Home Barista

Log what you brewed, and the next cup gets better.

Home Barista is a brewing journal for people who make coffee at home. Write down which beans you used, how you brewed them and how the cup tasted, and you can make that good cup again on purpose.

■ Today's coffee

Looks at the beans you have open and the recipes you saved, then suggests a cup worth making right now.

• Reload the exact settings from a brew you liked • Decaf comes first late in the evening • Iced recipes come first on a hot day

■ Step by step brew timer

Follows the times and pour weights written into your recipe.

• Shows when to pour and how much, in large type • Tells you when the next pour is due • Keeps running on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island • Advance on the recipe's timing, or tap through each pour yourself

■ Beans and roasters

• Group beans by the roaster you bought them from • Record origin, process, roast level and tasting notes • Blends can list each component and its share

■ Bag stock and reminders

• Track opened bags separately from sealed ones • A roast date becomes a reminder while the coffee is at its best • Mark a bag as running low and hear about it when it is time to reorder

■ Brew log and taste notes

• Record dose, water, grind, temperature and time • Pick how the cup actually tasted • Put two brews side by side and see what changed

■ What to try next

Say whether the cup ran bitter or dry, and the app points at what to change.

It does not diagnose a cup or rewrite your recipe. Extraction depends on more than an app can see, so it offers something to try and compare against an earlier brew. One change at a time.

■ Recipes and gear

• Pour over, espresso, AeroPress • French press, moka pot, cold brew • Sorted by method, with favorites kept close • Register grinders and machines, then link them to a recipe