One of the most common questions we get from our customers is, "How come my coffee never tastes as good at home compared to when I'm at the cafe?" It's kind of a handkerchief out of the hat question. The easy answer is that we have extremely talented baristas in a controlled environment with controlled variables. But this post will guide you through 5 easy changes to make to your coffee routine to improve the taste of your coffee at home.
Good coffee starts with high quality, specialty grade green coffee, roasted fresh to perfection by an expert coffee roaster. Buy your coffee from your local roaster's cafe or online to ensure the freshest coffee. All of our bags have a roast date on them. We do this is for you! The freshest coffee actually isn't best for brewing. Coffee reaches peak freshness between 7-14 days after roast. For filter coffee, waiting a day or two after roast is more than okay. For espresso, the coffee will perform much better after sitting for 7 days (even longer if you can be patient). Buying your coffee whole bean and grinding per cup/pot you make will double its shelf life*. And just so you know, if you're buying coffee at the grocery store, it's average age after roast is 2-3 months - yikes!
*Note: Coffee doesn't go bad! It just loses its nuance and complexity after about a month after roast. If you have old coffee laying around, use it to make cold brew or sprinkle it in with some fresher coffee. Don't throw it away!
One grind size does not fit all. The right grind depends on the coffee you're using as well as the equipment you plan to brew your coffee. How coarsely or finely you grind your coffee directly affects how quickly or slowly water passes through the bed of coffee. Too coarse a grind will produce a weak cup that's slightly dry, sharp, and sour. Too fine a grind will produce a muddled cup that's bitter, flat, and dull. Below are fairly standard grouped grind types and size references:
A scale is your best friend in coffee. We use the metric system (grams) behind the bars in our cafe because it’s so simple to use - everything is divisible by 10! On top of that, 1 ml of water is 1 gram of water, which makes life easy. Pair the scale with brewing ratios and you're brewing coffee like a pro. Brew ratios are simply a way to measure the ratio of coffee to water, in grams, of course. Now unless you're brewing espresso or cold brew, use the following ratio range to make your recipe for home:
1 gram of coffee to 15-18 grams of water (1:15-18)
The range above is guide. Anything within that range should give you a great result, but everybody has their own personal preference of strength and flavor. Strength is the balance of flavor - not too weak, not too strong (just like goldilocks). Flavor is the balance of extraction - not too bitter, not too sour. So if you want a stronger, more acidic cup, use the 1:15 ratio. If you want a more balanced cup, use a 1:18 ratio.
Below are a few examples of recipes to use with different volumes / strengths
These examples are starting guides for you to create your own recipe at home. The beauty of ratios is that you can scale your ratio up or down to accommodate for the amount of coffee you want to brew.
At the end of the day, a scale eliminates any guess work or "eye balling" which will give you consistent, quality cups of coffee, day in and day out.
Coffee needs hot water at approximately 195 to 205 degrees to extract all of the yummy flavors we expect in our favorite brews. If you're using a drip coffee maker under $100, odds are the boiler in the coffee pot maxes out at 190 degrees, leaving you with sour, weak brews. This is one of the massive faults of cheap coffee makers! If you're in this boat, consider upgrading your drip coffee maker to something with temperature control or switch over to manual brew methods like a Hario V60, Aeropress, or french press. As a general rule of thumb, water under 195 degrees will leave you with sour, weak coffees. Water above 205 degrees will leave you with bitter, harsh coffees. Also be sure to check your local elevation. The higher in elevation you are, the lower temperature your water needs to boil (remember science class?).
Coffee is 98% water, so what you put in matters! Your coffee is only as good as its weakest link. For most people, water is the weakest link! A small amount of minerals in water are required to extract all the wonderful flavors in coffee. Too many minerals (hard water), on the other hand, will leave dull, flat, and boring characteristics in the cup. The first rule is to never use tap water! Odds are, the water is either too soft or too hard to brew coffee. There are two ways to help with this. The easiest work around is to use water from a filtered source like a Britta filter or carbon filter. This helps some, but won't get you to cafe quality water. The next solution is buying mineral packets, like Third Wave Water. Simply add a packet to a gallon of distilled water and there you have it, cafe quality water up to the Specialty Coffee Association's specs for the whole week! We highly recommend this solution. You can also make your own brew water at home with a mix of common household items like epsom salt and baking soda (we hope to come out with a blog post or video on how to do this soon).
And there you have it! 5 quick ways to get better tasting coffee at home. There are plenty more ways to increase the quality of your coffee at home, but these 5 things seem to get overlooked the most at the home brewing level. Now that you have the knowledge, go out and practice, experiment, taste, and evaluate. Better coffee is right around the corner. Cheers!
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