How to Brew the Best Cup of Coffee?

A great morning cup of coffee can set the tone for your day. If you're interested in powering your hustle while enjoying a cup of coffee at home, learning how to brew a good cup yourself might be a good idea. Despite popular belief, avoiding unpleasant tastes or bitterness in your coffee is relatively easy. We'll show you how in this article.

Grind at Home

How to brew the best cup of coffee? Grinding your coffee at home is crucial for ensuring the best flavor and longevity of your coffee. The lifespan of coffee shortens at every stage, from the farm to your cup, so purchasing whole beans helps maintain their freshness. Ultimately, you are preserving the beans in stasis to prevent rapid aging. Making coffee is a personal experience, and the perfect method is the one that suits your preferences. Nevertheless, mastering the basics will enhance your technique, enabling you to explore various roasts, origins, and preparation methods.

However you want your coffee, follow this tip: store your beans properly and use the best filters. Whether your morning coffee is brewed elaborately or with a drip coffee maker, following this tip ensures a delicious, satisfying cup of coffee every time.

The Equipment

Make sure to thoroughly clean all your coffee tools, including bean grinders, filters, and coffee makers,  after each use. Rinse them with clear, hot water or wipe them down thoroughly,  then dry them with an absorbent towel. Ensure that no grounds are left behind and that there's no build-up of coffee oils (caffeol), which can make your future cups of coffee taste bitter and rancid.

The Beans

Keep in mind that excellent coffee begins with excellent beans. Coffee quality and flavor are influenced by the type you select and your brewing preference. There is no right or wrong answer—just a lot of options. It is possible, for instance, to choose a rich, dark espresso roast and have it ground for drip coffee making. Have fun trying and enjoying different confident, fearless, and resolved combinations.

Freshness

If you can, purchase coffee beans as soon as possible after they are roasted. Fresh roasting is the key to ensuring that the coffee you buy is of the highest quality; ideally, you should buy it every one to two weeks. Do not use the same coffee grounds more than once to keep your coffee as flavorful and fresh as possible. After brewing, only the bitter coffee flavors remain after the desirable flavors have all been extracted.

The Grind

When purchasing whole-bean coffee, grind the beans as close to the brew time possible to ensure maximum freshness. Use a burr or mill grinder for a consistent grind size. While a blade grinder is an option, it may result in unevenly ground coffee. If you usually grind your coffee at home with a blade grinder, consider having it ground at the store with a burr grinder, and you'll surely notice a difference in flavor. At Hustle Coffee, we use industry-standard burr grinders to ensure even grind and maximum flavor.

The size of the grind greatly influences coffee's flavor. It is possible that your coffee was over-extracted or ground too finely if it tastes bitter. Conversely, if your coffee tastes weak or flat, it may be under-extracted, indicating that the grind is too coarse.

The Water

The quality of your coffee is affected by the water you use. If your tap water is not good or has a strong odor or taste, like chlorine, use filtered or bottled water. Always use cold water when filling your coffee pot, and let the tap run for a few seconds before using it. Avoid using distilled or softened water.

Coffee-to-Water Ratio

For every 6 ounces of water, Hustle Coffee suggests using 30 grams of ground coffee as a general guideline. You can change this to suit your personal preferences and tastes.

Water Temperature

The water temperature should be around 195°F and 205°F to ensure optimal extraction. Using colder water will result in flat, under-extracted coffee while using too hot water will reduce the taste quality. It is important to note that cold brew does not need any heat.

Brewing Time

The ideal contact time in a drip system is around 5 minutes.  When using a French press, the recommended contact time is 2-4 minutes. Espresso has a very short brew time, with the coffee in contact with the water for only 20–30 seconds. On the other hand, cold brew should steep overnight, typically about 12 hours.

How to Store Coffee Beans

Many store coffee beans in the refrigerator or freezer, which is not ideal because the humid conditions in the fridge can negatively impact the flavor of the coffee, resulting in a cardboard-like taste. If refrigeration were the perfect storage method, coffee beans would be found in the refrigerated section of grocery stores instead of the dry goods aisle. Instead, store whole beans in a dry environment away from direct sunlight and inside an airtight container.

A Quick Guide to Manual Coffee-Making Styles

Pour Over or Drip: Coffee Cone

The drip method, which employs a coffee cone and paper filter, is one of the simplest, long-standing, and most cost-effective methods of brewing coffee. This method places coffee grounds in a paper filter with hot water poured evenly over them. The coffee is then brewed by gravity, dripping slowly into a cup or pot. Coffee cones come in various materials, including plastic, glass, stainless steel, and ceramic, and the shape of the cone and the type of filter used significantly impact the flavor of the brewed coffee.

