Dialing In Great Coffee
Like Duolingo, but for Dialing In Great 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: 12 levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes end to end, roughly 5 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Controlling the Extraction and Tasting and Sourcing with Intent. It assumes you already know the basics.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Dialing In Great Coffee
- Light organic acids and salts dissolve almost immediately on water contact.
- Mid-extraction yields sweet complex carbohydrates and aromatic oils.
- Heavy bitter plant fibers and polyphenols only extract late in the brew.
- Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) measures concentration, not overall brew quality.
- Under-extraction occurs when water extracts too few soluble bean compounds.
- High TDS combined with low extraction yield makes an intensely sour, heavy cup.
- Under-extraction leaves a quick, sharp sourness without balancing sweetness.
- Over-extraction coats the tongue in a parching, lingering, sandpaper finish.
- Balanced extraction anchors vibrant acidity with smooth, sweet body.
- Adjusting grind size shifts surface area and extraction without altering ratio.
- Changing water dose or bean weight alters strength alongside extraction yield.
- Grinding coarser slows extraction rate to curb harshness while keeping brew ratio.
- Water paths of least resistance over-extract grounds directly in the stream.
- Bypassed sections of the bed remain largely untouched and under-extracted.
- Channeling dumps harsh polyphenols and sharp raw acids into the same final cup.
- Fines dissolve almost instantly and restrict drawdown flow
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Dialing In Great 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.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
What begins washing into your cup during the middle stage of extraction?
Get it right to open this lesson and 11 more in the app.
Where Dialing In Great Coffee takes you
Move beyond basic brew ratios and step into true cup control. Learn to diagnose extraction flaws, manipulate thermal and mineral variables, and read green bean processing like a roaster.
- 1
Controlling the Extraction
- The Sour-Bitter Spectrum
- Flow, Turbulence, and Water Chemistry
- 2
Tasting and Sourcing with Intent
- Sensory Profiling and Temperature Drift
- Deciphering Processing and Density
2 sections · 4 units · 12 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
Dialing In Great Coffee is taught in the The Bestie style: your friend who just gets it. 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.
More Food & Drink on Tomo
Dialing In Better Coffee
Move beyond following rigid recipes and learn how extraction mechanics shape every cup. Diagnose sour or bitter off-notes, tune your grind and flow, and brew coffee with intention.
The Craft of Better Coffee
Move beyond the morning caffeine hit and learn to manipulate extraction, water chemistry, and bean genetics to brew the perfect cup.
Tuning Your Brew
Move beyond following recipes and learn to manipulate the variables of extraction to fix any cup of coffee.
The Craft of Better Coffee
Move beyond the morning caffeine hit to understand the variables that define a perfect cup. Learn to manipulate extraction, analyze flavor profiles, and source beans like a professional.
Dialing In Great Coffee
Step past basic brewing and learn to troubleshoot every cup like a specialty barista. Master extraction variables, train your palate to diagnose off-flavors, and demystify how bean processing and water chemistry shape your cup.
How to Brew Better Coffee
Transform your daily brew from unpredictable to exceptional. Learn to balance sour and bitter notes, dial in water and grind, and decode bean labels like a specialty roaster.
Start Dialing In Great Coffee today.
Download Tomo, search Dialing In Great Coffee, and play your first lesson in under a minute.