Let’s face it, when you have kids it’s hard to survive the day without coffee. It’s both figuratively and literally my life-force. For me, a good cup of coffee can often make-up for whatever chaos may ensue later that day. The only problem, until recently, my coffee never tasted as good as when I bought it from a coffee shop. I never knew why until recently.
Aha! That’s why!
Well about two years ago, my wife enrolled me in a coffee class with JBC Coffee Roasters. Not only did I learn more about coffee, in general, but I also learned the reason why home brewed coffee often doesn’t taste as good as coffee shop coffee.
Q: So what do you think is the most common reason why your coffee doesn’t taste the same as coffee house coffee?
A: Did you say the coffee bean or the machine you use to make the coffee?? Surprisingly, that’s not the reason. Yes, those are important, but not as much as the temp of the water and time spent brewing the coffee.
So what are the key things to know?
The list is fairly small; it comes down to 5 things (in descending order of importance):
- the temperature of the water during the brewing process,
- the time the coffee is steeping during the brew process,
- the type of water used,
- the grind size, and
- the coffee bean itself.
But what does this mean for me?
This list is great for people with unlimited amounts of money and/or time, but how can I realistically make a better cup of coffee as a busy parent? Make sure you brew your coffee at the right temperature. Too hot will burn your coffee; too cold and your coffee will not brew quickly enough which will result in an overly watered down cup.
If I can give you one piece of advice, put away your Mr. Coffee coffee maker. Yes, it’s great for those days when you have a party, or need to have tons of coffee, but there are other better ways of making quick cups of coffee that taste way better.
Then what?
Buy yourself 2 things:
- A digital variable temperature gooseneck kettle
- One of these coffee brewers (How do I choose?)
Yes, they will take a few more minutes to make than the Mr. Coffee machine, but the results will be infinitely better. By controlling the temperature and time spent brewing manually you will ensure you don’t accidentally burn/ruin your coffee.
Once you have your preferred coffee brewer, then go here and learn how hot to make the water, how long to brew it, and how much coffee to use. That’s it. That’s all you really need to do to make better coffee.
Okay, so that isn’t too bad. But what if I want even better tasting coffee?
Technically, I’m supposed to tell you to use bottled drinking water instead of tap because tap often contains too much sediment and other minerals which can adversely affect the brewing process. But honestly, I think you’ll get more out of having a scale with a timer. This help you to use the proper amount of coffee and water in your brew, allowing you to achieve the consistency of cup the coffee shops have.
I just recently purchased the Brewista Smart Scale II because my Hario scale had broken after a year or so of use. Both scales are great at what they do; measuring the weight of the ground coffee. The only reason I switched brands is because the Hario design made it more flimsy and I wanted something that would hopefully last longer.
And if you’re overly ambitious…
Invest in a nice burr grinder. I didn’t realize this until I started to learn more about coffee and the brewing process, but there are actually two types of grinders: (1) blade or mill grinders, and (2) burr grinders.
Blade grinders just chop the coffee beans up as the blade spins around in the container. The grind consistency of this type of grinder is super inconsistent. It’s not uncommon to find your grind to contain super large chunks of coffee ground among super small grounds.
Burr grinders use a different process to grind the beans. They use a dual burr grinder that tears the coffee into progressively smaller fragments until the coffee exits the burr chamber. The resulting grounds are more consistent. There’s a lot more to it than this, but this is all you really need to know.
Here’s my favorite brew method
I love the AeroPress for a couple of reasons:
It’s one of the quicker brewing methods,- Clean-up is super easy,
- The acid-level of the coffee is lower than many of the other methods,
- It brings out the softer and more chocolatey flavors of the coffee,
- It’s a cheaper device to buy, and most importantly
- The brew method is one of the easier to remember methods.
Steps to brew:
- Put a filter into the cap and wet it with warm water so it won’t fall out when you put it on the AeroPress.
- Assemble the AeroPress and position it upside down on the scale and leave the cap off.
- Set your water kettle to 200℉.
- Put 15-18 grams of ground coffee into the AeroPress.
- Pour double the amount of water (compared to the coffee grounds) into the AeroPress and ensure that all the grounds are covered in the water and let the grounds rest for 30 seconds. You may need to use a knife, or spatula of some sort, to submerge all of the grounds.
- Fill the rest of the AeroPress with water and let it sit for 1 minute.
- Stir the grounds 10 times around.
- Put the cap on and quickly tip the AeroPress over while setting it on your coffee cup
- Slowly push the AeroPress down over a period of 30-60 seconds until you reach the end of the chamber. You will often hear a hissing sound when this happens.
- Open your garbage, remove the cap, and continue pushing the AeroPress to pop the coffee grounds and filter out.
- And you’re done. Clean-up consists of just rinsing out the AeroPress and you’re all set.
External Links:
External Links:
- Digital variable temperature gooseneck kettle http://a.co/d/61uD0cI
- JBC Coffee https://www.jbccoffeeroasters.com/
- Types of Coffee Brewers https://bluebottlecoffee.com/store/brewing
- How to Choose A Brewing Method https://bluebottlecoffee.com/frequency/how-to-choose-a-brewing-method
- Brew Guides https://bluebottlecoffee.com/preparation-guides
- Brewista Smart Scale II http://a.co/d/3OflRNt
- Hario Scale – http://a.co/d/55GxarZ
- AeroPress https://www.target.com/p/aeropress-174-coffee-and-espresso-maker/-/A-50486894
- AeroPress Brew Guide https://bluebottlecoffee.com/preparation-guides/aeropress
