how to make the best cup of coffee from your home.
Understanding coffee is complex but is genuinely fascinating. Taking a deep dive is exciting, but we’ll keep it simple today. A great cup of coffee balances bitterness, acidity, and sweetness. My favorite cup tends to have nuttiness, fruity, and a hint of chocolate. We want to level up our coffee game because eggs are $8 right now, and these Starbucks runs are getting expensive. Let’s get into it.
To make the best coffee at home, it’s essential to understand your preference. There are two main coffee types: Robusta, which is low in acidity and high in bitterness, and Arabica, which is less bitter and more flavorful. Also, how your beans are roasted matters. It’s during the roasting process that gives coffee its carmelized complex flavor. There is a roasting range from light to dark. When choosing coffee, it’s essential to know that a light roast highlights the floral and fruity notes while dark roasts highlight the chocolate, nutty, and smoky notes of coffee. A medium roast is a bit of the best of both worlds and is excellent to start if you’re not too sure which coffee style you like the best.
Once you know your preference, choose the best beans. I always say that if you want the best product, you must use the best ingredients. Buying whole beans will increase your home coffee experience by at least 3x over. All the other tips will elevate it more and perfect it. Start with your beans. You should know how old your beans are, how they were grown and handled, and how they’re stored. I recommend finding beans at your local coffee shop or roasters. They tend to roast beans weekly. But, it would be best if you waited about a week before using them because the beans undergo a chemical reaction releasing carbon dioxide that helps to have a better brew.
The brewing style is entirely up to the flavor preference and caffeine intake you hope to extract from your coffee. While Turkish methods and espresso give you the most robust caffeine and darker body, french press and drip will provide you with less caffeine but a more flavorful cup.
TIPS TO ENHANCE YOUR CUP:
- Water temperature: Your water should be 195–205F if you don’t have a thermometer; no sweat. Boil your water and wait 30–1 minute seconds, then it’s ready to use.
- Quality of water: If your water is too hard, an abundance of minerals increases the perception of bitterness in your coffee. Google recommends adding a pinch of salt to help remedy this. But running your water through a filter works wonders.
- Grind your beans: the store-bought preground coffee could be better, but it’s not. It gives you a stale cup of coffee. Grind your beans right before you brew a cup. You don’t want to grind your beans too far in advance. It releases the aromatic and everything that makes a cup of coffee fantastic. You want all the smelly coffee smells in your cup, not lost to the air, oxidized, and sad. Also, grind your beans to the proper size, not too fine, but not too coarse.
- Store your coffee correctly: Store your coffee in an airtight container and a dark place.
That’s all I have for you today; if you have more coffee tips, please feel free to share them with me. Also, let me know your favorite style of coffee.
best, always
Precious Pioneer
