The Science of the Cup: An Evidence-Based Guide to Water, Grind & Extraction

Stop guessing why your coffee tastes sour, bitter or flat. The Science of the Cup turns brewing into a set of controls you can actually move.

Written by Jerry-More Magohomera (il Barista, SCA Coffee Skills) as the field manual for The Sunday Brew Club workshops in Luzern, this guide explains what happens in the cup and then hands you the recipes and tools to fix it.

What's inside:

• Extraction made measurable: TDS, extraction yield and a redrawn Brewing Control Chart, with worked examples you can repeat at home.

• Water, finally explained: hardness vs alkalinity, the SCA water standard, a build-your-own brewing water recipe, and a calculator that turns any °fH, °dH or ppm reading into a precise blend.

• The four levers: Grind, temperature, time, and agitation—and which one to move first.

• Recipes for every session: V60 (including a fast KISS recipe for fermented coffees), Chemex, French press, AeroPress, moka pot, café batch brew, espresso, milk steaming, cupping, cold brew, flash-chill, and espresso tonic.

• A palate-training lab: Taste-solution exercises, the triangle test, a supermarket reference kit, and a defect guide.

• Café operations: Opening dial-in protocol, recipe-card standard, cleaning schedule, milk handling, filter capacity, and cost per cup.

• Printable tools: Troubleshooting matrix, one-page quick-reference card, brew log, and tasting sheet. 

Who it's for:

• Home brewers who want consistent, café-quality cups.

• Baristas who want to diagnose with numbers, not hunches.

• Café owners who want written standards for water, dial-in, and milk. 

Why trust it:

Every claim is referenced to SCA standards or peer-reviewed research (UC Davis, Scientific Reports, Journal of Food Science), and the text says plainly where something is barista practice rather than settled science.

Format: 36-page A4 PDF, instant download, readable on phone, tablet, or computer; print-friendly worksheets.

Licence: Personal use. (Cafés training staff: please choose the Café licence edition).

FAQ:

• Do I need a refractometer? No. Every method includes a ratio table and taste-based fixes; the refractometer parts are optional.

• Is it for beginners? Yes. Recipes come first; the science explains why they work.

• Can I share it with my team? Only with the Café licence edition.

• Will I get updates? Corrections go into new editions; buyers can re-download from their Payhip receipt link.