Great coffee doesn’t have to be complicated. But choosing the right coffee beans, setting your grind size and dialing in your espresso can feel overwhelming at first.

Do you prefer smooth coffee with chocolate-like flavours? Are you looking for something fruitier and more complex? Do you mainly drink cappuccinos? Or have you bought great coffee beans, but your espresso still tastes too sour or bitter?

At Caffènation, we work with specialty coffee every day. We roast coffee for both espresso and filter, always with one goal in mind: to get as much flavour as possible out of great coffee.

On this page, we answer ten of the most common questions about brewing coffee and choosing coffee beans. No unnecessary coffee jargon — just practical answers you can use at home.

Want to choose your coffee quickly?

• Like full body, an approachable flavour and low acidity? Try our Brazil IAN.

• Mainly drink cappuccino, flat white or latte? Have a look at Milk MAN.

• Looking for a bold, classic espresso with plenty of character? Roast ED is a great place to start.

• Want to explore different styles? Choose our Espresso (& Filter) Discovery Pack.

SHOP ALL COFFEE BEANS

1. Which coffee beans are best for my taste?

There is no single best coffee bean. The best coffee is the coffee that matches your taste and the way you brew it.

So don’t start with a country, variety or complicated processing method. Start with a much simpler question: what do I want to taste in my cup?

I like chocolate, nuts, sweetness and low acidity

Choose a coffee with plenty of body and a smooth, approachable flavour profile. Brazilian coffees are often a great direction to explore.

At Caffènation, Brazil IAN is our easy-going espresso: full-bodied, approachable and relatively low in acidity.

Brazil IAN

I like bold espresso

Then you may prefer a coffee with a little more intensity. Roast ED is our best-known bold espresso blend. It has plenty of character and is also relatively forgiving when your home espresso setup isn’t dialled in perfectly.

Roast ED

I mainly drink cappuccino, flat white or latte

Milk changes the balance of an espresso. You therefore want a coffee with enough sweetness and character to work through milk without becoming harsh or overly bitter.

That’s why we developed Milk MAN: an espresso that works both on its own and with milk, but feels particularly at home in cappuccino, flat white and other milk-based drinks.

Milk MAN

I like fruity and unusual coffees

Have a look at our rotating single origins and lighter espresso and filter roasts. These coffees are more likely to show flavours reminiscent of red fruit, citrus, flowers, tropical fruit or wine.

I don’t know what I like yet

Comparing different coffees is the fastest way to learn your own taste.

With our Espresso (& Filter) Discovery Pack, you can taste several styles side by side — from bold and approachable to lighter and more adventurous.

Espresso Discovery Pack

Short answer: choose your coffee based on flavour profile and brewing method first — not simply by country or price.

2. How can I make better coffee at home?

If you want to make better coffee at home, you don’t necessarily need to buy a more expensive machine.

The biggest improvements usually come from five things:

1. Use fresh coffee beans.
Coffee changes after roasting. Ideally, use freshly roasted beans and only grind what you need.

2. Grind your coffee just before brewing.
A good coffee grinder often has a bigger impact on the final cup than people expect. Once coffee is ground, it loses aroma much faster.

3. Weigh your coffee and water.
A difference of just a few grams can have a major impact on flavour. A simple digital scale makes brewing much more consistent.

4. Use good water.
Most of your cup of coffee is water. Water with a strong chlorine smell, extremely high mineral content or almost no minerals at all can significantly affect flavour.

5. Adjust your grind based on taste.
Your grinder is not something you set once and then forget. Different coffees, humidity, bean age and even changes in the weather can affect brewing time.

For filter coffee, 60 grams of coffee per litre of water is an excellent starting point. For a 300 ml mug, that means around 18 grams of coffee.

From there, the fun part begins: tasting and adjusting.

SHOP COFFEE GRINDERS & BREW EQUIPMENT

3. Why does my coffee taste bitter?

Bitter coffee is often caused by extracting too much from the coffee, although roast level, recipe and coffee choice can also play a role.

