One thing about coffee over its history of thousands of years. Drinkers were never lukewarm about it. Its adherents swear by their daily cup of “pick me up”. The rise of specialty coffee shops and cafes meant that coffee drinkers could have professionally curated ingredients expertly brewed by specialists for an out-of-this-world taste experience.
Coffee shop beverages have become so good, drinkers often wonder, how can I replicate this taste at home? Fear not, we’re here to give you 4 tips to help you do just that.
1.It’s all about the beans
First of all, sorry to tell you, but you’re not going to get the best beverage from pre-ground, pre-packaged coffee. For the best coffee, you will want to purchase whole beans.
There are several reasons for this. The whole bean will preserve the coffee’s flavor. Coffee gets its distinctive taste and aroma from oils inside the bean. When you buy pre-ground coffee you prematurely release the oils, they oxidize. By the time pre-packed coffee gets to you, it would have lost as much as 75 percent of its flavor.
You are also never sure what you’re getting with pre-packaged coffee. When you purchase whole beans, you’re sure of where the beans come from and you can select beans from the different regions based on your taste preferences. Manufacturers of pre-ground, prepackaged beans have been known to mix different beans when grinding. Coffee purists certainly aren’t going to want to hear that.
Because what makes a great cup of coffee is different for everyone, decide what taste suits you best and then purchase your beans based on that. There are Arabica and Robusta beans. Arabica beans are the more popular of the two and tend to be smoother, while Robusta beans tend to be stronger and bitterer.
In addition to this, how long you roast your beans will influence the taste as well as their caffeine content. If you are buying pre-roasted beans, check the date on it. Buy the most recent date. Store your beans in a ceramic container.
2.Grind away
Now that you’ve got your whole beans, it’s time to grind them. You want to grind the beans as close as possible to the time you are going to drink your coffee. As stated above, you get the best flavors this way. But did you know the way the coffee is ground also affects flavor?
Ideally, you’ll want a uniform grind if you’re to get the best cup of joe. It’s widely acknowledged that a burr grinder is best for this. To learn more about the best burr coffee grinders looking online is always a good place to start. There is an array of styles and price points available, so you are sure to get something to suit you.
The reason you will want the coffee grinds to be uniform is that this affects how the bean releases flavor. With a burr grinder, you can better control whether the grinds are universally coarse throughout or universally fine throughout. However, with a blade grinder, you have less control over the eventual size of your coffee grinds since the blades chop the beans essentially breaking them down into random sizes. The result is an inferior cup of coffee.
3. Use filtered water
Your coffee is only half of the equation. You can’t make an excellent brew if the water you use isn’t equal to the occasion.
Tap water carries several dissolved solids that can negatively affect the taste of your coffee, regardless of the quality of the beans. Purchase filtered water for this purpose, or install a filter on your kitchen tap to solve this problem.
The temperature of your water is also important. Heat plays an important role in extracting the flavor profile of the bean. If the water is too hot, that will cause too much of the bean’s oils to be extracted, resulting in super bitter coffee. Too little heat conversely results in almost flavorless coffee water.
4. Keep your coffee maker clean
Even if you have the best quality beans and the purest water, your coffee’s taste is still going to be off if you’ve got years of accumulated grime in your coffee machine.
If you allow residue to build up in your machine, it will result in extremely bitter coffee over time as the accumulated oils end up in each cup. Not cleaning the machine can also result in more frequent servicing and shorter shelf life.
If your journey into coffee land is just beginning then you’re in luck. These 4 tips will start you off and set you on your way to becoming a connoisseur.
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