Food & DrinkExplain Like I'm 5Beginner
Brewing Better Coffee, a free food & drink course on Tomo

Brewing Better Coffee

Like Duolingo, but for Brewing Better Coffee. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.

For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.

A short one: 9 levels across 2 sections, about 18 minutes end to end, roughly 4 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Mastering the Brew and Buying and Tasting. It starts from scratch.

9 bite-size levelsAbout 5 minutes each

Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Bean-Bean the Barista, the guide who teaches the Brewing Better Coffee course
Brewing Better Coffee
with Bean-Bean the Barista
9
Levels
2
Sections
5
Min/day
What you'll learn

Key ideas in Brewing Better Coffee

  • Darker roasts are physically larger and less dense than lighter roasts
  • A scoop measures volume, which doesn't account for the actual mass of coffee
  • A scale ensures the same amount of coffee material is used regardless of bean size
  • Why measuring by weight is superior to measuring by volume
  • The 1:16 ratio is the industry standard for drip and pour-over coffee
  • Water makes up the vast majority of the beverage weight
  • The standard starting ratio for coffee brewing
  • Ratio controls the concentration (strength) of the coffee
  • Extraction (grind size/time) controls the flavor notes like sourness or bitterness
  • Adding more coffee relative to water creates a more intense mouthfeel
  • Tap water minerals can chemically compete with and block coffee oils from dissolving
  • Chlorine and heavy minerals in unfiltered water mask the subtle fruity or floral notes of the bean
  • Filtered water provides a 'clean slate' for the coffee's chemistry
  • Cold brewing equipment steals heat
  • Ratio controls concentration
  • Extraction stops if temperature drops
Why not just Google it

You've tried the other tabs

Wikipedia

Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.

YouTube

You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.

ChatGPT

One answer, then back to scrolling.

Online courses

Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.

Tomo gives Brewing Better Coffee the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.

Try a question

Here's what playing it feels like

A real question from this course. Take your best guess.

Measuring Like a Scientist

Why might using 'two scoops' give you a different amount of coffee every time?

Get it right to open this lesson and 8 more in the app.

Course map

Where Brewing Better Coffee takes you

Stop settling for mediocre mornings. Learn the simple variables that transform your daily cup from a caffeine delivery system into a craft experience.

  1. 1

    Mastering the Brew

    • The Golden Ratio
    • Dialing in the Flavor
  2. 2

    Buying and Tasting

    • Decoding the Coffee Bag

2 sections · 3 units · 9 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.

How it's taught

You pick the voice

This course
Explain Like I'm 5

Brewing Better Coffee is taught in the Explain Like I'm 5 style: no big words. promise.. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.

Start free

Start Brewing Better Coffee today.

Download Tomo, search Brewing Better Coffee, and play your first lesson in under a minute.