A good cup of coffee is what everyone requires for the day. It boosts your energy and helps you stay focused throughout the day. However, you may be a victim of awful coffee.
You can’t seem to compare the coffee that you make at home with that in the local coffee shop. The good news is that you can make your homemade coffee taste as good as that of the coffee shop.
Here is what you need to do to make your homemade coffee just as good as the local coffee shop.
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Buy Fresh Coffee Beans
A good cup of coffee begins with the quality of beans. For a good cup of coffee, buy freshly roasted coffee beans, and if you can, buy them directly from a roaster who does roast to order. Roasted coffee beans lose their flavor and end up stale and unflavored. It takes 2 to 3 weeks for roasted coffee to begin losing its flavor.
Before you buy roasted coffee in the stores, check the roasting date. Lots of stores sell roasted coffee that has been on the shelf for months. This type of coffee has lost its flavor and tastes unpleasant.
Another way to keep your coffee beans fresh for a good cup of coffee is to buy only the roasted coffee you need. It takes a week or two for the flavor of roasted coffee to start depreciating.
So, gauge your coffee usage and buy the roasted coffee beans you need for a week or two. This way, you can be sure of a fresh cup of coffee every morning.
In addition to that, you can buy whole beans and grind them when you need a cup of coffee. Whole beans take even months before they deteriorate. For this, you need a burr grinder. Burr grinder is a better choice because it gives you a variety of grind sizes.
If you want to store your freshly roasted whole coffee beans to avoid them deteriorating, store them in a no heat, no air, and no light place.
Oxygen causes the coffee beans to oxidize – which spoils them. Heat causes the coffee beans to break down faster, while light even from a bulb speeds up the natural decay of the coffee beans.
Store your freshly roasted whole coffee beans in an airtight container placed in a dark and cool place.
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Get the Right Brewing Equipment
The type of brewing equipment that you use to brew your coffee plays a huge role in the taste of your coffee. Some brewing equipment will lead to sour or bitter coffee, while others will lead to a good-tasting cup of coffee.
Manual brewing equipment is the best – if you want to make yourself some good coffee. With manual brewing equipment, you are in complete control of the water temperature and flavor of your coffee.
Some examples of manual brewing equipment are Immersion brewers and pour-over brewers. An example of an Immersion brewer is a French press. A French press makes full-flavored coffee. The water and the coffee grounds steep for 2 to 4 minutes – which results in a full-flavored cup of coffee.
An example of a pour-over brewer is Chemex. Chemex also makes a good cup of coffee through the use of special filter papers that filter away some of the stuff responsible for making your coffee bitter.
Some other types of brewers that can make good coffee are the Aeropress, Moka pot, and siphon brewer.
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Get the Correct Grind Size for The Brewing Equipment
The grind size of your coffee beans determines how your coffee tastes. The grind of your coffee beans should be the exact size for the type of brewer that you are using. Here are some of the grind sizes for different brewers.
| Grind Size | Type of Brewer |
| Coarse grind | French press |
| Medium-coarse grind | Pour-over |
| Medium grind | Moka pots |
| Medium-fine grind | Aero press |
| Fine grind | Espresso machine |
| Medium grind | Drip filters |
Grinding your roasted coffee beans also contributes to the good taste of your coffee other than buying grounded coffee.
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Get Quality Water
Did you know that your cup of coffee is 98% water? This means that the quality of water that you use affects the taste of your coffee.
If you want to make your cup of coffee taste good, go for high-quality water and not tap water. Some high-quality water includes filtered water or spring distilled water.
Hard water contains lots of minerals, such as calcium and magnesium, that contribute to the bitterness in your coffee.
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Use Correct Water Temperature
To make a good cup of coffee, you have to get the right water temperature. The standard water temperature that will result in a good cup of coffee is 195 Fahrenheit to 205 Fahrenheit.
The temperature under 195 Fahrenheit will result in slow extraction that leads to sour coffee, while temperature above 205 Fahrenheit will result in fast extraction that leads to bitter coffee.
If you are using a kettle to boil your water, ensure that you leave the water to cool down for some minutes after boiling before you use it in the extraction process.
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Use the Golden Water to Coffee Ratio
The golden ratio that you are supposed to use to make a good cup of coffee is 1 gram of coffee for 15 grams to 18 grams of water.
When you use the right ratio of water to coffee, you will achieve two things. These are the strength of the coffee and the flavor of your coffee.
For the strength of the coffee, you will make sure that the coffee is neither too strong nor too weak.
For the flavor of the coffee, you will make sure that the coffee is neither bitter nor sour.
If you want your cup of coffee strong, use one gram of ground coffee for 15 grams of quality water. In this case, the coffee is more than the water. So your cup of coffee will be more concentrated with coffee but also slightly less extracted since the water used was less.
