ACID: the espresso app that helps you brew the perfect cup every time

For espresso lovers, dialing in the perfect shot is a delicate balance of grind size, dose, and brew time. A minor adjustment can mean the difference between a rich, balanced espresso and a shot that’s too sour or bitter. Yet keeping track of settings for different coffee beans is a challenge—even for experienced home baristas.

This is the problem that ACID, a new espresso app from Switzerland, aims to solve. Created by Philipp Barth and Rafaela Kalbermatten, ACID allows coffee enthusiasts to log their grind settings, discover new roasts, and share brewing insights with a growing online community.

For me, it was a challenge to write down my grind settings in a structured way, and I often wasted coffee because I didn’t have the right preset to hand,” says Philipp, describing the inspiration behind ACID. “Also, my friends didn’t want to mess with their grinders just to try a new coffee, as they were afraid of losing their carefully selected presets.

By offering a digital solution for espresso brewing, ACID helps users save time, reduce waste, and improve consistency.

How ACID Simplifies Espresso Brewing

ACID is designed around four key features that make it one of the best coffee apps for home baristas:

1. My Presets – Save Your Grind Settings
   • With ACID, users can log and store their grinder settings for different coffee beans, allowing them to switch between roasts instantly without the need for guesswork. This ensures consistency and eliminates frustration when trying new coffee.
2. Social – Join a Specialty Coffee Community
   • Unlike traditional note-taking apps, ACID is built with a community-driven approach. Users can share their presets, learn from others, and refine their settings based on the experiences of fellow coffee lovers. If two people use the same grinder, they can exchange settings and recommendations—making the learning process easier.
3. Discover – Explore New Coffee Roasts
   • ACID offers curated coffee recommendations based on user preferences, helping home brewers explore new specialty coffee roasts that match their flavor profile.
4. AI-Powered Scanning – Instantly Recognize Coffee Beans
   • One of ACID’s standout features is its AI-powered coffee label scanner. By scanning a coffee package, users can instantly access information about the roast’s origin, tasting notes, and user ratings—making it easier to decide whether a coffee suits their taste.

Designed for Simplicity and Precision

Co-founder Rafaela Kalbermatten emphasizes that ACID was built to be intuitive and user-friendly.

My job was to consolidate all the ideas for the app and ensure that the user experience remains intuitive.

By focusing on simplicity and precision, ACID provides a seamless solution for tracking and improving espresso brewing without overcomplicating the process.

More Than an App—A Coffee Knowledge Hub

Beyond just an espresso brewing app, ACID is positioned as a platform for knowledge-sharing and community-building.

Espresso preparation is often a trial-and-error process, but ACID allows users to learn from one another, exchange brewing tips, and optimize their grind settings together. This crowdsourced coffee knowledge makes the app even more powerful over time.

Philipp believes that this community aspect is central to the app’s success.

The next step is to strengthen and grow the community. The more users share their presets and experiences, the more valuable the platform becomes.

With its Swiss precision, user-friendly design, and community-driven approach, ACID is set to become an essential tool for espresso enthusiasts.

Where to Download ACID

ACID is available as a web app and can be accessed at acid.me, where users can save it directly to their home screen for quick access.

For coffee lovers looking to perfect their espresso brewing with precision and ease, ACID offers a simple yet powerful solution—bringing coffee enthusiasts together through a shared passion for specialty coffee.