Home Brewed Coffee 101

  Discover the world of coffee cupping and enhance your coffee-tasting skills with this personal account of a coffee cupping experience. Learn about the process, techniques, and the art of appreciating different coffee flavors and aromas. Introduction to coffee cupping      Have you ever heard of Coffee Cupping? It's a process of tasting different coffees and comparing them to evaluate their qualities. While it requires a sophisticated taste catalog to become a professional coffee taster, anyone can utilize this process at home and decide what they like.  Instructions      To start, you can get a few different types of coffee from the grocery store by purchasing small amounts from the bulk chutes. Alternatively, you can invite friends over, and each of them can bring their own bag of coffee. You'll also need some containers for the coffee, which can be small baking dishes or actual cupping bowls. Using containers with measuring marks can help you ...

   The coffee ratio is the key to making a perfect cup of coffee. Learn about the ideal ratio of coffee to water, how to measure coffee grinds, and tips for achieving the perfect coffee preparation.  before you begin   Finding the best grind size for your beans is the first step to improving your coffee game. Use a balanced coffee-to-water ratio to start with. Sixty grams per liter is a good guideline. Use a coarser grind than usual for how you brew your coffee and fine-tune it until it tastes too bitter, then go back to slightly coarser than that. You’re set. Make sure to only tweak one variable at a time, so you can tell what makes a difference for you. Then, you need to dial in the right dose.  setting everything up      There is no universal answer, just what works for you. Making awesome coffee is like science because you want to repeat good results and avoid bad ones.  The best way to do that is to measure everything. I recommend u...

Grind size plays a crucial role in coffee making, affecting the taste and aroma of your brew. Discover the different grind sizes and how to achieve the perfect grind for your preferred coffee preparation method.  Shortly after purchasing an expensive camera, I learned a little bit about photography.  I got a book that explained the main variables in creating the exposure; shutter speed, f-stop, and iso.  Making craft coffee is much like that, in that there are a few main variables, and how they interact with each other can change the results drastically.        The first variable that I am going to discuss is grind size.  This is important because the way that coffee is made is by adding water, the solvent, to a bed of coffee grinds and extracting soluble material.  How finely ground the coffee is, will determine how easily it is extracted.  A finer grind will expose more surface area.  If coffee is ground too coarse it will un...

Cowboy coffee is a simple and rustic way to brew coffee, traditionally made over a campfire. Learn how to make a delicious cup of cowboy coffee with this easy recipe and enhance your coffee experience.          This is probably not the preferred method for just about anybody, but if you have no other choice, it will do the trick. The appeal is that it requires minimal effort and equipment.  This is typically only used when roughing it, like on a camping trip. Make a pot of water over a campfire, after it gets to a good solid rolling boil, take it off the heat and add in the coffee grinds.  Let the mixture steep for a few minutes, two to five is typical.  When you pour this, first let the grinds settle.  You will want to pour slowly, so the grinds won't pour into your cup.  Realize this may be a little gritty.  If you have tried this and would like to share any tips, please feel free to comment below.

Roasting coffee with a popcorn popper is a simple and affordable method to achieve delicious, home-roasted coffee beans. Discover the steps and techniques for perfecting your own coffee roasting process.  Popcorn Poppers are one cheap way to roast coffee that is a step up from the completely manual methods.  This is ideal for your first foray into roasting.  A popcorn popper can typically be purchased for around twenty dollars.  The biggest problem I have faced with popcorn poppers is the internal components burning out and it just stops working. If you have read all of the other methods, the idea of maintaining a log still applies here.        You just put the green beans into the popper and let it do the magic.  The popper circulates hot air into the chamber, so the beans are roasted more evenly than a manual method.  The popper won't have a chaff collector, and you are unable to control the temperature, making this one of the mor...

