Brew it right.
Then brew it your way.
Inside every SMPL box is a small window into what South African roasters are producing right now. This guide helps you open it properly. No intimidating science. No gear you don't have. Just the things that actually matter.
01 / Before You Brew
The things that
actually matter.
Every variable in coffee compounds on the one before it. Get the fundamentals right once, and every cup gets better automatically. These aren't rules - they're just the things that give you the best chance of actually tasting what the roaster intended.
Water
Filtered tap water at 93-96°C - about 30 seconds off a full boil. Water that's too hot scorches the grounds. Too cool and it under-extracts, leaving the cup flat and hollow. If your tap water is pleasant to drink, it'll brew well. Never use distilled water - coffee needs a small amount of mineral content to extract properly.
Grind fresh
Pre-ground coffee starts going stale within minutes of grinding. If you have a grinder - even a basic hand grinder - use it. If you don't, grind at the shop as close to brew day as possible and store in an airtight container away from light and heat. This single change makes a bigger difference than almost anything else.
Grind right
Grind size changes everything. Too coarse and the water rushes through without extracting enough - sour and thin. Too fine and it over-extracts - bitter and harsh. Each brew method has a sweet spot. Use the feel guide below to calibrate before you brew.
Weigh it out
You don't need a precision scale - a basic kitchen scale works fine. Measuring by weight (not scoops) means you're comparing coffees, not variables. Your 50g sample gives you 3-4 brews at a 15g dose. Try black first. Save one brew for milk if you want to.
Grind size by feel
This is the barista knowledge that rarely makes it into guides. Run the grounds between your thumb and finger - here's what each size should feel like:
Coarse
Rough like coarse sea salt. Flows freely through your fingers. Chunky and open.
French Press · Cupping
Medium
Fine beach sand. Slight resistance when you rub it between thumb and finger.
Pour Over · AeroPress
Medium-Fine
Softer than sand. Clumps slightly when pressed together. Less gritty texture.
Moka Pot
Extra Fine
Smooth like talc. Compresses firmly and holds its shape. Almost dusty to the touch.
Espresso only
The golden ratio
02 / Brewing Methods
Start with what
you already have.
You don't need special equipment to taste coffee well. The methods below are ordered by how accessible they are. Each one gives you a slightly different lens on the same coffee, which is part of the fun.
French press is the closest home method to how coffee is evaluated professionally. The grounds steep in full contact with the water, giving you the full body and texture of the coffee. It's also very forgiving - no paper filter to alter flavour, no precise pour to master. Don't judge a French press cup by its clarity. A little texture is the point.
- 1Preheat your French press with a splash of hot water, then discard. Cold glass steals heat from your brew.
- 2Add your coarse-ground coffee. Pour all the water in one go - make sure every ground is saturated. Give it a brief stir.
- 3Place the lid on (plunger up) and leave it. Don't touch it for 4 minutes.
- 4Press the plunger down slowly and steadily. Pour immediately - don't leave it sitting in the press or it will keep extracting and go bitter.
The AeroPress is a brilliant tool for tasting coffees clearly, especially lighter and fruitier roasts. It's fast, easy to clean, and almost impossible to ruin. The inverted method described below gives you more control over steeping - it's simpler than it sounds.
- 1Inverted setup: place the AeroPress upside-down with the plunger pushed in about 1cm. This seals the bottom so water doesn't drip through during steeping.
- 2Add your ground coffee, then pour all the water in. Stir gently 3-4 times.
- 3Wet your paper filter, attach the filter cap, and steep for 2 minutes.
- 4Carefully flip it onto your cup and press slowly over 30 seconds. Stop when you hear a slight hiss - that's air, not coffee.
Pour over produces the most transparent, clarity-forward cup - ideal for appreciating the origin character and subtle fruit notes in lighter roasts. It rewards precision, but you don't need to be precious about it. A consistent, circular pour and good grind consistency will get you 90% of the way there.
