Your first cup

Here is the whole brew, before you touch anything: 30 g of coarse-ground coffee into the press, 500 g of water just off the boil, one gentle stir, lid on, four minutes of doing nothing, a slow press, and every cup poured at once. Two generous mugs.

Each move exists for a reason you already know. The scale sets the ratio — 1:16.7, squarely in the balanced window. The coarse grind suits a long, patient steep. The single stir sinks the floating grounds so all of the coffee actually brews. The four minutes is the contact time the grind was chosen for.

Two details carry the brew. Press slowly — ten to fifteen seconds of steady travel. Rushing the plunger forces fine particles through the mesh and stirs the bed back up, and the cup turns silty and harsh. And pour everything as soon as you press: the coffee under the plunger is still sitting on grounds, still extracting, and a second cup poured ten minutes later is a bitterer, older drink.

Do not chase a perfect first cup. Brew it, taste it — sour, bitter, weak, or good — and write down one word in your journal. That word is the input for every lesson that follows.