Dialing In Your Coffee
Move beyond the recipe and learn to manipulate variables like a professional barista to find the 'sweet spot' in every bean.
Like Duolingo, but for Dialing In Your Coffee. 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 The Art of the Dial-In and The Science of the Bean. It assumes you already know the basics.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Dialing In Your Coffee
- Finer particles increase the total surface area available for water to dissolve flavors
- Acids dissolve first, creating a concentrated but sour 'front' to the shot
- A tighter pack of fine grounds creates more resistance, slowing down the water flow
- Sugars and oils follow, providing the body and sweetness of the 'middle'
- Heavier plant fibers and tannins extract last, adding bitterness to the 'tail'
- How grind size simultaneously affects surface area and water contact time
- The sequential order of flavor compounds extracted during a shot
- Crema inflation from CO2
- Isolating variables
- Grind size and resistance
- Yield by weight
- Extraction sequence
- The 1:17 'Golden Ratio' provides a balanced starting point for most palates
- Why weight is a more reliable metric for strength than crema-inflated volume
- Lowering the water ratio increases the concentration of coffee for a heavier mouthfeel
- The importance of isolating variables during the dialing-in process
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 Your 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.
If you were to taste only the very first few drops of an espresso, what flavor profile would you expect to dominate?
Get it right to open this lesson and 11 more in the app.
How to learn Dialing In Your Coffee, step by step
Go in order. 12 short levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes in all, five minutes a day.
- 1
The Art of the Dial-In
- The Calibration Loop
- Diagnosing Extraction
- Water and Heat Dynamics
- 2
The Science of the Bean
- Roast Chemistry and Terroir
2 sections · 4 units · 12 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Questions about Dialing In Your Coffee
How do I learn Dialing In Your Coffee?
Go in order: start with The Art of the Dial-In, then The Science of the Bean. On Tomo that's 12 short levels, about 24 minutes in all, played five minutes a day. Start free and play the first level in under a minute.
Is there a Duolingo-style app for Dialing In Your Coffee?
Yes. Tomo works like Duolingo: short daily lessons, streaks and quick quizzes. Dialing In Your Coffee is one of its free courses, and you can type any other topic to get a course of your own.
Is the Dialing In Your Coffee course free?
Yes. Dialing In Your Coffee is playable on Tomo's free plan, which doesn't expire. No credit card, no waitlist. Download the app and start your first lesson.
How long does it take to learn Dialing In Your Coffee?
12 levels across 2 sections, about 24 minutes of play in total. It's built for five minutes a day, so you finish it a little at a time instead of all at once.
Do I need any background to start Dialing In Your Coffee?
No. It's pitched at an intermediate level, so it starts where you are and builds up. If you can tap a phone, you can start.
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
Dialing In Your Coffee is taught in 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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Dialing In Coffee Flavor
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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.
The Science of Specialty Coffee
Move beyond the basics of brewing to master the chemical and physical variables that define world-class coffee. Explore water chemistry, advanced extraction physics, and the complex biology of the coffee bean.
Start Dialing In Your Coffee today.
Download Tomo, search Dialing In Your Coffee, and play your first lesson in under a minute.