4 Tips for Making Better Coffee at Home

You shuffle out of bed, insert the filter into your coffee maker, scoop in some ground coffee, add some water, and wait in a daze until your coffee is brewed. The caffeine starts to wake you up, but some days your coffee is watery and weak, while other days it’s over-extracted and bitter. If only your morning cup of kitchen java were as delectable as the coffee at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® near your office.

Well, you’re in luck! You don’t have to leave the house for an expert barista-level blast of fine coffee. Improve your home brew with these helpful coffee-making tips.

How to Make Good Coffee at Home

Are you ready to improve your brew and transform your morning cup o’ joe into a complex, flavorful dose of coffee goodness? Here are the best practical ways to improve your home-brewed coffee.

Start With the Best Coffee

This may seem obvious, but you can’t expect high-quality java with just any ground coffee. There are three distinct ways you can step up your coffee game:

• Choose the best coffee beans, plain and simple. Research various roasters and select beans that are sourced from the best coffee-growing regions in the world ethically and transparently. We believe that buying from the best estates and small farms leads to the very best coffee. In our search for the finest coffees in the world, we use only the top 1% of Arabica Beans found at altitudes up to 6,000 feet, which results in a more concentrated flavor. 

• Second, make the jump from ground coffee to whole beans. The essential oils within the coffee bean contain the nuances of the coffee’s flavor, and when you don’t grind the beans directly before brewing you will lose the oils, as they evaporate quickly.
   

• Third, use coffee beans that are fresh. Coffee doesn’t age like wine — after coffee beans are roasted the flavor profile and chemical structures will break down over time. If you order a bag of coffee or buy one at the store try to use all of it within a few weeks, instead of keeping a half-used bag at the back of your pantry for months.
   

Use a Scale

Perfecting your water-to-coffee ratio is nearly impossible if you are simply using a scoop and “eyeballing” it. All coffee varies in density based on the origin and the roast profile, so instead of measuring your coffee with teaspoons buy a simple scale that will make your measurements exact. Conduct your ratio experiments with the confidence of a scale to find the exact combination that delights your taste buds.
 

Try Different Brewing Methods

Who says a coffee maker is the best method of brewing coffee? There are plenty of affordable devices on the market that make a stunning cup of coffee in minutes, many of which are preferred by baristas and coffee addicts around the world. 
 

Filter Your Water

Here’s a fact that may surprise you: your cup of coffee is actually 98-99% water, meaning water is the most important ingredient in your coffee mathematically. Tap water in the United States often tastes or smells of chlorine, rust, or lime. Those impurities will certainly compromise the quality of your coffee, so for a truly pure coffee experience invest in a water filter that can remove impurities and contaminants that affect the taste of your water.
 

Don’t settle for a “blah” cup of coffee. Upgrade your techniques, coffee beans, and equipment to earn yourself a transcendent coffee experience every morning. And hey, even if it isn’t transcendent your coffee will taste terrific!