- 1Rinse your paper filter with hot water and discard the rinse water. This removes paper taste and preheats the dripper.
- 2Bloom first: pour 30-40ml of water and wait 30 seconds. You'll see it bubble - that's CO² releasing from fresh coffee. This primes the grounds for even extraction.
- 3Pour the remaining water in slow, steady circles. Don't flood it all at once - keep the level consistent as you pour.
- 4Total brew should be 3-3.5 minutes. Consistently shorter = grind coarser. Longer = grind finer.
The moka pot produces a strong, rich, concentrated brew - not espresso, but somewhere in that direction. It performs best with medium to dark roasts where deeper, chocolatey notes can really come through. The key is patience: low heat, and pulling it off the moment it starts gurgling.
- 1Fill the bottom chamber with hot water up to the safety valve. Starting with hot water shortens brew time and reduces bitterness from prolonged heating.
- 2Fill the basket with ground coffee. Don't pack or tamp it - fill it level and brush off any excess.
- 3Screw it together tightly and place on low heat. Keep the lid open so you can watch.
- 4The moment the flow turns from dark liquid to a pale, gurgling stream - remove from heat immediately. That pale gurgle is steam, not coffee, and it tastes burnt.
03 / Cupping at Home
Brew it the way
the roaster does.
This is how roasters, buyers, and competition judges evaluate coffee. No equipment required - just a mug, a spoon, and a kettle. We'd encourage every SMPL subscriber to try this at least once. It reveals more about a coffee's character than any other method.
Because the grounds steep directly in the cup - no filter, no pressure - you get the coffee's full, unmediated character. Every note the roaster found in the bean has a chance to show itself. It's also the most level playing field: the same method used whether you're at a farm in Ethiopia or a roastery in Cape Town.
Smell the dry grounds
Before any water. What do you notice? Fruity, nutty, earthy, floral? Dry fragrance often tells you a lot about what's coming. This is the "dry aroma" - roasters evaluate it before anything else.
Pour and wait
Pour water directly over the grounds in a steady circular motion. A crust forms on the surface. Leave it completely undisturbed for 4 minutes - the crust is doing important work.
Break the crust
Push a spoon through the crust with three gentle stirs and put your nose close. This is the "break" - the single most aromatic moment in coffee evaluation. This is exactly what the roaster smells when they're deciding if a batch is right.
Skim, cool, slurp
Skim off the foam and floating grounds. Wait 5 more minutes. Then slurp from a spoon - slurping aerates the coffee across your whole palate and is genuinely the best way to taste. Keep tasting as it cools. Good coffees often get more interesting below 50°C.
04 / Espresso
Magnificent when right.
Honest warning first.
Espresso is the hardest format to dial in. Finding the right grind for a new coffee takes multiple attempts - and with a 50g sample, you'll likely go through most of it before landing a shot you're happy with. Taste the coffee through a French press or AeroPress first. Get a feel for what you're aiming for. Then if you want to take it to espresso, you'll already know.
That said - espresso is magnificent when it's right. If you have a machine, here's what you need to know.
Puck preparation
How you prepare the puck before extraction matters more than most people think. Uneven distribution creates channels - paths of least resistance where water rushes through rather than extracting evenly. Distribute the grounds evenly across the basket before tamping. Tamp level with firm, consistent pressure. An uneven tamp creates a lopsided puck and an uneven shot.
Troubleshooting your shot
| What you're tasting | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Sour / sharp | Under-extracted - water moved through too fast | Grind finer · add a little more dose |
| Bitter / dry | Over-extracted - too much contact time | Grind coarser · reduce dose slightly |
| Watery / thin | Shot ran too fast - under 20 seconds | Grind finer immediately |
| No flow / blocked | Grind too fine or puck over-tamped | Grind coarser · check tamp pressure |
| Uneven flow / spurting | Channelling in the puck | Work on distribution before tamping |
When dialling in espresso, only change one variable between shots. Change grind size OR dose OR yield - never all three at once. Otherwise you won't know what actually made the difference. Change, pull, taste, repeat.
