From origin to cup

Everything coffee,measured.

We test the machines, weigh the shots and taste the coffee, then tell you what we found. No marketing copy.

Start with the buying guides Learn a brewing method

All categories: 14
Brewing methods: 10
Origins: 21

01The approach

Coffee is a few numbers and a lot of opinions. We start with the numbers.

Every method comes with its ratio, grind and timing, and every guide shows the reasoning behind its picks, so you can check our working against your own cup.

About Buna Lab

Articles published: 76
Origins covered: 21
Brewing methods: 10
Glossary terms: 32

02From cherry to cup

Six steps, and the number that rules each one.

01 · Origin
It starts as a cherry.
Arabica ripens slowly on mountain shrubs, and the slower it ripens, the more there is in the seed.
Altitude1,000–2,200 m
Origins
02 · Process
Two seeds, dried to a number.
Washed, natural or honey, the fruit comes off and the green coffee is dried until it keeps.
Moisture10–12 %
Coffee
03 · Roast
Heat decides the flavour.
In the drum the sugars brown, the bean swells and cracks, and the roaster chooses when to stop.
Drop195–230 °C
Roasting
04 · Rest
Then it has to wait.
A fresh roast is full of carbon dioxide, and a few days let it out before it gets in the way of the water.
Rest3–21 days
Coffee
05 · Grind
The last variable in your hands.
Particle size sets how fast water gets through, and so how much of the coffee it takes with it.
Particles200–1,200 µm
Grinders
06 · Brew
One cup, measured.
A balanced cup dissolves about a fifth of the ground coffee into the water, and not much more.
Extraction18–22 %
Brewing methods

03Sections

Where do you want to start?

14 sections, one map of the whole coffee world.

04Brewing

Brewing methods

Every method, with the ratio, grind and timing that make it work.

View all

01
Espresso
Nine bars, twenty-five to thirty seconds, and the tightest tolerances in coffee.
Grind
Extra fine
Ratio
1:2
Time
30 s
02
AeroPress
Immersion plus pressure in a plastic tube, and the single most forgiving brewer you can own.
Grind
Medium
Ratio
1:14
Time
2 min
03
V60
Hario's conical dripper rewards an even pour and punishes a careless one. Here is the pour that works.
Grind
Medium fine
Ratio
1:16
Time
3 min
04
Siphon
Two glass bulbs, a flame and a vacuum. How a siphon brews, why its temperature holds so steady, and the recipe that gets a clean, full cup.
Grind
Medium
Ratio
1:15
Time
3 min
05
Batch filter
Machine-brewed filter coffee, and the certification that separates good brewers from beige ones.
Grind
Medium
Ratio
1:16
Time
6 min
06
Pour over
The family of methods where the pour itself is the variable you are controlling.
Grind
Medium
Ratio
1:16
Time
3.5 min
07
Moka pot
The stovetop icon, how it actually brews, and the two changes that stop it tasting burnt.
Grind
Medium fine
Ratio
1:10
Time
5 min
08
Cold brew
Twelve to twenty hours in cold water, and why the result tastes nothing like iced coffee.
Grind
Coarse
Ratio
1:8
Time
15 h