Single-serve coffee pods are a convenient and easy way to make a cup of coffee. Learn more about how to use them and find out if this is the best option for your coffee-making needs.  Single-serve coffee pods started becoming popular around 2010 with the invention of Keurig.  These are nice because this is the most convenient method.  Just pop a pod into the machine and push a button.  Naturally this means the least control over the outcome, but at the same time it allows for the most consistency.  This could be good or bad, it means you always get the cup you love or the cup you don't like. If you are interested in Keurig , you may view their official page.

The Aeropress is a popular coffee brewing device known for its simplicity and versatility. Discover the art of making delicious coffee with an Aeropress and learn different techniques and tips for the best coffee preparation.   An Aeropress technique is kind of like a combination of French Press and Espresso.  The technique has no one right way, many people do it differently.  This is kind of like a double-edged blade because it makes it more problematic to prescribe a method.  What we can do though, is use tips from the pros and emulate the best recipes.  First the water is heated up.  Invert the Aeropress so the plunger itself is on the counter.  Next coffee grinds are poured into the Aeropress.  We want to use about twice the grinds you would normally use. Then all of the water is added like a French press except we do not worry about pre-infusion and bloom.  Instead you will stir this rather vigorously for about thirty seconds.  Once...

  Espresso is a highly concentrated coffee beverage made with finely ground coffee beans and hot water. Learn about different methods of coffee preparation and how about enjoying espresso at home. One day quite some time back a coffee drinker didn't want to have to wait for their coffee to finish brewing so they asked the question "What would happen if I used pressure to force the water through the bed of grinds?"  This led to the creation of Espresso.  Rather than just making regular coffee quicker it actually made an entirely different kind of coffee with a unique flavor.  Other coffee drinks that are built on that are lattes and cappuccinos.  The idea is to use steam to foam up or heat some milk to be added to the espresso.  This is usually the most expensive to make in terms of purchasing the necessary equipment and often the most difficult to master.  The cheaper machines will normally have a cost approaching $100.  The problem with these mac...

Discover how to roast coffee on a cookie sheet and enjoy freshly roasted, aromatic coffee from the comfort of your home. This guide will provide you with step-by-step instructions for achieving the perfect roast. One of the most basic ways to roast coffee is to use a cookie sheet in the oven.  You don't need to treat it in any special way just pour some raw coffee beans on a baking sheet preheat the oven to its highest heat setting and open it up at roughly one-minute intervals to stir or mix the beans up to a more even roast.  This is an especially attractive method because you are almost certainly going to have everything you need already in the house once you have the beans, there is no need to purchase any additional equipment.

The French press is a popular coffee brewing method that produces a rich and flavorful cup of coffee. Learn how to use a French press and master the art of coffee making with this comprehensive guide. French Pressed coffee is, by some, considered to be the purest form of coffee.  It is a method of brewing by immersion.  It is achieved by steeping grinds in the water for a short period and then depressing a plunger.  The plunger is attached to the filter which is a fine mesh.  Because a paper filter is not used, the oils remain in the cup.  This creates a different mouthfeel when tasting which some prefer, while others do not.  Also of note, is that this method can result in some grinds making their way into your cup and having a gritty texture.  The oils can lead to elevated cholesterol levels if done too much and when consuming excessive fatty foods.  Before I begin I get the tap water as hot as it will go and fill up the French press and my cups...

     Roasting Coffee doesn't have to be some mysterious art form that is strictly reserved for professionals.  While it isn't practical to purchase an industrial machine capable of preparing batches of thirty kilograms at a time, you can easily roast enough for a week's worth of beverages for a reasonably small amount of money or even use items you already own.       Even though I am an individual coffee drinker I still have taken some opportunities to learn a little about professional coffee roasting to better understand how to improve the quality of my cup.  The simplest form of roasting is to put some beans on a baking sheet and set it in the oven or to use a pan over heat.  If you would like to try a little more elaborate you can always use a popcorn popper.  From there the price increases to just over $100 for a basic home roaster and can get to the point of ridiculous if you need more features or a bigger capacity.   ...