How to Brew the Perfect Cup of Coffee at Home.
How often have either yourself or you witnessed people on their morning commute to work stop by to pick up their morning cup of coffee, or observed them sipping on a to-go-cup with one of those well known chain coffee shops? Leading to a burning hole in your financial pocket, not to mention an expanding waistline by consuming all the accumulative frappes and various ‘coffees’ with the extra cream and sugar, syrup and god knows what else, that actually contains little to zero coffee in it in the first place!
With the changes around the world to our working environment and the new lockdown restrictions as a result of COVID-19, more individuals are being forced to continue and/or returning back to life ‘Working From Home’. Yet again, many individuals are finding they’ll be missing their store purchased morning caffeine fix, in order to make it through the work day. So, below are some tips that will enable you to be able to brew the best cup of coffee at home…..BUT!!!…..Please, please refrain from urging to go with the easy option, an instant coffee, until our daily routines go back to ‘normal’, if that day does occurs again.
Where to Start?
If you’re not accustomed to brewing coffee at home then you may feel a little overwhelmed with all the various brew methods out there; (Aeropress, Chemex, French press, Pour Over, Neil Drip, Moka Pot, Cold Brew etc.) and where to start with them. I am looking to create a future blog post with a detailed brew guide and more information for these different brewing methods of coffee (Check back for future link).
The perfect cup of coffee all depends upon your personal preference. The equipment that you have, the time you’re able to devote to preparing each cup. Below, I have provided several simple tips in order for you to be able to brew the perfect cup of coffee at home. No more overpriced coffees on your morning commute to work.
1. Invest in Quality Equipment & Ingredients.
To put it into perspective, these days, an average, standard filtered cup of coffee can set you back around £3. Let’s do the numbers, if you were to purchase one cup every working day this equates to £15 per week and close to £800 per year!! A Hefty sum for just a standard filtered cup of coffee.
Now that isn’t including any of those ‘speciality coffees’ additional treats or food purchased along side your coffee. That’s only taking into consideration your morning cup of joe, or 1 cup of coffee a day!! The thought of forking out a hefty sum of your money to purchase some new equipment such as a Chemex, Pour Over, French Press, may seem scary. However, the initial investment is certainly going to be worth it in the long run for quality coffee and financially.
2. Purchase Fresh, Quality Beans.
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash.
A great cup of coffee all starts with using high quality coffee beans. Upgrading from your commercial store-bought, mass-produced coffee will certainly increase the quality and freshness to your cup of coffee. Have you ever wondered why there isn’t a ‘roast date’ on these products? Chances are they’ve been roasted several months ago…at least. Coffee reaches peak flavour after a couple of days after it has been roasted, and should be consumed within a month. So you’re probably sipping on some old ground beans.
Tip: To find fresh coffee that will intensify the flavour of your cup, seek out local independent coffee shops in your area. They may roast their own beans on-site or source directly from small local roasters who roast in smaller batches, which typically means fresher tasting coffee.
3. Store Your Coffee Beans Correctly.
In order to maintain quality and freshness of your coffee beans, you need to store them correctly. Have you heard of the old wives tale of storing your coffee in the fridge or freezer?… Please don’t as this exposes the beans to moisture from condensation, also odours from inside your freezer, compromising the taste and aroma of the coffee. Salmon scented coffee anyone? As much as I love a nice piece of grilled salmon, I prefer that my coffee doesn’t resemble the same aroma.
Additionally, you should look to avoid exposing your beans to the following:
Air Exposure
Sunlight exposure
Moisture
Odours
Heat
To combat this, I would recommend storing your coffee beans in an air-tight container (opaque if possible), at room temperature to preserve the quality and flavour of your beans for as long as possible.
Photo by Conor Brown on Unsplash.
4. Only Grind What You Need.
Photo by Tom Swinnen from Pexels.
I know, I know, it would be so much easier and time efficient if you could just throw the whole bag of your fresh beans into your grinder, blitz it away and hey presto, now you’ve got all your coffee ground up ready to use. However, in order to maximise the freshness and quality in your cup, only grind the desired amount that you will use for the day.
