Start before you are ready. The kettle takes four minutes to bring 0.9 litres to ninety degrees, and those four minutes are the point — grind while it works, fold the filter, breathe once.

Bloom with 45 millilitres and thirty seconds of patience. The bed will swell and crack like a tiny field after rain. If it doesn't, your beans are older than they told you.

Spiral from the centre out, six to eight millilitres a second. The gooseneck holds you honest — the counterweight makes slow feel effortless instead of careful.

Rest at 150 millilitres. Hands off. The bed settles itself better than you can, and the pause is where the sweetness happens.

Finish to 300 and stop. Drink it while it steams. The whole ritual costs four minutes and repays them for the rest of the day.