I’m slightly embarrassed how long it took me to get into coffee. There was plenty of classmates in high school that were sipping the bitter beverage on the daily and yet I didn’t give it a fair shot til three quarters of the way through college. But I more than made up for it, growing increasingly fond of the brew in the years since. My wife and I love to travel and hit up different breweries, distilleries, and coffee shops and it has been such a fun thing to do. When I bring that coffee experience back home, Coffee Book helps out by making me a better barista using what I have at home — whether that’s an instant machine or a bespoke pour over setup.

I legitimately got excited when I downloaded Coffee Book and I knew I had found an app that was for me. You’re able to populate the app with the brewing equipment you own, letting you keep copious notes and records of everything from the coffee to the brewing method. It has pre-populated icons for all the best at-home equipment like the Stag dripper (my personal preference), the V60 pour over, or an Aeropress. Makes it great to see the different methods of brewing and hone your preferences over time. It’s incredibly granular too, letting you denote the rams of coffee, grind setting, brew temperature, time, and more.

Personally, brewing coffee isn’t just about the delicious liquid that emerges, but about the relaxing process. Don’t worry if you aren’t at that level though. Coffee Book helps out by providing details steps in how to brew based on what equipment you prefer. Learn how to make the perfect pour over, pull the perfect shot of espresso, or create your very first French press. 

This app isn’t just incredibly useful for making coffee, it’s also incredibly well designed. The custom iconography is wonderful and makes the app feel spectacularly polished that they don’t just use a bunch of generic coffee machines, cups, or coffee bean icons throughout. It has a simple purple color scheme throughout and supports Dark Mode for when you’re powering through a late night work session or up in the wee hours of the morning to start your day.

There’s a ton of Apple-exclusive features here in Coffee Book and the developer is historically quick with new updates around Apple’s launches. For example, a new version just launched that bakes in support for the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro. While brewing, you’ll see the timer in the Dynamic Island and on your Lock Screen. Other iOS tie-ins include support for tracking your caffeine consumption that ties to the Health app, sync via iCloud, and a plethora of Home Screen widgets.

Not everyone has to be a coffee snob but by using Coffee Book, you can keep track of even basic brews. Log the pods you throw in your Keurig or Nespresso and you have an idea on if you prefer dark roasts, light roasts, Sumatra blends, extra-caffeine or half-calf. I’ve been tracking the different beans we buy from roasters and it’s so much fun to have this running diary in this wonderful app. 

But enough about other people's apps.

LET'S TALK ABOUT YOURS