Personally, I use a manual hand mill to grind my coffee beans just before in brew process. A manual hand mill is an affordable tool (I think I got mine from Amazon for about £15) that achieves a consistent grind. Just think of those extra gains sweating away twirling the handle like crazy so you eventually prepare your coffee.
Note: The size of the grind is extremely vital to the taste of your coffee. It is important if you’re having your coffee beans ground-to-order, you should mention which brewing method you intend on using. For more information on the various coffee grind sizes can be viewed in an infographic here.
5. Measure Your Coffee & Water.
I can’t tell you how many times that I have been on the end of funny comments and strange looks from friends and family members who witnessed me prepare coffee for them for first time. When I pull out my scale to precisely measure the amount of coffee and water to the gram, a few little sniggers occur. Only for them to sit there quietly sipping away with a growing admiration upon every mouthful of their coffee.
Of course you can measure you coffee with a spoon, toss in some water, guesstimate and just hope for the best that it will turn out a tasty cup of joe. However, by using a digital scale to measure your coffee and water, takes just a couple of seconds and enables you to be able to compare your coffee:water ratio, allowing for a greater consistency for your brew.
So what is the perfect ratio? The 1:18 ratio has been referred to as the ‘golden ratio’. However, again it all depends on your personal preference. Have a play around with the ratios until you find something that suits your taste buds.
Note: Simply adjusting the coffee:water ratio is an easy and effective way to modify the strength of your coffee; less coffee + more water = weaker tasting, watery coffee, and more coffee + less water = stronger taste (rocket fuel, please).
Photo by Najib Kalil on Unsplash.
6. Allow for the Correct Brewing Time.
Photo by Jordan Benton from Pexels.
Now you’re telling me that I’ve got to wait and set a timer before I can get my lips on this blissful aroma that is coming from the brewing process? Sadly yes, however remember ‘all good things come to those who wait’ and your cup of coffee should be no different. Or why not use one of the lessons from my son’s favourite tv show ‘Daniel the Tiger’ ‘when you wait, you can play, sing or imagine anything…..I know, this is one of the many songs that is now constantly stuck in my head on a daily basis which I seriously can’t seem to get out!!
Anyways, back to some glorious coffee talk. By allowing for the correct brewing time you’re increasing the quality of each cup, making sure that you don’t either over-extract (brew time is too long) or under-extract (brew time is too short) the flavours from the coffee grounds.
Note: If you’re not overly satisfied with the final product, experiment with the ‘brewing time’ to find what suits your particular tastebuds as you may have over- or under-extracted the flavours from the coffee grounds.
7. Prepare and Take Care of Your Equipment.
This one may sound fairly obvious, but taking extra care to properly clean, dry and store your equipment correctly after every use will help to keep the quality and their longevity. Thus, allowing you to produce perfect cups of coffee for friends and family for longer.
Preparing your coffee is another simple way to increase the quality of your cup of coffee. If you’re using a manual brewer such as a French Press, Chemex, Pour Over, V-60, simply preheating them first with off the boil water to the brewer/cup, then pouring it out, will help to maintain an ideal temperature for your cup coffee for longer.
Note: Avoid cleaning your equipment and brewers with descaling solutions, as many of the products on the market contain nasty chemicals. Simply using white wine vinegar is a natural and eco-friendly way to keep all your tools clean.
Photo by Kristian Ryan Alimon on Unsplash.
8. Enjoy Your Coffee.
Sit back, relax and rejoice at the marvellous creation that you’ve just produced. Unless you’re stampeding out the door with a half eaten and digested breakfast in your mouth trying not to be late for your morning commute. At least now you’ll have a ‘perfect’ cup of coffee in hand and no need to waste time and money by stopping off for a bang average, over-priced cup of ‘coffee’ on your way to work.
Photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I hope that you’ve been inspired and are now able to create your perfect cup off coffee at home.