Lab notes · Cusco

Brew
Guides

Four levers. One cup. The same recipes we run in the Cusco Coffee Lab — ratio, heat, water, grind — then the methods to take home.

01 // Extraction physics

The
Variables

Calibration is isolating one lever at a time. Change grind or ratio — not both — then taste.

Ratio

01

Baseline is 1:16 — 1 g coffee to 16 g water. Weigh both. Volume guesses are how cups drift.

1 g : 16 g

Heat

02

Light, dense roasts want ~96°C. Darker, more soluble coffees sit closer to 90°C. Off-boil is not a temperature.

90–96 °C

Solvent

03

Water is 98% of the cup. Filtered, with some mineral — 100–150 ppm TDS. Distilled tastes hollow; hard water tastes chalky.

100–150 ppm

Grind

04

Surface area is contact time. Sour and thin → finer. Bitter and heavy → coarser. Change this first, then ratio.

Fine ↔ Coarse
02 // Standard recipes

The
Methods

Same coffees as the lab. Same numbers. Rest the bag first: pour-over 2–3 days (bloom), press / Moka / AeroPress 3–7, espresso 5–14. We roast after you order and ship the next day so travel covers the rest.

Percolation

V60 / Hario

Dose
15 g
Yield
250 g
Time
2:45
Rest
2–3 d
  1. Rinse the paper. Warm the carafe. Dump the rinse water.
  2. Bloom with 45 g water for 45 seconds.
  3. Pour slow concentric circles to 250 g. Let it drain ~2:45.
Pressure

Espresso

Dose
18 g
Yield
36 g
Time
28–32 s
Rest
5–14 d
  1. Dose 18 g, distribute, tamp level.
  2. Pull 36 g in 28–32 seconds (1:2).
  3. Gush → grind finer. Choke → grind coarser. Change one thing.
Immersion

AeroPress

Dose
18 g
Yield
200 g
Time
2:00
Rest
3–7 d
  1. Inverted: 18 g coffee, 200 g water at ~92°C.
  2. Stir hard 10 seconds. Steep to 1:30.
  3. Cap, flip, press 30 seconds. Stop at the hiss.
Full immersion

French Press

Dose
30 g
Yield
500 g
Time
4:00
Rest
3–7 d
  1. Coarse grind. Add all 500 g water at once.
  2. Break the crust at 4:00. Skim foam and floaters.
  3. Rest 5 minutes more. Plunge just to the surface — don’t mash the bed.
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Cusco

Green · farm trail