How to Brew an Excellent Cup of Coffee

Firsthand Advice from a Passionate Home-Barista

Reading this article, you can expect firsthand advice from myself as a passionate home-barista what factors matter to make good coffee. What not to expect is a step-by-step guide how to make coffee with a particular coffee maker, because there are hundreds of such tutorials already out there. Also there is nothing on Cold Brew or Ice Brew. What I want to do is to boil down coffee brewing to the essence of what it takes to brew an excellent cup of coffee.

If you get yourself, or if you get a loved one, a good coffee maker you should do your homework: research how to use it properly. It is very easy to find information on how to make coffee properly. I recommend to research online and to not follow the supplier’s manual. There are various coffee makers, which, if used wrongly, after all still have the potential to make a “housewife’s coffee” (bitter and bad tasting coffee originating from when coffee initially was established in Europe) and I know what I am talking about after learning to make coffee on a Moka Pot, Chemex, AeroPress, French Press, Karlsbader Kanne, V60, and Portafilter Coffee Machine.

Every coffee maker is best at something particular.

Choosing Your Coffee Maker

You really do not need an expensive coffee machine to make yourself a stunningly good cup. There is a huge potential in manual coffee makers. The coffee you produce with them is called “Filter Coffee”. With my 6 coffee makers, I made some of the best cups I ever tasted, even compared with coffee at a third wave coffee shop. As mentioned, it is not that easy to get it right, but it is by far much easier than with a portafilter espresso machine.

Before you choose the right coffee maker for you, you need to think about how you like your coffee: mild or strong, fruity or rich, milky or pure? There is the right coffee maker in each area. There are coffee makers that fit in the most areas (e.g. AeroPress), there are coffee makers used at best in just one area (e.g. V60), and there are coffee makers, or machines, for just one precise purpose (e.g. Portafilter Espresso Machine). It is important to understand that every coffee maker can make coffee, but every coffee maker is best at something particular.

Choosing Your Coffee Beans

Now we come to choosing your coffee beans. This might be a bit of a challenge since it includes lots of and lots of trial & error in both suppliers and flavours. There is further a huge range in quality of coffee beans. A few tips to get the right bean:

1. Never buy coffee beans at a groceries store: if you can rather buy online at a roastery or locally at a third wave coffee shop. Groceries store have mostly no idea what they are offering and store the coffee for months after roasting
2. Make sure the supplier provides information at least on:
   blend or single origin, composition if it is a blend (e.g. 70% Arabica, 30% Robusta), espresso or coffee roast, detailed flavour profile, country/ies of origin, coffee farm/s of origin, processing method (e.g. washed), roasting method (drum roaster)
3. Make sure the supplier ships the beans in a good container, as an aroma bag and the roasting date is printed on the bag
4. Make sure the supplier sells the coffee right after roasting (1–2 weeks is ideal)

Finally when you have your beans of choice, preserve their flavours by storing your coffee beans in the aroma bag you bought them in, do not move them more than necessary, close the bag tight after use and store them at a cool place. Coffee beans become stale after 4–6 weeks (grounded coffee becomes stale after 2 weeks), so use them wisely.

Important Factors

After you got your coffee maker and your coffee beans, there are a few things to (ideally) look after before brewing (ordered by priority):

1. As mentioned, learn how to use the coffee maker properly
2. Know what water to use: hard water intensely neutralises coffee flavours
3. Grind by yourself: grinding your beans with a handy grinder (e.g. Porlex Mini) is not only a pleasure, but it makes a huge difference in quality of the resulting cup due to freshness and the ideally correct grind size
4. For every coffee maker, the grind size differs: for each coffee maker, you will find in the how-to-guides what grind size you should “try.” Nevertheless you will need several cups or even many cups to find the right grind size for you
5. Depending on the coffee beans used, the grind size differs: I just said “try”, because the very correct grind size depends on the beans you use and after all on your preference in taste
6. Weigh everything you do: weigh the coffee beans you brew (16g is a good start for the most) AND weigh the coffee liquid you produce (try 230ml)

After all: what does it take to brew an excellent cup of coffee?

It is not talent, it is not skills, it is not the best equipment — at its essence, an excellent cup of coffee takes one thing: Dedication.

Thank you very much for reading my article! You deserve a cup of coffee, Happy Brewing! :)