How do I make good coffee for one without waste?

Brewing for one is not simply a smaller version of brewing for four. Several methods behave badly below a certain volume, and most of the waste is in the beans rather than the brew.

What you'll need

• A one-cup brewer — AeroPress, small pour-over cone or a three-cup cafetière
• Scales that read to one gram
• A grinder, if you buy whole beans

Step by step

1. Pick a method that works small.An AeroPress, a single-cup pour-over cone or a small cafetière. Each is designed around one or two cups and gives its best result there.
2. Avoid brewing one cup in a large device.A three-cup dose in an eight-cup cafetière sits in a thin layer and cools too fast; a drip machine below its minimum extracts badly. The kit fights you rather than the technique.
3. Weigh rather than scoop.Around 15g of coffee to 250ml of water is a solid starting point for one cup. Scoops vary enormously with grind size, which is why a single cup is harder to get consistent.
4. Buy smaller bags more often.A 250g bag lasts one person about two weeks at a cup a day. A kilo bag is cheaper per gram and stale for the last two-thirds of it, which is not a saving.
5. Grind per cup if you can.Ground coffee loses most of its aroma within a week or two. Grinding fifteen grams at a time takes under a minute and is the single biggest quality difference for one-cup brewing.
6. Freeze what you will not use soon.Whole beans, in a genuinely airtight container, in portions you can take out without thawing the rest. Repeated thawing and refreezing is what ruins them.
7. Boil only what you need.Filling a kettle for one cup wastes energy every time. Most kettles have a minimum mark well below their capacity.
8. Let the water sit for thirty seconds.Just off the boil, around 92 to 96°C. A small brew loses heat fast, so preheating the cup and brewer matters more here than it does for a large pot.
9. Preheat the brewer and the cup.A swirl of hot water, poured away. In a single-cup brew the equipment absorbs a meaningful fraction of the heat, and cold kit under-extracts.
10. Use a reusable filter or compostable paper.A daily paper filter is a small but constant waste stream. Metal filters last indefinitely, though they let more oils through and change the taste slightly.
11. Consider a moka pot or an espresso maker for milk drinks.If you drink lattes rather than black coffee, a small stovetop moka pot produces a concentrated base for one, without pods.
12. Judge pods on total cost, not convenience.Pods are consistent and waste nothing per cup, but cost several times as much per gram and generate packaging. Refillable pods sit in between if you already own the machine.
13. Compost the grounds.They go straight on a compost heap or round acid-loving plants. It is the one part of the process where the waste has an obvious use.

Tips

• An AeroPress is the most forgiving single-cup method there is, and it cleans up in seconds.
• Buy 250g bags, not kilos. Cheap stale coffee is not a saving.
• Preheat the brewer. A small volume loses heat to cold equipment far faster than a large one.

Common mistakes

• Brewing one cup in a large cafetière or drip machine — Both need a minimum volume to hold temperature and extract evenly. Below it the coffee is thin and sour regardless of the beans.
• Buying a large bag to save money — Coffee is noticeably past its best within a month of opening, so most of a kilo bag is drunk stale. Smaller and fresher is better value in practice.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask