Dialed-in starting recipe

Starting recipe for the Moccamaster (and other quality drip machines)

A new bag shouldn’t cost you half its beans in guessing. Here’s where we’d start on a Moccamaster (and other quality drip machines) with fresh, roast-to-order specialty coffee — plus how to correct in one cup, not ten.

Method
Auto drip
Dose
30 g coffee : 480 g water (scale up at 1:16)
Ratio
1:16
Grind
Medium — like table salt
Water
Machine-controlled (that’s why you bought it)
Time
~5–6 minutes for a full carafe

The machine holds temperature better than most humans hold a kettle — your two levers are grind and ratio. Use filtered water; it’s 98% of the cup.

The three steps

  1. Grind medium, 1:16 ratio (30 g per 480 g water).
  2. Level the bed in the basket before brewing.
  3. Brew a full or half carafe — avoid tiny batches, they under-extract.

If the first cup is off

😖 Sour / weak

Weak or sour → grind finer, or tighten to 1:15.

😤 Bitter / harsh

Bitter → grind coarser, or open to 1:17.

Change one variable at a time. A starting recipe is a starting point, not a prophecy — burrs, water and beans all drift. That’s the whole idea of dialed-in coffee.

What we’d brew on it

  • Costa Rica — crisp, clean, sweet — a carafe that disappears.
  • Mexico — soft chocolate for an easy everyday pot.

Skip the guessing entirely

Every Adira order comes with a starting recipe built for your exact machine and grinder — emailed to you and saved to your My Cup account. This page is the generic version; yours gets translated to your burrs. And if the first cups are off, Stefan helps you dial it in personally.

Start with your first dialed-in bag →

First bag ships free with code FIRSTBAG · No subscription required