Coffee is a crucial part of many people’s morning routine – and often a refreshing pick-me-up throughout the day. Buying your coffee each day from the local coffee shop can quickly become expensive, so understanding the right way to brew your own perfect cup of coffee can be ideal. This gives you better control over your coffee, ensuring it is made the right way every time.
Brewing a quality cup of coffee is more complex than you might think. Each method for brewing coffee is different, with some more straightforward than others. It may take some trial and improvement for you to find the method that you enjoy best and the proper technique to create the ultimate home-brewed coffee.
Explore The Different Brewing Methods
There are many different methods of making coffee at home. These include pour-over, French press, Moka pot, traditional coffee maker, cold press and many more. Each requires different things from the maker, so you’ll need to decide how much work you’re willing to put into making your coffee. If you want a more involved process, the Moka pot could be for you, while a simpler option is the traditional coffee maker.
Use Your Coffee At The Right Time
Before you go bulk buying your favorite coffee beans, it is vital to understand how quickly they should be used. Most coffee beans are at their best within a few days of roasting, so anything you will have sitting in a cupboard for weeks or months may not give you the best coffee experience when you get around to using them. It is best to buy small amounts of fresh beans as and when you need them.
Store Your Coffee Correctly
Storage can also have a significant impact on the quality of coffee beans. Exposure to sunlight and oxygen can weaken the flavor of your coffee over time, so it is best to store them in airtight containers and keep them away from light sources. Airtight glass mason jars can be the perfect way to store your coffee, ensuring maximum freshness. Avoid refrigerating or freezing your coffee beans or grounds, as this will definitely leech the flavor.
Invest In Quality Beans
The beans you use will make the biggest difference to the quality of the coffee you enjoy. When prepared correctly, the right beans will make a coffee that is truly second to none. There are many types of beans to try from regions across the world. Consider doing some research to find out the different qualities and flavors to expect from coffee beans worldwide. Cup & Bean have an excellent series of articles exploring the qualities and flavor of different coffee beans, like their excellent blog post on African coffee.
Only Grind What You’ll Use
Once you grind your coffee beans, their freshness will start to run out even faster. It is a good idea only to grind what you’ll use in the next two or three days to ensure maximum freshness and a quality cup. This can take some trial and error until you find the right amount, so while you’re learning, consider grinding less than you think you’ll need. You could grind day by day while you get used to the process. When you’re more confident in how much you’ll need, grind enough for no more than three days.
Filter Your Tap Water
Tap water can contain minerals like calcium that can change the taste of your coffee. If you live in an area with a lot of calcium in the water, filtering your tap water is crucial to get the purest and tastiest cup of coffee. You can buy quality filters that you fill up and refrigerate or even add a filter to your home water supply. Buying bottled spring water can also be a good solution, though it may end up on the pricier side.
Pair Your Coffee With The Right Foods
Coffee can go beautifully with many different foods, both sweet and savory. For those with a sweet tooth, chocolate, berries, pancakes, and cake can go beautifully with a cup of coffee, helping bring out the incredible flavors of each. For those who love all things savory, pairing it with cheese, pastries or eggs can be the ideal solution.
Clean Everything Regularly
You might think it goes without saying that you should clean any cooking items regularly, but a surprising number of coffee drinkers fail to clean their equipment often enough. If left uncleaned for weeks, grime can build up on coffee equipment, so it is crucial that you keep them clean and prevent any build-up that could impact the quality of your coffee.
It takes more than just some beans and a coffee maker to brew the perfect cup of coffee – though these are an excellent start. You’ll need to understand the timings, the quality of the beans, equipment, and water that you will use, and how to preserve the freshness of the drink. The time and investment put into making your coffee will be well worth it to wake up to professional quality coffee each morning.
Feature Photo by Ashkan Forouzani on Unsplash
