the coffee cookbook
We all love great coffee, and making it at home doesn’t have to be difficult or complicated.
At Manhattan Coffee Roasters, we provide recommended recipes to help you get the best out of our coffees, whether you’re brewing espresso or filter coffee. We offer both espresso and filter roasts for most of our coffees, so you can choose the right roast for your preferred brewing method.
Remember, everyone’s taste preferences are different, so think of these recipes as a starting point, not strict rules. For those looking to dive deeper into brewing techniques, we highly recommend checking out the Barista Hustle website—it’s packed with valuable insights.
Enjoy the journey of making your perfect cup!
The Water
The importance of good water when brewing coffee and more importantly, how to mineralize pure water for perfect coffee is important.
If you’d like to make your own water for the brewing we recommend you follow the Barista Hustle guidelines on making a buffer and Magnesium /Potassium (if you prefer) solutions.
We find that a ratio of 50g buffer 50g Mag/Pot solutions and 900g distilled water is best with our coffees.
Filtercoffee
Brew Ratio
1:16.5 Grams of coffee to water
Grind
16g of dry medium/finer ground coffee
(22 clicks comandante)
Water Temperature
99–100° Celsius
210–212° Fahrenheit
Water Density
80–100 PPM
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
1.4–1.5 Refractive Index
(feel free to adjust accordingly if you prefer higher or lower strength)
Directions
There are generally two ways to add water to ground coffee when making filter coffee.
You pour the water over the coffee to let gravity take control, aka the pour overs.
Or you use a plunger or press to manually push the water under pressure through the coffee grinds, aka the plunger/press.
Example of Pour overs brewers:
V60, Kalita, Chemex, Origami, Orea.
Pour over brewer with immersion:
Clever dripper and Switch.
Plunger/Press brewers:
AeroPress and French Press.
Espresso
Brew Ratio
1:2–1:2.5 grams of coffee to water
Grind
18g of fine ground coffee
Water Temperature
92–94° Celsius
197–201° Fahrenheit
Water Density
80–100 PPM
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
8.8–10.0 Refractive Index
(feel free to adjust accordingly if you prefer higher or lower strength)
Directions
Make sure that the roast of your coffee of choice suits the brew method you’re using.
Different methods will also need different grind settings.
An espresso has a very short contact time with the water and is pressurized during brewing.
The right dose is also important, you don’t want to have a weak cup or under extracted coffee.
Brewing ratio for espresso is 1:2-1:2.5.
For example, an 18 gram coffee bed with an output of 36-45 grams.
To measure the strength of the coffee, aka solubility, you can use a refractometer. This will show you the TDS (total dissolved solids).
The measured TDS should be around 8,9 – 9,2 for espresso.
Pourover
Brew Ratio
1:16.5 grams of coffee to water
Grind
Grind size: Finer to medium.
1 pers: 250ml to 15 grams of coffee (22 clicks comandante)
2 pers: 500ml to 30 grams of coffee. (25 clicks comandante)
Water Temperature
Use the water directly off the boil.
99–100° Celsius
210–212° Fahrenheit
Water Density
80–100 PPM
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
1.4–1.5 Refractive Index
(feel free to adjust accordingly if you prefer higher or lower strength)
Directions
Place the server with the brewer, paper filter and the coffee grounds on a scale and tare it to 0 grams.
Start the timer as soon as the water makes contact with the coffee.
Gently pour 70grams of water on the center of the coffee bed in a slow swirling motion.
When the water is almost drained pour another 100grams (around 0:30 on the timer) in a swirling motion and make sure that all the coffee grounds gets included.
When the water is halfway drained (around 1:00 on the timer) pour the remaining 80grams of water.
Give the unit a soft swirl to agitate and even out the coffee bed when the water has drained halfway.
Let the water drain completely.
Brewing should finish around 3:00 minutes.
Aeropress
Configuration and brew ratio
Standard
Brew ratio is 1:10,3 (proportion is 96 grams of coffee per 1 liter of water)
Grind
18g of dry medium/coarse ground coffee
(27 clicks Comandante)
Water Temperature
150ml of water 93° Celsius / 199° Fahrenheit
35ml room temperature water for dilution both with preferably 80-100 ppm
Water Density
80-100 PPM
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
1.4–1.5 Refractive Index
(Feel free to adjust accordingly if you prefer higher or lower strength)
Directions
Place AeroPress upside down on scale and add the coffee grounds, press tare to 0.
Place the filter paper inside the cap and lay it aside.
Start the timer as soon as the water touches the coffee.
0:00
Pour 150 grams water of 93 degrees Celsius in the AeroPress.
0:15
Gently stir a few times with the stirrer.
0:30
Fit the cap on the brewer, remove from scale and press out any extra air.
1:45
flip brewer, with the server/container placed on top to avoid spillage.
1:50
start pressing the AeroPress.
2:15
remove AeroPress from the server and dilute the coffee with 35 grams of room temperature water.
Gently swirl the diluted coffee to homogenize and wait for about 1 min to cool down.
Immersion
Brew Ratio
Brew ratio is 1:18 (proportion is 55,5 gram of coffee per 1 liter of water)
Use the Water directly off the boil.
Grind
1 pers: 270ml to 15 grams of coffee.
Grind size: medium (24 clicks comandante)
Water Density
80–100 PPM
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
1.4–1.5 Refractive Index
(Feel free to adjust accordingly if you prefer higher or lower strength)
Directions
Place the clever drip with the filter and coffee grounds on a scale and tare it to 0 grams.
Start the timer as soon as the water makes contact with the coffee.
Pour the 270 ml of boiled water in the clever dripper and let it steep.
Take the clever dripper off the scale and give it a gentle swirl to agitate the coffee and even out the coffee bed at around 0:30 on the timer.
Place the clever dripper on the server around 1:00 on the timer and let it drain completely.
The draining process should finish around 4:00 on the timer.
Serve and enjoy!
Automatic
Brew Ratio
1:16.5 COFFEE TO WATER
(16G OF COFFEE TO 264G OF WATER)
Grind
1-2 CUPS: 16-30G DRY GROUND COFFEE
(MEDIUM FINE GRIND)
3-4 CUPS: 30-45G DRY GROUND COFFEE
(MEDIUM GRIND)
4-6 CUPS: 60-75G DRY GROUND COFFEE
(MEDIUM COARSE GRIND)
Water Density
80–100 PPM
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS)
1.4–1.5 Refractive Index
(Feel free to adjust accordingly if you prefer higher or lower strength)
Directions
WEIGHING OUT YOUR WATER WILL VASTLY IMPROVE YOUR BREW.
PLACE A FILTER IN THE BASKET, THEN ADD YOUR DRY GROUND COFFEE.
SWITCH ON THE BREWER.
MAKE SURE THAT ALL THE GROUNDS ARE SATURATED TO ENSURE EXTRACTION. NO GROUNDS SHOULD BE LEFT OUTSIDE THE BREWING WATER, PREVENTING INCOMPLETE EXTRACTION.
IF YOU NOTICE ANY PARTICLES OUT OF THE WATER GIVE THE BED A GENTLY STIR AT 0:30