Free interactive tools from the Union Coffee baristas
Brew Guide
Four hands-on tools to help you fix a bad cup at home: dial in your extraction, pick the right grind, build a recipe for your gear, and find the drink that fits you.
Dial In Your Extraction
Sour, bitter or just flat? Move the sliders to see how dose, grind and brew time change the cup, and get a fix you can try on your next brew.
Select a taste descriptor or use the slider to begin your extraction analysis
Find Your Coffee Personality
Four quick questions and we will tell you which drink on our menu fits how you actually take your coffee. No wrong answers.
LEVEL 1
What's your ideal morning routine?
Coffee Grind Size Chart
Grind size is the single biggest lever you control at home. Slide from extra coarse to extra fine to see the texture, the brew methods it suits and how long it should take to extract.
Medium
Texture
Even, sand-like consistency
Feels Like
Like regular table salt
Extraction
2-4 minutes
Best For
Pro Tips for Perfect Grinding
Consistency is Key
A consistent grind size ensures even extraction. Invest in a quality burr grinder for the best results.
Grind Fresh
Coffee begins to lose flavor within 15 minutes of grinding. Grind only what you need, when you need it.
Build Your Brew Recipe
Tell us your gear and how strong you like it, and we will hand you the ratio, grind and timing to hit it. Works for pour over, French press, AeroPress and more.
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Five Fundamentals of Better Coffee at Home
This is the same checklist our baristas run in the shop on West Friendly Avenue. Get these five right and almost any coffee tastes better.
- 1
Weigh everything
Start at a 1 to 16 ratio, roughly 22 grams of coffee to 352 grams of water for a single cup. A cheap kitchen scale does more for your coffee than any gadget you can buy.
- 2
Grind right before you brew
Coffee starts shedding aroma within about fifteen minutes of grinding. Medium for pour over, coarse for French press, fine for espresso. A burr grinder beats a blade every time.
- 3
Mind your water
Coffee is mostly water, so use filtered if your tap tastes like anything. Heat it to 195F to 205F, or let a boil sit for about thirty seconds.
- 4
Let it bloom
Wet the grounds with about twice their weight in water and wait thirty seconds. That releases trapped carbon dioxide so the rest of the pour extracts evenly.
- 5
Taste, then adjust one thing
Sour and thin means under extracted, so grind finer or brew longer. Harsh and bitter means over extracted, so grind coarser or pull it earlier. Change one variable at a time.