Every coffee is different. Measure your beans once and get a matched recipe for espresso, filter, French press or AeroPress. Then fix sour or bitter with one button.
Free. No app, no account. 121 recipes for each method.
Most recipes assume coffee is all the same. It isn’t. Origin, processing, altitude and roast level all change how a coffee extracts, and a light Ethiopian and a dark blend need very different treatment.
A fixed recipe like the classic 1:2 espresso only suits a narrow band of coffees. If yours isn’t one of them, the standard recipe was never going to taste right, however carefully you follow it. Grind changes alone can’t close the gap. Changing the recipe can.
Weigh 100 ml of beans in a measuring cylinder. That number is your bean density.
Enter it and get your matched starting recipe: dose, grind, ratio, temperature and time.
Sour? Press Extract more. Bitter? Press Extract less. Repeat until it tastes right, which is usually not more than once.
~10,000
bags measured by CRS users
80%
don’t suit a fixed recipe
121
matched recipes for each method
CRS users have measured close to 10,000 bags of coffee. The densities spread widely, and a fixed recipe like the classic 1:2 only suits a narrow band of them. CRS covers the whole range, with 121 matched recipes for each method.
Once matched, it works. In five years of daily use across 348 coffees, the starting recipe was right first time 68% of the time, and 95% needed at most one adjustment.
See the dataSwipe or scroll for more →
“Couldn’t get a medium roast to not taste sour for the life of me… on my first attempt I nailed it. No sourness at all.”
Zac, USA
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I have to say this worked extremely well. Im new to the Flair (just got a Pro 2) and (good) espresso-making in general. Couldn’t get a medium roast to not taste sour for the life of me. And by sour I mean I would almost pucker up when tasting the espresso and just thinking about it I have my mouth watering in disgust as I type this. I tried the recipeseries.coffee site and on my first attempt I nailed it. No sourness at all. I’m sure I can still make improvements but it was night and day!
“I have been involved in specialty coffee for over twenty years and I know how to taste coffee… and I don’t know what this beverage is I am drinking.”
Aaron, USA
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My first brew was a throw away, wrong grind, and that made me frustrated because I couldn’t save it. Now, this second cup is exactly what the recipe calls for and… it’s broke my brain! This doesn’t taste like new wave under extracted sour hipster coffee. This has excellent mouth feel, but I am still not sure what this is I am tasting. How the heck did I just run almost another 100ml through my usual coffee and have to grind finer without it over extracting? It’s a good thing you posted a reminder to use my tongue, which I am admit I took as a bit condescending at the time, otherwise I would have thrown this out without giving it a chance. But what am even drinking here, I don’t even understand!? I mean, I am not the average Joe coffee drinker, I have been involved in specialty coffee for over twenty years and I know how to taste coffee… and I don’t know what this beverage is I am drinking.
“Now, having the freedom to try different types of coffee (even kinds we previously thought we didn’t like) is really great!”
Jason, USA
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Love your site. I thought I’d let you know that I really appreciate your efforts to illuminate the relationships of the different variables in preparing espresso. So much of the “instruction” out there in videos and blogs is an oversimplification of the process. It’s been a confusing and frustrating journey until we ultimately settled on one particular roast that we managed to dial in. Now, having the freedom to try different types of coffee (even kinds we previously thought we didn’t like) is really great! Thanks again!
“…now I drink God shots twice a day, almost.”
Guy, Israel
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I feel so lucky to find this way by accident. I just do not understand why it is not common knowledge. I feel ease of mind compared to my endless struggle to replicate God shots; now I drink God shots twice a day, almost.
“There was a very pleasant acidity present that I wouldn’t have really guessed could be that pronounced in a bean this dark.”
Trevor, USA
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The recipe worked exceptionally well. There was a very pleasant acidity present that I wouldn’t have really guessed could be that pronounced in a bean this dark. Shows how little I know about this science/art.
“NO ONE explains how to do that is easy as it is!!”
Mindy, Canada
Your bean density gives you a matched recipe for every method. Not measured yet? Start at recipe 51, the recommended starting point for an unmeasured coffee.
Dose, grind, ratio, temperature and basket, plus an Oxo Rapid Brewer option.
Espresso recipe 51If you’re on pods or instant because fresh coffee seems complicated, CRS turns it into a recipe you follow, with one simple rule when it’s not quite right. French press or AeroPress is the easiest place to start.
Try French press recipe 51You’ve watched the videos and bought the kit. CRS helps you use all your tools, solve problems quickly and easily, and reach that nirvana of consistently great coffee.
Why measure density?Your café is probably surrounded by other places to buy coffee. If your cups are even slightly more bitter or sour than your neighbours’, customers won’t come back. Small cafés rarely have a highly experienced barista on every shift. CRS gives every barista a matched recipe and one simple rule for fixing taste, so you get consistently good cups without months of training.
Measure your current bagTradition works brilliantly for the coffees it was built on. CRS covers the rest of the range, including the light, dense specialty coffees that rarely suit a fixed ratio.
We are making coffee all wrongCustomers stick to what they know because a new coffee is a gamble. A reliable starting recipe lowers that risk and makes them more willing to explore.
Value proposition for roastersA 100 ml measuring cylinder (Class A, ideally borosilicate) and a 0.1 g scale. Together they cost less than a bag of good coffee, and you’ll use them on every bag you buy.
How to measure coffee beansMeasure your beans, get your recipe, and let your taste do the rest.
CRS is free and always will be. If it saves you a bag of beans, you can buy me a coffee.
