The Everyday Barista
Transform your daily coffee routine into cafe-quality brewing. Learn the essential dials of extraction, grind, and milk texturing to craft rich, balanced cups on demand.
Like Duolingo, but for The Everyday Barista. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
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 Mastering the Brew and The Espresso and Milk Bar. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in The Everyday Barista
- Dark roast beans expand and lose moisture, making them less dense than light roasts
- A scoop measures volume rather than actual mass of coffee
- A kitchen scale gives consistent strength regardless of bean size or roast
- A 1:15 to 1:17 ratio represents grams of coffee to grams of water
- Multiplying coffee weight by the ratio number yields total water target (20g x 15 = 300g)
- Water under 1:15 tends to taste overly intense or sour, while over 1:17 tends to taste weak or watery
- Dry paper filters impart a noticeable cardboard or papery taste to hot water
- Pouring hot water through the empty setup warms the cold ceramic or glass brewer
- Discharge rinse water before brewing so it does not dilute the final cup
- Fresh roasted coffee traps carbon dioxide that repels water
- A small initial splash of water wets all grounds and triggers degassing
- Allowing the coffee bed to swell before the main pour ensures water penetrates grounds evenly
- Active rolling boiling water extracts bitter, harsh astringency from grounds
- Water rested 30–60 seconds off the boil (around 200°F/93°C) pulls out sweet and balanced flavors cleanly
- A dry, chalky sensation in the mouth usually signals over-extraction from excess heat
- Bright fruit acids dissolve almost immediately when water hits grounds
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 The Everyday Barista 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.
When you measure whole beans with a scoop, what are you actually measuring?
Get it right to open this lesson and 11 more in the app.
Where The Everyday Barista takes you
- 1
Mastering the Brew
- The Golden Ratio and Water Control
- Diagnosing Extraction: Sour vs. Bitter
- 2
The Espresso and Milk Bar
- Pulling Balanced Espresso
- Steaming Silky Microfoam
2 sections · 4 units · 12 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
The Everyday Barista 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
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Making Classic Café Coffee
Learn to pull rich, balanced espresso, steam glossy microfoam, and recreate your favorite café drinks with authentic barista technique.
Espresso and Milk: The Barista's Craft
Unlock the secrets behind the cafe counter. Learn how to pull sweet, balanced espresso shots, steam silky microfoam, and assemble coffee shop classics with confidence.
The Barista's Espresso Craft
Learn the essential skills of a café barista. Dial in espresso shots by taste, steam silky microfoam, and assemble classic drinks with confidence.
Espresso and Milk Craft
Learn the essential mechanics of pulled espresso and silky steamed milk. Dial in balanced shots, texture microfoam properly, and pour classic cafe drinks with confidence.
The Home Barista's First Shot
Transform your kitchen into a cafe by mastering the fundamental mechanics of espresso and milk. Learn to pull a balanced shot and steam silky microfoam from day one.
Start The Everyday Barista today.
Download Tomo, search The Everyday Barista, and play your first lesson in under a minute.