If you’re passionate about your coffee, you have probably tried everything you can to replicate the results you get from your favorite coffee shop. You might also be wondering why you can never truly get it right. This is because there is a lot of science that goes into making a great cup of coffee and it doesn’t only stop with the quality of the beans. Even if you have the best quality coffee on the planet, the flavor will not quite be there if you don’t have the proper technique or equipment. Let’s take a look at a few ways that you can make your morning coffee a little more luxurious.
Know Your Beans
The beans are the foundation for great coffee, and you will need to get familiar with the top coffee-producing countries in the world along with some of the coffees they’re known for. Some of the notable coffee-producing countries include Panama, Ethiopia, and Kenya.
Indonesia is also a country that is starting to get more recognition among coffee enthusiasts. It is famous for Kopi Luwak, or civet coffee, which is made from arabica beans that have been partially digested by the Asian palm civet. The origin of civet coffee is unclear, but it is said that the original beans were imported from Yemen by Dutch colonists who then started establishing plantations. Javanese farmers then started collecting and brewing beans that were excreted on their farms.
The reason why these beans are so special is that the civet’s gastric enzymes transform the beans’ chemical structure to give them a special aroma. These beans are expensive but are truly worth it if you want to elevate your coffee game and try something new.
Grind Your Beans Yourself
If you can, you should buy your beans whole and grind them yourself. You should also only grind the amount you need. When you grind coffee beans, you expose more of them to the air, which allows some of their aromas to escape. This is why you need to invest in a good grinder and make your coffee the instant you’ve ground your beans.
Grind Properly
Speaking of grinding, you also have to understand how the size of your grind will affect the taste of the coffee. Going for a coarse grind will lead to a more muted taste, while a fine grind will give you something more pronounced. This will affect how long you will need to brew the beans. You also have to make sure that the grind is even so you can get the full flavor out of your beans.
Weigh Your Coffee
One mistake you should avoid is measuring your coffee instead of weighing it. Different coffees have different densities, and two tablespoons of coffee can have different concentrations. If you want to get predictable results, get yourself a scale, find out the amount of coffee that works for you, and always stick to the same weight.
Learn Your Water Ratios
You also have to know the proper water-to-coffee ratio for making the perfect coffee. This ratio will slightly vary depending on the type of coffee you go for, but, as a rule, it’s always better to aim for a 1:16 coffee-to-water ratio. You should again go by weight here to get consistent results. You can then start tweaking that ratio if you find the result is too strong or too weak.
These are all things that you could do to make your coffee a lot better. Making coffee is truly an art so keep on learning and practicing until you’ve mastered the craft.