Bean Grind: medium-to coarse-grained
Quantity: 3 tablespoons or 21 grams of coffee
Brewing Time: 1-3 minutes
Flavor Profile: Smooth, round body
Requires paper filters that match the cone

Pour Over or Drip: Chemex

Dr. Peter Schlumbohm created the exquisitely crafted and sophisticated pour-over glass flask, the Chemex, in 1941. It uses a unique, 20–30% heavier than standard Chemex paper filter. Hot water is then poured over the grinds inside the paper filter, resembling a coffee cone. The flask doubles as a drip tray and a carafe for the brewed coffee.

Bean Grind: Medium-coarsely ground
Quantity: 6 tablespoons or 42 grams of coffee
Brewing Time: 4 minutes
Flavor Profile: Balanced, refined, clean, floral, sweet, and non-acidic flavor profile

Plunger or Press: French Press

The method of the French Press, which was created in 1929, is generally regarded as the most effective and straightforward way to make consistently great coffee. Many argue that it extracts superior flavors than any other method. In a French press, ground coffee is steeped and then filtered in hot water, allowing the coffee's flavorful essential oils, caffeine, and antioxidants to be better diffused and preserved, resulting in the purest coffee flavors. It suits coffee enthusiasts who appreciate a rich, expressive, and intricate taste experience.

Beans Grind: Coarse
Quantity: 2–2.5 tablespoons of coffee (14–17 g) for one cup
Brewing Time: 4 minutes
Flavor Profile: Pure, clean flavor nuances that are the complex and robust body.
No filters required

Plunger or Press: AeroPress

2005 Alan Adler, who invented the Aerobie Frisbee, unveiled the AeroPress. This device includes a coffee basket with a filter at the bottom, a brew chamber for the coffee grounds and hot water, and a plunger for extracting the brewed coffee. Hot water is put with the coffee grounds in the brew chamber to prepare coffee and left to soak. Then, the plunger is pushed to generate air pressure, which pushes the brewed coffee through the filter and into a cup.

Bean Grind: Fine-Medium grounds
Quantity: 2.5 tablespoons of coffee (17 g)
Brewing Time: 1-2 minutes
Flavor Profile: sweet, full-bodied, espresso-style coffee
Requires AeroPress micro-paper filters (or a fine metal filter)

Percolate: Stovetop Moka Pot

Alfonso Bialetti patented stovetop-style coffee makers in 1933. They function by forcing steam from boiling water in the lower section through the coffee grinds in the pot's middle chamber. Then, the coffee is brewed and placed in the upper chamber. A well-designed stovetop coffee pot will produce better pressure.

Bean Grind: Fine-medium coarse.
Quantity: 2.5–3 tablespoons of coffee (17–22 g)
Brewing Time: 5 minutes
Flavor Profile: espresso-style coffee is strong and can be bitter
Requires a gas stove
No extra filters are required

Vacuum: Siphon

The siphon, a stylish and attention-grabbing coffee maker, offers a unique way to brew coffee and make an impression on friends, but the process can be a bit finicky. This brewing method was created in Germany during the 1840s. Coffee grounds are placed in the upper container, and hot water is pushed into the coffee due to vapor pressure. After removing the heat, gravity moves the brewed coffee through a filter and into the lower container.

Bean Grind: Medium coarseness
Ground Coffee: 6 tablespoons of coffee (40 g)
Brewing Time: 6 minutes
Flavor Profile: mellow and delicate flavors
Requires a fire source such as a candle or butane burner (unless the siphon has an electric heater).
Metal or cloth filters are used.

Additional Tips

• Before using, rinse the filters with hot water to eliminate any chemicals from the paper. Unbleached filters are available in the most commonly used sizes.
• When using pour-over methods, pour hot water slowly and steadily in a spiral motion from the center to the rim to thoroughly saturate all the coffee grounds evenly, ensuring optimal extraction.
• Use a narrow-spouted pouring kettle to achieve even water distribution for pour-over and pressed coffee-making methods.
• Rinse makers and cups with hot water beforehand to keep the coffee hot for a longer time.
• When experimenting with new brewing techniques, some trial and error is to be expected. Since everyone has different tastes, feel free to experiment with the amount and grind of coffee to find what works best for you.”
• Remember to compost your used coffee grounds; filters are included!

Share this post with your coffee drinker friends if you find it interesting. See more recipes by following us on Facebook and Instagram. Subscribe to Hustle Coffee and receive the most recent content directly in your inbox.