Making great coffee at home can feel a little overwhelming at first, especially with so many gadgets and brewing methods out there. But the truth is, you don’t need expensive equipment or barista-level skills to make a delicious cup. With a few simple tips and small adjustments, you can get so much more out of the coffee you’re already brewing at home — no fancy setup required.
What a “good” cup of coffee tastes like will depend on the drinker. So, take what helps and leave what doesn’t. And, try different things! You don’t need to do a full 180 and change everything about how you’re making coffee all at once. That could ultimately feel overwhelming and make you want to quit all together. So, try a couple different suggestions, and see if you find any improvements.
Water Quality
Water might not be the first thing that comes to mind when making your coffee, other than that you need to use it. But since coffee is mostly water, it really does affect the final cup.
Water, and the quality of the water, is huge when it comes to improving the coffee you make at home. The water we drink has an array of levels of mineral content, which can lend to hard and soft water. Hard water has a higher mineral content, which can lead to improperly dissolving the coffee’s oils, lending to a weaker cup. Soft water on the other hand, with a much lower mineral content, can lead to more acidity than you may enjoy.
Filtered tap water tends to be your best friend when making coffee at home – it’s consistent, and you can filter out chlorine and change the mineral content. Bottled spring water also works, but can sometimes be more unpredictable as far as chemical and mineral content.
Clean your Coffee Maker and Grinder
Cleaning your coffee maker and grinder is something a lot of people skip over, which is completely understandable – it’s one of those out of sight out of mind kind of things. But, having oil build up or mineral scaling on your coffee maker can negatively impact how your coffee tastes. Mineral build up can change how quickly your coffee is brewing, and how much water is getting through to the grounds, so it’s a good thing to keep in mind. Both your grinder and coffee maker can get oil or fine grind build up over time, which can lead to stale and bitter tasting coffee.
An easy fix for this is to use cleaning pellets and running them through an empty grinder to remove build up. You can also use cafiza powder to run through your coffee machine to clean it every couple months. Both pellets and cafiza powder we sell in store and online!
Use The Right Amount of Coffee
It’s not uncommon to just use a tea spoon or a scoop to measure out your coffee 1:1 – one scoop to one cup of coffee. But, it’s possible to over or underdose your coffee by not using enough grounds. If you find that you only really like dark roasts when you make your coffee because it is otherwise too weak to enjoy, you may not be using enough grounds. This is something that you can experiment with, and do some research into the proper ratio of coffee to water for your brewing method.
Not sure what the right ratio is for you? Check out our brewing guide to find your perfect recipe!
Overall, having great tasting coffee at home is not an impossible feat, and it's so worth it for the moment when you get it right. If you want more advice, feel free to come in to ask any of our baristas – it's what we’re there for!
