If your friends or local coffee shop makes better coffee than you do, you must wonder what their secret is, right? Well, there are several things you can do to make your coffee as good as theirs. Some of these things include:
Use premium coffee
One of the main factors determining coffee’s smell and taste is its quality. Quality coffee has more aromatic compounds than lower-quality coffee.
When buying coffee, be cautious of when the coffee is ground. This is because the longer the coffee stays after grinding, the more it loses its aromatic compounds, which means it lose its flavor. As a consequence, you don’t have a good cup of coffee.
For good coffee, you need to go with freshly ground coffee, which will have the most aromatic compounds. If you are wondering how to get freshly grounded premium coffee, there are plenty of coffee subscription services you can use.
Find a reputable service and sign up.
The other thing you should consider to get high-quality coffee is the grade of the coffee. A good rule of thumb is to go for coffee that is at least 80 points on a 100-point scale.
Regarding the type of coffee to buy, Arabica is the best to go for as it is of higher quality. While at it, ensure that the coffee you buy comes from a single origin. This means all the beans should have been obtained from the same farm.
Weigh your coffee before brewing
Most recipes recommend 2 tablespoons of coffee for every 6oz of water. While this is a good start, it isn’t accurate, as different coffees and blends have different bean sizes and densities.
Due to this, one tablespoon of one coffee might be different in weight than that of another coffee. As you can guess, this won’t give you the perfectly good coffee you are after.
For precision and great-tasting coffee, weigh it with a scale before you brew it. When you weigh your coffee, you ensure that regardless of the coffee you are using, you know the exact amount going into your cup.
Use fresh, filtered water.
Many people have the impression that they can use any water to brew their coffee, but this isn’t the case. Regular water contains minerals that significantly alter the taste of the coffee.
For great-tasting coffee, use filtered water free of impurities such as chlorine and other chemicals that can affect the taste of the coffee.
You can also use bottled water but be cautious as some companies remove all the minerals that are integral to the taste of the coffee. When using bottled water, ensure that it has total dissolved solids (TDS) content of about 150-200 ppm.
Bloom your coffee
Blooming allows coffee to release trapped gases and expand, leading to a more flavorful cup. To bloom the coffee, you need to get high-quality coffee (freshly roasted) and then add the coffee to your brewing device.
You should then pour hot water (heated to at least 200 degrees Fahrenheit) over the ground coffee. Of course, you shouldn’t drown the grounds in the water. Instead, pour just enough water to wet them.
Let the coffee bloom for about 30 seconds, then continue pouring water over the grounds until you realize your desired amount to brew your coffee.
For the best results, use the right amount of water to bloom. A good rule of thumb is to use twice the amount of coffee you have used. For example, if you have used 4 grams of coffee, use 80 grams of water to bloom.
Use water at the right temperature.
To extract the best flavors from your coffee, you must ensure the water you use is at the right temperature.
The temperature not only affects the speed of extraction but also affects what gets extracted. When the temperature is low, the extraction speed is low, and so is what gets removed.
On the other hand, when the temperatures are high, the extraction speed is high, and so is what is extracted.
The best temperature for brewing coffee is between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit (90 to 96 degrees Celsius). This range is the sweet spot because it is hot enough to extract the flavors and oils from the beans but not so hot that it burns the coffee and creates a bitter taste.
While this is the case, you should note that different brewing methods require different temperatures. Always check the recommended temperatures for your desired brewing method to stay on the safe side.
Fully saturate your coffee.
For a perfect cup of coffee, you must ensure that all the ground coffee is in contact with the water at the same time.
After ensuring that your water is at the right temperature and using the right water-to-coffee ratio, ensure that your coffee has enough contact time with the water. You achieve this using the pour-over method or an auto-drip coffee maker.
Before and during the brewing process, gently stir your coffee to ensure that the coffee is in contact with the water, resulting in a more even extraction.
Properly serve the coffee.
You can do all the right things when brewing the coffee, but you need to get the perfect cup you are after when you serve the coffee correctly.
For that perfect cup of coffee, serve the coffee at temperatures between 160 – 185 degrees Fahrenheit. This is because if the coffee is too hot or too cold, it can significantly affect the taste and aroma of the coffee.
The cup you use to serve the coffee can also affect the taste of the coffee. For example, a glass or porcelain cup can lead to a bad experience, as the coffee will lose its temperature fast. On the other hand, a preheated cup will keep the coffee hot for longer, ensuring that you experience the coffee at its best flavors.
To fully appreciate the coffee flavor, serve it after a meal. Don’t serve it with food, as doing so will affect the taste of the coffee and food, and you don’t want this, do you?