During extraction, water dissolves different flavour compounds from the ground coffee. If you extract too many undesirable compounds, the result can taste dry, harsh or bitter.

If your coffee tastes too bitter, try one of these adjustments:

• grind slightly coarser;

• shorten the extraction time;

• use slightly less water;

• check that your water isn’t unnecessarily hot;

• clean your coffee machine and grinder properly.

For espresso, grind size is usually the first thing we would adjust.

If your espresso runs exceptionally slowly and tastes bitter and dry, for example, try grinding slightly coarser.

One important point: bitterness does not automatically mean something is wrong. Bitterness is naturally part of coffee. What matters is balance. A good espresso can have pleasant bitterness alongside sweetness and acidity.

4. Why does my coffee taste sour?

When coffee tastes unpleasantly sour, sharp or underdeveloped, under-extraction is often the cause: the water hasn’t extracted enough flavour from the coffee.

In that case, try:

• grinding slightly finer;

• increasing the extraction time;

• using hotter water;

• checking the ratio between coffee and beverage when making espresso.

If an espresso runs far too quickly and tastes sharp and sour, for example, grind finer.

But there is an important difference between sourness and acidity.

Great specialty coffee can have natural acidity. Think of the freshness you find in apples, citrus fruit, berries or grapes. That liveliness is not the same as a poorly extracted espresso that tastes unpleasantly sour.

A well-brewed coffee can therefore be fruity and perfectly balanced at the same time.

Simply don’t enjoy a lot of acidity? That’s perfectly fine too. Choose a coffee with naturally more body and less pronounced acidity.

Brazil IAN

5. Which coffee beans are best for an espresso machine?

For an espresso machine, choose coffee that is suitable for espresso and matches the flavour profile you enjoy.

Espresso is a concentrated brewing method. Small differences in coffee, grind size, dose and extraction time are therefore easy to taste.

At Caffènation, you can broadly choose between four directions:

Approachable and low in acidity

Brazil IAN

Plenty of body and an accessible flavour profile. A great choice if you’re just getting started with specialty coffee or simply don’t enjoy very acidic coffee.

Bold and full of character

Roast ED

Our bold espresso blend. Ideal for anyone who enjoys a strong espresso and for home baristas looking for a coffee that doesn’t immediately fall out of balance when the extraction isn’t perfect.

Espresso with milk

Milk MAN

Developed to taste great both as a straight espresso and in combination with milk. A logical choice for cappuccino, flat white and latte.

Fruity and adventurous

Explore our rotating single origin espressos.

These coffees change throughout the year and express the characteristics of a particular origin, producer or harvest much more clearly.

SHOP ALL ESPRESSO COFFEE

6. How much coffee should I use per cup?

For filter coffee, around 60 grams of coffee per litre of water is a very good starting point.

That works out to roughly:

• 250 ml water → 15 g coffee

• 300 ml water → 18 g coffee

• 500 ml water → 30 g coffee

• 1 litre water → 60 g coffee

Use a scale whenever possible. Working with “one scoop” may seem easier, but the amount of coffee in a scoop can vary significantly depending on the beans, grind size and scoop itself.

Espresso works differently.

The amount of coffee depends on your basket and machine. For many modern home espresso machines, around 18 grams of coffee for a double espresso is a practical starting point.

The exact number matters less than consistency. Use the same dose every time, and you can then adjust your grind size and extraction in a controlled way.

7. What is the best coffee-to-water ratio?

For filter coffee, we recommend starting with a ratio of around 1:16 to 1:17.

Our simple baseline is:

60 grams of coffee + 1,000 grams of water

That works out to approximately 1 gram of coffee for every 16.7 grams of water.

For espresso, the ratio is much more concentrated.

A useful starting point is:

18 grams of ground coffee → around 36 grams of espresso

That is a 1:2 ratio.

Don’t treat these numbers as strict rules. They are a starting point.

