Your first brewing class: what to expect

Every Saturday at 11 am we clear the long table at the back of the café for our brewing class. It runs for 90 minutes, costs ₹900 a person and takes up to eight people. Many who come have never weighed coffee in their lives, and that is fine.

We start with tasting. Everyone gets two small cups of the same coffee, one brewed well and one brewed badly on purpose, and we talk about what you notice: sour, bitter, thin or sweet. It is the easiest way to learn what “extraction” means. Then each person grinds beans by hand at three settings and feels the difference between fine, medium and coarse.

Next, everyone brews. You will make a South Indian decoction in a steel filter, a pour-over with a ceramic dripper, and a French press. Our trainer, Keerthana, shows the ratio for each, usually 1 g of coffee to 15 or 16 g of water for pour-over, and you weigh it out yourself on a scale. We taste each one together and adjust.

The last twenty minutes are for questions about your own brewer at home: bring a photo of it, or the brewer itself. You leave with a 250 g bag of your choice of coffee and a printed card with ratios and grind settings. Book at the counter or by message; classes in December and January fill two weeks ahead, so book early for a weekend near the holidays.