9 Apps to Help You Drink Better Coffee

It’s no surprise that technology and coffee go hand in hand. While the act of brewing can be a very simple thing (water, grounds, go), it can also be a very technical thing (grounds-to-water ratio, for example) — not to mention how precise espresso-making gets.

Technology can in fact help you to make better coffee. For all you tech and coffee lovers out there, here are nine different apps that are all coffee-related, from helping you make coffee to helping you find the best cafe wherever you are.

1. KoHi – Pour Over Coffee Brewing
KoHi, by KoHi Labs, comes out at the top of the list for those who make coffee professionally (or just in a super geeky manner at home). The “brew calculator, timer, and recipe manager” lets you select what type of pour-over method you’re using (Chemex? French press? AeroPress?) and will help ensure that your coffee is in tip-top shape. It means no more guessing about your beans-to-water ratio and how long you should let them infuse. Just put in how much coffee you want to brew, how you’re going to brew it, and KoHi will work out the rest.

2. Intelligentsia Coffee
Well-known Chicago specialty coffee roaster Intelligentsia’s app includes brew guides for different methods, a timer, and a customizable brewing calculator. To use the timer, you choose your brew method, then enter the weight of beans you are using, and the app tells you how much water to use. Of course, Intelligentsia is in the business of selling coffee, so you can purchase their beans directly in the app. The other aspect that I like is that there is information about all of the coffee that Intelligentsia sells. Even if you don’t buy it, this is a great way to learn about different types of coffee — where they come from and the stories behind them.

3. Spro
Spro is for those of you with an espresso machine on your hands. There are step-by-step instructions for 14 different espresso drinks, as well as helpful diagrams. You’ll have that cortado mastered in no time.

4. Beanhunter
Beanhunter is a website dedicated to cataloging user-rated coffee experiences and making them available to the public, with listings and ratings of thousands of independent cafes around the globe. Checking out Sydney and want to know where to go? Beahunter will pull up a list of all the top-rated spots near you. Listings are predominantly in Australia, but you’ll find information for cafes in other cities around the world here, too, like Los Angeles and Singapore.

5. Nordic Coffee Culture
This one is for anyone traveling to Scandinavia. It’s a collection of cafes across Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland — all barista approved.

6. London’s Best Coffee + New York’s Best Coffee
Headed to London or New York? Then you’ll want one of these apps, made by the same people behind the London, New York City, and Paris Specialty Coffee Maps.

7. UP Coffee
From Jawbone, known for making health-monitoring devices, this app has nothing to do with how you make coffee. Instead, it’s focused on the effects of coffee on your body — specifically, on how you sleep. You tell it what you’ve had to drink and how much, and the app estimates about what time you will be ready to sleep and how edgy you currently feel. Essentially, it’s the app to tell you when you’ve had enough coffee, and remind you that it’s time to stop. Because yes, unfortunately, there is such a time.

8. Coffitivity
Love working in a coffee shop but don’t have the money to spend on cappuccinos? Coffitivity is a cool website that allows you to create the ambient noise of a coffee shop at home. Studies have shown that this ambient noise can actually improve your creative cognition. The app helps you take those sounds with you no matter where you are.

9. CoffeeRun
So, you’re the one in the office that got stuck doing the coffee run? Instead of writing down all your coworkers’ orders, use this app instead. There’s even an option for noting down which donuts they want.