Does your coffee taste too weak? Adjust the recipe.
Is your espresso too concentrated? Try a slightly higher yield.
Does it taste sharp and sour? Start by looking at extraction and grind size.

Use recipes to become consistent. Use your taste to decide what is good.

8. What grind size do I need for espresso?

Espresso requires a fine and very consistent grind.

But “fine” is not one universal setting that works for every coffee and grinder.

Instead, use brew time — and above all taste — as your guide.

A practical starting recipe is:

• 18 g coffee in;

• around 36 g espresso out;

• approximately 25 to 30 seconds extraction time.

If 36 grams of espresso comes out in just 15 seconds, your grind is probably too coarse.

→ Grind finer.

If the same extraction takes 45 seconds and your espresso tastes heavy and bitter:

→ Grind coarser.

Change only one variable at a time. Otherwise, you won’t know which adjustment actually made the difference.

And one more thing: a good coffee grinder is essential for espresso. An espresso machine can only work with what you put into it. If the grind contains lots of uneven particles, achieving an even extraction becomes much more difficult.

SHOP COFFEE GRINDERS

9. How do I dial in my espresso machine?

Start with one simple recipe and then adjust only the grind size.

For example:

Dose: 18 g
Espresso: 36 g
Extraction time: approximately 25–30 seconds

Then taste.

Espresso runs too quickly and tastes sour or thin

Grind finer.

This creates more resistance for the water and increases extraction time.

Espresso runs too slowly and tastes bitter or dry

Grind coarser.

This allows the water to flow through the coffee more easily.

The brew time looks right, but the coffee still doesn’t taste good

Now things get more interesting.

Try adjusting the yield:

• slightly less espresso for more concentration;

• slightly more espresso for a longer extraction.

Also make sure the coffee is distributed evenly in your basket, and tamp level and consistently.

And remember: 25 to 30 seconds is a starting point, not a goal in itself.

An espresso that tastes fantastic at 24 seconds is better than one that tastes bad at exactly 30 seconds.

At Caffènation, what matters in the end is always the flavour in the cup.

10. Which coffee has the least acidic taste?

If you don’t enjoy sour or very fruity coffee, look for a coffee with plenty of body, sweetness and milder acidity.

You certainly don’t need to avoid specialty coffee. Specialty coffee does not automatically mean “sour coffee”.

If you’re looking for an approachable espresso with relatively low acidity, Brazil IAN is a logical place to start within our range.

Brazil IAN

Do you mainly drink your coffee with milk? Milk MAN may be a better fit. It was developed with milk-based drinks in mind and combines sweetness and enough character with a clean flavour profile.

Milk MAN

Looking for a bolder espresso? Have a look at Roast ED.

Roast ED

Still unsure?

Taste different styles side by side. You don’t learn what coffee tastes like from a flavour chart. You learn by drinking, comparing and discovering.

Espresso (& Filter) Discovery Pack

Which Caffènation coffee should I choose?

Still not sure? Use this simple guide:

I like smooth, approachable coffee with plenty of body and low acidity
→ Brazil IAN

I like bold espresso with plenty of character
→ Roast ED

I mainly drink cappuccino, flat white and latte
→ Milk MAN

I enjoy fruity, exciting specialty coffee
→ Explore our current single origins

I don’t know exactly what I like yet
→ Espresso (& Filter) Discovery Pack

FIND YOUR COFFEE

Better coffee starts with better beans

You can spend hours talking about extraction percentages, water chemistry and espresso recipes. Sometimes we do too.

But great coffee at home doesn’t have to be complicated.

Start with:

great, fresh coffee + a good grinder + a simple recipe + your own taste.

From there, you can keep experimenting.

Caffènation roasts specialty coffee in Antwerp for people who simply want to drink better coffee — from approachable espresso and cappuccino to distinctive single origin filter coffee.

Discover which coffee suits you and make a cup at home that you genuinely look forward to.

SHOP OUR COFFEE BEANS

One Drug, One Nation.