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About our coffee guides

Story of Coffee's Learn section exists to answer the real questions home baristas ask — clearly, accurately, and without the gatekeeping that makes coffee feel harder than it is.

Who writes these

Our guides are written and maintained by the Story of Coffee team — people who brew, dial in, and troubleshoot coffee every day across pour-over, espresso, French press, moka pot, and more. Every guide is the version of an answer we wish we'd had when we started.

How we write them

  • Practical first. Every guide leads with what to do, with concrete numbers — temperatures, ratios, grind references, times — not vague principles.
  • Grounded in standards. Where the science matters (water chemistry, extraction, milk temperature), we follow widely accepted specialty-coffee references such as the SCA's brewing and water standards, then translate them into kitchen-ready advice.
  • Tested in real kitchens. The recipes and fixes are ones we use ourselves, on home equipment, not lab rigs.
  • Honest about trade-offs. We tell you when a cheaper tool is fine, when a difference is marginal, and when the beans — not your technique — are the problem.

How we keep them current

Each guide shows when it was last updated. We revise them as methods, gear, and our own understanding improve — so the advice you read reflects how good coffee is made now, not a decade ago.

The app behind the guides

Story of Coffee is also an app: scan a coffee's barcode to decode its origin, roast, and processing into a full story, then log your brews to dial in and remember what worked.

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Browse the guides, or scan your coffee and let the app do the rest.

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