The First Setup

If you are starting from nothing, start here.

This is what we would hand to someone who has just decided they want to make proper coffee at home, and who does not want to spend the next six months reading forums to find out what to buy.

It is deliberately in the right order. A grinder first, because that is the purchase that changes the cup. A scale second, because without one you cannot repeat a good brew or work out why a bad one went wrong. And a brewer that is very hard to get wrong.

What is in it

• Chestnut C3S MAX hand grinder. Stainless steel burrs and a proper adjustment range. It is the hand grinder we recommend most often, and it will still be the right grinder in five years.
• Timemore Black Mirror Basic 2 scale. Accurate to 0.1g, with a timer. Coffee is measured by weight, never by scoop — a scoop of a light Ethiopian weighs noticeably less than a scoop of a dark Brazilian.
• Ceado Hoop brewer. A flat-bottomed dripper, in Transparent Ghost or Black. Flat beds are more forgiving than cones: the water sits evenly and the brew is harder to ruin.
• Sú Beatha, 250g. Roasted by us in Dublin. Whole bean, or ground for filter.

How to brew it

18g of coffee, 300g of water just off the boil. Wet the grounds, wait thirty seconds, then pour the rest in two goes. It should draw down in about three minutes. That is the entire method.

One more thing, and it costs nothing: keep it clean. Most disappointing coffee at home is a cleaning problem, not an equipment problem.

Bought separately, €220.65. Together, €199.

Free next-business-day collection from any of our nine Dublin cafés, or delivered anywhere in Ireland.