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How Do I Make Coffee Learn How to Make Coffee and Avoid the Common Mistakes
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How Do I Make CoffeeI make coffee in 4 different ways: instant, plunger, filter, and using an espresso machine… on this page you’ll learn how you can make better-tasting coffee using whichever method is right for you.
Making coffee is obviously harder than you’d think – if you’re like me, you find that most café and restaurant coffee is truly awful: usually it’s too bitter or tastes burnt. How often do you have to add sugar or sweetener just to make it palatable?
On the other hand, a well-made coffee is already sweet enough – with a delicious caramel crema floating in the surface!
Using an espresso machineTo make a delicious, aromatic coffee you really do need an espresso machine.
How do I make coffee using an espresso machine? There are 4 vital inputs: · Clean water – filtered and purified if possible, get rid of all the chemical tainting and smells (if you’re not sure, use bottled water) · Fresh beans – throw out your old beans, they’ll taste bitter · Getting the charge right – with practice you’ll figure out the right amount to use, and you’ll need to practice tamping · Grind – not too fine, not too coarse… and different blends may need different grinds
You must grind the beans right before you make the coffee. Never store the ground coffee to use later. Once the ground beans are exposed to air, the oils go off and the flavors change dramatically – for the worse. Which reminds me – make sure you store the beans themselves in an airtight container too!
Use a good burr grinder. Blade grinders change the chemistry of the coffee beans, due to the heat caused by the friction, plus they create inconsistent grind size – some of the coffee will be almost smashed to dust, while some will be too chunky. A burr grinder (preferably a slow grinder, to reduce friction) pulverizes the beans instead of chopping them up. Go for a conical burr grinder, rather than a flat burr grinder.
Using a plunger or filterThe biggest mistake here is using boiling water. Coffee should be made with water that’s below boiling temperature – ideally wait about 1 minute after boiling stops before filling the plunger, or at least wait for the bubbling to stop! Filter machines that boil the water themselves will generally bleed off a little heat on the journey to the filter cone, but don’t count on it – if your filter coffee’s bitter, excess heat could be the problem.
Secondly, clean the equipment by rinsing with water before each use. Stale coffee tastes and smells will ruin the next brew!
Lastly, use clean, filtered (or bottled) water – coffee is 98% water and excess chemical taints and smells will overpower the coffee flavors.
Instant coffeeOnce again, don’t shock the coffee with boiling water. Wait for the jug to stop boiling, and then pour a very small amount of water onto your instant coffee powder. Just enough to dampen the powder. Mix and mash the powder until all of the powder is damp. In the 10-20 seconds you spend doing that, the jug or kettle will have gone “off the boil” properly, which also helps.
Now add the balance of the required hot water, while stirring. This will drop the temperature a little further, as some heat will be lost to the cup or mug as you stir. Of course, instant coffee will never be as good as freshly made espresso, but at least if you can reduce the scalding effect of over-hot water you’ll avoid releasing the bitter tastes.
Enjoy!
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How Do I Make Coffee | About Us | Contact Us | Privacy Policy Copyright © 2009 – James R Powell – All Rights Reserved
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