coffee brewing, one number per page
Thirty-six numbers for the person who drinks coffee every day and has never measured it: ninety-three degrees give or take three, the golden ratio's one to two spoons per six ounces, the rock-salt grind for the press, the thirty-second rest off the boil, the bloom at twice the coffee's weight, the spiral that never touches the walls, the one-to-two shot weighed not timed, and the twelve-hour jar. Every fact checked against the National Coffee Association USA brewing guide, which cites SCA Standard 102-2024.
A diagram, the trap, and one thing to go try this week. That's a page.
coffee brewing, one number per page
Thirty-six numbers for the person who drinks coffee every day and has never measured it: ninety-three degrees give or take three, the golden ratio's one to two spoons per six ounces, the rock-salt grind for the press, the thirty-second rest off the boil, the bloom at twice the coffee's weight, the spiral that never touches the walls, the one-to-two shot weighed not timed, and the twelve-hour jar. Every fact checked against the National Coffee Association USA brewing guide, which cites SCA Standard 102-2024.
Set in Space Grotesk, Inter and JetBrains Mono (SIL Open Font License).
Every ratio, temperature, grind size and step checked against the National Coffee Association USA brewing guide (aboutcoffee.org/brewing: drip, pour-over, French press, cold brew and espresso pages), fetched and read during this build; the water temperature figure is cited by NCA to SCA Standard 102-2024 Coffee Value Assessment: Sample Preparation and Tasting Mechanics, and the caffeine figures to USDA nutrition data. Demand evidence from live beginner threads on r/Coffee, r/pourover and r/AeroPress, fetched this build; no facts are sourced from Reddit. An independent guide, not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Coffee Association USA, the Specialty Coffee Association, or the USDA.
General information only. Follow the safety, use and cleaning instructions that come with your kettle, brewer, grinder and machine, and be careful with hot water and sharp blades.
© 2026 Steve Hodgkiss. All rights reserved. Personal use only; no redistribution rights.
Edition 1.0 · stevehodgkiss.net
Contents
NCA USA brewing guide (aboutcoffee.org/brewing): pour-over brewing temperature 93 +/- 3 C, citing SCA Standard 102-2024 Coffee Value Assessment: Sample Preparation and Tasting Mechanics; a kettle without a built-in thermometer means you need one on hand.
The water
Let's say you boil the kettle and pour the moment it roars. Water that hot scalds the grounds. The number, from SCA Standard 102-2024 via the NCA guide: 93 +/- 3 degrees Celsius is optimal before it meets the coffee.
You don't need a lab. Boil, then let it rest, and the temperature falls into the band on its own; the NCA's pour-over page says about a minute. A kettle with no thermometer built in means you're guessing at the one number that matters most.
Boil, wait, pour. Ninety-three, give or take three.
Tomorrow morning: boil, count sixty seconds, then pour. If you brew a lot, put a kettle thermometer on the list.
The numbers
The small set of numbers every method agrees on: the golden ratio, the one grind rule that sorts every brewer, the salt references, the scale that makes a recipe repeatable, and the two tools worth their shelf space.
- 01The golden ratio
- 02The one grind rule
NCA USA drip coffee guide: coffee-to-water ratio 1 to 2 tablespoons of ground coffee for every 6 ounces of water, the Golden Ratio; brewing time approximately 5 minutes of contact.
The golden ratio
Let's say you eyeball the scoop and the strength swings day to day. The NCA's drip numbers: 1 to 2 tablespoons of ground coffee per 6 ounces of water, the ratio they call the Golden Ratio.
And the clock: about 5 minutes of contact in a drip machine. Two spoons is bold, one is mild; both are correct, because the ratio brackets taste, not truth. Past the bracket on either side, you're brewing brown water or medicine.
Count the spoons against the ounces once, then keep them.
Measure your usual morning scoop into a tablespoon count and your mug's volume in ounces. Fix the ratio to the bracket.
NCA USA brewing guide: as a general rule, the longer the coffee is in contact with water, the coarser the grind should be; espresso brews in seconds and requires a fine grind, cold brew can take hours and typically requires a coarse grind.
The one grind rule
Let's say grind sizes feel like tribal knowledge you were never taught. The NCA's general rule is one sentence: the longer coffee sits in water, the coarser the grind.
At the extremes it writes itself: espresso, seconds in contact, fine; cold brew, hours, coarse. Everything else sorts between. Fine grounds in a long soak keep extracting past good into bitter.
Ask how long the water stays, and the grind answers itself.
Check the grind you buy against the time axis this week: coarse for press and cold brew, medium for drip and pour-over, fine only for espresso.
NCA USA pour-over guide: pour a small amount of water, double the amount of coffee (15 grams of coffee, 30 grams of water) to let it bloom; the water bubbles as carbon dioxide escapes; after about 30-45 seconds, once the grounds have stopped bubbling, slowly pour the rest.
Let it bloom
Let's say you pour all the water at once and the grounds fight back with a bubbling dome. That dome is the bloom: the NCA's pour-over recipe gives it double the coffee's weight in water, so 15 grams of coffee gets 30 grams of water.
Watch the bubbles: that's carbon dioxide escaping, and it blocks even saturation. After 30 to 45 seconds, once bubbling stops, pour the rest slowly. Water poured onto escaping gas runs down channels instead of through coffee.
Wet it, wait for the fizz to finish, then pour.
Next pour-over: bloom with double the coffee's weight in water, wait out the bubbles, then start the spiral.
NCA USA French press guide: coffee-to-water ratio 1 gram of coffee to 10-16 grams of water (1:10 to 1:16); brewing temperature 93 +/- 3 C; brewing time approximately 4 minutes of contact.
The press numbers
Let's say press coffee at your place is a guess with a plunger. The NCA's press card: 1 gram of coffee to 10-16 grams of water, 93 plus or minus 3 degrees, about 4 minutes of contact.
Coarse grind underneath all three, or the numbers lie. Within the bracket, 1:10 stands up like breakfast, 1:16 sits down like afternoon. Outside the bracket, the plunger can't save it.
Weigh, heat, wait four. The press forgives everything but the numbers.
Next press pot: weigh to 1:15, rest the water off the boil, time four minutes. Note all three for next time.
NCA USA cold brew guide: coffee-to-water ratio 1 gram of coffee to 4-5 grams of water (1:4 to 1:5); brewing temperature room temperature or cooler, then served immediately or chilled in the refrigerator.
The cold brew ratio
Let's say cold brew recipes read like a typo, four parts water to one part coffee. Not a typo: the NCA's card says 1 gram of coffee to 4-5 grams of water, double-strong, because you'll dilute it or pour it over ice later.
And the temperature line that gives the method its name: room temperature or cooler, then served immediately or chilled in the fridge. Treat it like hot brew and you get hot-brew strength with none of the smoothness.
One to four, cold, patient. Dilute at the glass, not in the jar.
Mix your next cold brew at 1:4 by weight: 100 grams of coffee to 400 of water, and dilute the first glass to taste.