather than choosing a larger size.
Run a water-only cycle first to warm the machine up.
Descale regularly, just like a drip machine.

Our oak roasted coffee comes in pods too, including Afterglow and Firelight Decaf.

Keep your beans fresh

Store it airtight, cool and dark. A sealed bag or canister in the pantry is perfect. Skip the fridge; moisture and fridge smells sneak in. Our coffee scientists have built our Summer Moon Coffee bags to be resealable and allow the right environment so you can keep the bag on the counter.
Whole bean: grind right before you brew, and enjoy within about a month of opening.
Ground: enjoy within about two weeks of opening, while it’s at its most aromatic. Then treat yourself to a fresh bag.

How we’ve been brewing our roasts

Truth is, every one of our roasts is lovely in any brewer. But we’re coffee people, so of course we have favorites. Here’s how we’ve been enjoying them lately. Try one, and let us know how you brew yours!

Roast	Origin & roast	Tasting notes	How we’ve been brewing it
Velvet Blaze	Seven-origin blend, medium	Roasted walnut, blackberry, milk chocolate	Any way you brew it. Our signature blend is smooth and balanced in a drip pot, pour-over, French press, cold brew and espresso. This is the coffee that is the base of most of our in-store drinks.
Afterglow	Mexico, light	Grapefruit, orange	Pour-over or iced pour-over to let the citrus shine. Also great as espresso in a cortado or latte.
Billowing	Ethiopia, medium	Apple, blueberry, vanilla	Pour-over. A clean cup brings out the blueberry and vanilla.
Blue Blazes	Bali, medium	Tropical citrus, dark cocoa	French press. The fuller body carries that dark cocoa.
Fireside	Colombia, medium	Roasted cinnamon, semi-sweet chocolate	Drip machine. Balanced and approachable, made for a pot everyone will love.
Glowing Ember	Guatemala, medium	Toasted brown sugar	Drip or pour-over for a sweet, easygoing morning cup.
En Fuego	Mexico, medium	Candied roasted pecans	Drip machine. Smooth and cozy, with a nutty sweetness.
Sweet Hearth	Honduras, medium	Spiced dark chocolate	Cold brew. That spiced chocolate is lovely over ice, and just as good hot.
Swinging Lantern	Light, medium and dark roast blend	Toasted marshmallow	French press. A rich brew brings out the sweet, campfire-toasty notes.
Inferno	Nicaragua, dark	Bold dark chocolate	French press or espresso with milk. Use water just a bit cooler than boiling.
Spark	Half-caff, medium	Honey, citrus	Afternoon pour-over when you want a second cup without all the caffeine.
Firelight Decaf	Swiss Water decaf, medium	Sweet and mellow	Evening French press, or a pod when you want it quick.

Questions? We’d love to help

Stop by any Summer Moon Coffee location or send us a message. We’re always happy to talk coffee. Thanks for brewing with us, y’all. We’re honored to be in your cup and in your corner.

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