Tastes like
Peanut Butter
Berry Jam
Toffee
Peanut butter, berry jam, and toffee. Toronto's house espresso for over a decade.
Rich, thick, and sweet with a sticky body and low acidity. Brazil carries the weight and the nuttiness. Guatemala adds structure and a clean brightness that holds the whole thing together.
Brew it your way
Built for espresso. Works on filter. Pull 18g in, 40g out in 28 to 33 seconds for a thick, sweet shot with peanut butter body and a toffee finish. On filter at 1:17, the berry jam sweetness opens up and the body stays full enough to carry the cup. Pick your brewer for the full recipe.
Espresso
Grind
Fine
Ratio
1:2.2
Time
28 to 33s
Temp
96°C
Coffee in
18g
Espresso out
40g
Home or pro? On a home machine, pull 1:2.2. With pro equipment and good water, tighten it to 1:2. In our shops that means 9 bars, remineralized RO water and an 18g VST basket.
Bigger basket On a 20g basket, go hotter, push to 9.25 bars and let it run 30 to 36 seconds. Smaller basket, drop to 8.75 bars and run it shorter.
Coffee maker
Grind
Medium
Ratio
1:17
Time
Auto
Water
Filtered
Coffee
29g
Water
500g
One mug is about 250g of water
Check the shower head Watch it next time you brew. If the water doesn’t cover the whole bed of coffee, you’re wasting coffee. It’s the most important part of the machine.
French press
Grind
Coarse
Ratio
1:15
Time
5 min
Temp
98°C
Coffee
33g
Water
500g
One mug is about 250g of water
One pour The press loses heat fast, so add all the water at once. It keeps agitation down too.
Blade grinder? It makes bitter fines and big chunks that never extract. Let us grind it for you instead.
Kalita Wave
Grind
Med fine
Ratio
1:16
Time
3 min
Temp
94°C
Coffee
16g
Water
250g
One mug is about 250g of water
Draining slow? Lift the paper filter. On the stainless Kalita it can stick and block one of the three holes. Pour more slowly, or use a Hario Drip Assist.
Aeropress
Grind
Fine
Ratio
1:16
Time
4 min
Temp
80°C
Coffee
15g
Water
240g
One cup, up to the number 4 circle
Upside down Put the plunger in and stand it on its end. Add coffee and water, cap it with a filter and let it steep for four minutes. Flip it onto your cup and press slowly.
Why 80°C? Hotter water for that long gives you a muddy bed that’s hard to press.
Brazil
80%Region
Minas Gerais
Farm
Carmo Estates
Altitude
1100 MASL
Process
Natural
Variety
Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon, Catimor
Guatemala
20%Region
Huehuetenango
Program
Quetzal
Altitude
1400–2200 MASL
Process
Washed
Variety
Bourbon, Catimor, Caturra, Maragogype, Pache
The coffee
Butter Knife has been our house espresso for over a decade, and the formula is simple. Heavy body. Low acidity. Sweet, sticky, and reliable across every brewing method we put it through. The blend has always been built around a Brazilian foundation that delivers nuttiness and body, with a smaller component that adds structure and brightness. Swapping the structure component from Colombia to Guatemala's Huehuetenango keeps the balance exactly where it needs to be, with the added crispness and body that high-grown Guatemalan coffee is known for.
Origin
Brazil and Guatemala are two of the most consistent espresso origins in the world, and together they cover every base this blend needs. Brazil's Minas Gerais is the engine of global espresso production, producing coffees with deep body, low acidity, and a natural sweetness that pulls well under pressure. Guatemala's Huehuetenango sits in the western highlands bordering Mexico, producing high-grown coffees with crisp acidity, full body, and a toffee character that layers cleanly on top of everything Brazil is already doing. Most farmers in both regions are smallholders, and the quality that comes out of these places is a direct reflection of their work.
The blend
Carmo Estates in Minas Gerais is one of Brazil's most respected producers, and the foundation of everything Butter Knife does. The estate spans multiple farms across the Cerrado and Sul de Minas regions, processing naturally to preserve the fruit character and sticky body that makes this origin indispensable in espresso blending. The Guatemala comes through the Quetzal program, which was built around a simple principle: buy more, pay more, reward quality. Sourcing from over 3500 smallholder farmers across Huehuetenango, Quetzal gives producers consistent market access and direct feedback on quality. The Huehuetenango component brings the crispness and structure that lifts the blend and keeps the peanut butter and toffee from going flat.
Process
Two countries, two processes, one cup. The Brazil is natural, dried whole cherry on raised beds to preserve body and fruit sweetness. The Guatemala is washed: ripe cherries depulped the same day and fermented for 12 to 48 hours before being washed clean and dried on patios or raised beds. The contrast between the two is what gives Butter Knife its range.
