29th October 2026
We sit down with Sam Harlow, Head of Coffee at WatchHouse, to uncover the simple secrets behind a better brew at home. From choosing the right beans to mastering your filter coffee routine, these are the expert tips that make all the difference, no barista skills required.
Plunging a cafetière just before pouring stirs up the grounds and muddies the brew. If you let gravity do its thing, allow the grounds to settle and then pour, you'll get a much cleaner, brighter cup of coffee. The more patient you are before plunging, and the longer you can leave it, the better it will be.
They're all important, but I would probably say the grinder, because it allows you to grind your coffee fresh. As soon as coffee is ground, it starts to decline in quality. If you keep it in whole-bean form and have a grinder at home, you'll always get the freshest, best-tasting coffee. Even if the coffee is of slightly lower quality, grinding it fresh with a good grinder is, for me, the best thing you can do.
It depends on what you like. If you enjoy filter coffee, I would invest in a really good brewer. It can be quite inexpensive, and after watching a quick YouTube video, brewing great coffee becomes fairly easy. If you have a little more money at your disposal, an espresso machine is obviously a bit of a luxury, but I would say a really good filter brewer is the best investment. I love the Origami; it's incredible and makes an amazing cup of coffee.
If I were starting from scratch, I would buy a water filter, because using hard London tap water is the quickest way to destroy much of a coffee's natural sweetness and acidity. Then I would buy a filter brewer, such as an Origami or an Orea, and a nice carafe.
People have different taste preferences and, at WatchHouse, we have clearly defined ranges for very different profiles. For example, our Rituals range is easy-drinking, sweet and chocolatey – an everyday coffee. Our Ventures range is brighter, more fruit-forward and more expressive. Most people gravitate towards Rituals because it offers that classic, first-thing-in-the-morning, everyday coffee.
For me, India is 100% the most underrated. We've just released a couple of Indian coffees, and it is one of the most exciting origins in terms of innovation, unique processing methods and varietals. Producers are experimenting with different species, making India an emerging, innovative origin with some incredible coffees that we will be exploring much more at WatchHouse.
There is still a mass market for cheap, lower-quality and quite bitter coffee, and many people continue to associate all coffee with that kind of taste profile. I think there's a whole world of coffee that many people simply haven't been introduced to yet. Our signature drinks are a great way for people to experience coffee in a different form. We have an incredible cold-shot soda, which combines our cold-shot coffee with orange tonic. It's super-light, sparkling and refreshing – a drink you might not associate with classic coffee flavours.
Our entire Rarities programme, and every brewing method we use. You just need some basic equipment and a little time to understand the recipe and ratios we use. The industry-standard ratio is 60 grams of coffee to one litre of water, and you can work backwards from there. Halve it to 30 grams for 500 millilitres of water, which tends to make enough for a few people. Halve it again and you have 15 grams for 250 millilitres of water, which is our standard Rarities recipe. You can then experiment: if you prefer a stronger cup, add a little more coffee; if you prefer it weaker, use less.
It depends on whether it's a weekday or a weekend. On a weekday, I use my pride and joy: my little Sage Bambino. I normally have an oat flat white, that's my go-to first thing in the morning. At the weekend, when I have a bit more time, I tend to make a pour-over. I usually take home some exciting coffees from the team at the roastery, and that's when I spend a little more time creating something special.