If you want more mellow coffee, use one gram of ground coffee for 18 grams of quality water. In this case, the water will be more than the coffee. Your coffee will taste lighter, and the grounds will be more extracted.
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Use the Correct Steeping Time
Coffee’s steeping time refers to how long your coffee grounds are soaked in water during the extraction process.
In a steeping case, you can either under extract or over-extract. Steeping allows flavors and oils extraction.
When you leave your coffee grounds in water for a shorter period than required, you end up under-extracting your coffee. Under extraction of coffee leads to a watery cup of coffee.
When you leave your coffee grounds soaking in water for too long than required, you end up over-extracting your coffee. Over-extraction of coffee leads to over-extraction of oils and flavors – which results in bitter coffee.
For a good cup of coffee, use the correct steeping time as your brewer type. Here is a list of brewers and the brewing time needed.
- A French Press
It takes four minutes to brew coffee using a French press. However, the timing depends on your tastes.
- Moka Pot
It takes 5 minutes to brew coffee in a Moka pot. However, the time can vary depending on your taste.
- Pour Over
With the correct grind size, the pour-over method should take approximately 4 minutes to brew a cup of coffee.
- Drip Brewer
A drip brewer has the brewing time set, and they all operate at one speed.
- Aero press
Aero press brewing time needs adjustment until the coffee tastes perfect for you. However, it takes 4 to 5 minutes to brew coffee using an aero press brewer. If you are using the inverted method, the brew time may be more.
- Espresso machine
An espresso machine will take 20 to 30 seconds to brew your coffee as long as the grind size is correct and the pressure is correct too.
- Turkish Press
It takes approximately 5 minutes to brew coffee using the Turkish press.
The above brewing timings differ from one person to another. These are just some guidelines given. Adjust them and see what works best for you. Remember to keep the other factors the same and only adjust the brewing time to 10 seconds for starters.
In addition, if you make more coffee than you need, store the rest in a thermos or away from the brewer. Do not leave your coffee in a brewer. Leaving it will result in over-extraction of coffee that leads to bitter coffee.
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Clean Your Brewing Equipment
Clean your brewing equipment well regularly. Old coffee grounds or stale water in your brewing machine can affect the overall taste of your coffee. Regular cleaning of your brewing equipment will help get rid of old coffee grounds and stale water that affect the taste of your coffee.
Here are some steps you should follow to make your coffee taste good:
To make your coffee taste good, start with making a recipe for how you typically make your coffee.
- First, get quality roasted whole beans.
- Mark the grind size you will use to grind your coffee beans.
- Take note of the water to the coffee ratio you will use.
- Take note of the water temperature that you will use.
- Finally, note down the steeping time of your coffee.
After coming up with the recipe, work on improving it until you get yourself a good cup of coffee. You can use the factors that we have discussed to improve your recipe and how your coffee tastes. The advantage of using the above method is that it gives you control over how your coffee tastes. The key to this method is consistency and time to find a great coffee recipe.
Once you have achieved the best coffee recipe, stick to it and ensure that the measurements are the same. Measuring everything correctly will give you a good cup of coffee every day.
Apart from the above ways to make a good cup of coffee, there are other ways you can use to add extra flavor to your coffee and make it taste good. They include:
- Spices
Spices like cinnamon will help you add extra flavor to your cup of coffee. Adding a sprinkle of cinnamon to your coffee gives your coffee some extra sweetness that you would have found in adding sugar.
- Vanilla Extract
Vanilla extract is also a perfect addition to your cup of coffee to make it taste good. Add a small amount of vanilla extract to your coffee, and it will taste as good as coffee with sugar.
- Butter
Unsalted and grass-fed butter is a good addition to your coffee. This is a healthy addition especially if you don’t want to use creamers and milk that result in weight gain. It will also make your coffee taste good.
- Coffee Syrups
Coffee syrups such as maple syrup and agave syrup are a perfect addition to a good cup of coffee. With these syrups, you don’t need sugar in your coffee. They will make your coffee taste sweeter.
- Mint
You can make your coffee taste good by adding fresh mint or mint extract to your coffee. Mint helps sweeten your coffee. You can also add peppermint to your cup of coffee for a good taste.
- Salt
In the right amount, salt will make your coffee taste good. Salt overcomes the bitterness in coffee making it taste good. A dash of salt will do the trick. You don’t have to add a lot because it will make your coffee taste worse.
Conclusion
This can be a lot of information to process. However, it narrows down to patience and consistency. Try adjusting one factor after another as you remember to keep the rest of them the same until you get a good cup of coffee. Start with some fresh roasted whole coffee beans, then follow the rest of the requirements.
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