05 / Milk
Taste it black first.
Then add milk.
Milk is delicious, but it's also a flavour blanket - it mutes acidity, softens brightness, and changes the texture of the cup significantly. You don't need to love it black. But knowing what the coffee tastes like without milk tells you what you're actually adding milk to.
Medium to dark roasts - chocolate, caramel, nutty notes - pair naturally with milk. The fat rounds out the body and the sweetness plays nicely with those deeper flavours. Light, fruity, or floral roasts can taste strange with milk - citrus acidity and dairy fat don't always get along. Try it, but don't be surprised if it tastes better black.
Temperature
Aim for 60-65°C. Hot enough to warm the drink, cool enough to keep the milk naturally sweet. Above 70°C, milk proteins break down and it takes on a slightly sulphurous, flat taste. If you're steaming with a machine, the moment the jug becomes too hot to hold comfortably - stop.
Fat content
Full-cream froths better, feels rounder, and carries flavour more richly. Low-fat works but produces a thinner, more watery texture. Oat milk is the most neutral plant milk for coffee - it steams reasonably well and doesn't impose its own flavour. Almond and coconut milks have distinct profiles that compete with the coffee.
Ratio
If you're using a sample to make a milk-based drink, keep the ratio restrained - roughly 1 part coffee to 4-5 parts milk. This lets the coffee still make its presence felt. Going heavier on milk with a light roast especially will give you mostly milk with a vague coffee background.
Iced option
For a quick iced version, brew double strength (1:8 ratio) directly over ice. The coffee chills instantly without diluting and you keep the clarity of the flavour. Works particularly well with fruity, naturally-processed coffees - the fruit notes often become more vivid when cold.
06 / Tasting
You've been tasting
your whole life.
Coffee evaluation isn't about having a special palate - it's about knowing what questions to ask while you're tasting. The notes on each roaster's packaging aren't marketing copy. They're a map. Here's how to read it.
Aroma
Smell before you sip - both the dry grounds and the brewed cup. What does it remind you of? Fruit, flowers, earth, chocolate, spice, toast? Aroma accounts for most of what we interpret as flavour. Don't skip it.
Acidity
Not sourness - brightness. A well-extracted coffee with good acidity feels lively and clean, like biting into a ripe fruit. Sourness is a sign of under-extraction. Acidity is a quality to appreciate, not eliminate.
Body
How does it feel in your mouth, independent of flavour? Light and tea-like? Medium, like juice? Heavy and coating? Body is influenced by brew method, roast level, and the coffee's processing.
Sweetness
A well-extracted coffee from good beans has natural sweetness without any sugar. This is one of the clearest markers of quality. If a coffee tastes harsh or hollow, it's likely under-extracted or over-roasted - both suppress sweetness.
Finish
What stays on your palate after you swallow? A pleasant, lingering finish is a sign of complexity. A finish that turns harsh or drying suggests over-extraction. A finish that disappears immediately is neutral.
As it cools
This is the one most people miss. Good coffee often gets more interesting as it cools. Lighter roasts especially - fruit notes that were quiet when hot can become vivid at 50°C. Always take a sip 10 minutes later.
When a roaster writes "blueberry, dark chocolate, long caramel finish" on the bag - they're not adding flavouring. They're describing what they found when they cupped it. Your job is to see if you can find it too. Some people find it immediately. Others never taste the blueberry but notice something jammy and sweet they can't quite name. Both experiences are completely valid. There's no wrong answer. If it tastes good to you, it's good coffee.
SMPL Coffee
Rarely seen.
Regularly delivered.
Every SMPL box is an invitation to taste coffees you might never have found on your own. This guide exists to make sure nothing gets in the way of that. Brew with what you have, taste with curiosity, and enjoy the process.