Food & DrinkThe BestieIntermediate
The Craft of Coffee course icon

The Craft of Coffee

Like Duolingo, but for The Craft of 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.

67 bite-size levelsAbout 5 minutes each

Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Brew-Brew the Bear
The Craft of Coffee
with Brew-Brew the Bear
67
Levels
8
Sections
5
Min/day
What you'll learn

Key ideas in The Craft of Coffee

  • Darker roasts are less dense and take up more physical space for the same weight
  • The 1:16 ratio provides enough solvent to extract flavors without over-diluting
  • Fresh beans contain more CO2 gas which increases volume without adding coffee mass
  • Why weight is superior to volume for consistent brewing
  • Weight measures the actual amount of soluble coffee solids available for extraction
  • Ratios are expressed as dry coffee weight to total water weight
  • The standard ratio for a balanced specialty coffee brew
  • Ratio primarily controls the concentration of dissolved solids (strength)
  • Grind size primarily controls which flavor compounds are pulled out (extraction)
  • Changing the ratio alone doesn't change the chemical 'doneness' of the grounds
  • Over-extraction occurs when too much water passes through the same coffee bed
  • Bypass brewing dilutes the intensity without pulling out bitter, late-stage tannins
  • Concentrates brewed with less water maintain a vibrant acidity
  • Distinguishing between strength (TDS) and extraction (flavor profile)
  • Digital scales require processing time to update the displayed weight
  • Liquid already in the air or exiting the basket will add to the final weight
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 The Craft of 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.

Ditching the Scoop

Why is the 1:16 ratio considered a 'sweet spot' for most specialty coffee brewing?

Get it right to open this lesson and 66 more in the app.

Course map

Where The Craft of Coffee takes you

Go beyond the morning caffeine fix to master the chemistry, sensory analysis, and technical precision of professional-grade coffee preparation.

  1. 1

    Dialing in the Daily Brew

    • Precision Ratios and Scales
    • The Chemistry of Brewing Water
    • Grind Geometry and Particle Distribution
  2. 2

    Sensory Mastery and Evaluation

    • The Professional Cupping Protocol
    • Navigating the Flavor Wheel
  3. 3

    Advanced Manual Brewing

    • V60 and Conical Extraction
    • Immersion and Hybrid Methods
  4. 4

    Espresso: The Art of Pressure

    • Dialing in the Espresso Shot
    • Advanced Puck Preparation
  5. 5

    Milk Chemistry and Texture

    • The Science of Microfoam
    • Latte Art Fundamentals
  6. 6

    The Journey from Seed to Green

    • Botanical Varieties and Genetics
    • Processing and Fermentation
  7. 7

    Roasting and Chemical Transformation

    • The Roasting Curve
    • Roast Profiles and Solubility
  8. 8

    Maintenance and Optimization

    • Equipment Longevity
    • Storage and Freshness Science

8 sections · 17 units · 67 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.

How it's taught

You pick the voice

This course
The Bestie

The Craft of 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.

Start free

Start The Craft of Coffee today.

Download Tomo, search The Craft of Coffee, and play your first lesson in under a minute.