Five overlooked tips and hints for making a better cup of coffee
Making a cup of good coffee is not hard, and it is not rocket science. It can be a little bit difficult for newcomers but those in the game long enough will tell you that it is very rewarding once you learn the in and outs of coffee making. To help you start off, here are some useful but often overlooked tips on making coffee.
#1 – A good trustworthy coffee maker
It is always good to invest on a good coffee maker. A good coffee maker will last you a long time and will serve you good coffee. Although a good coffee maker may seem a little expensive, it is always better than spending 50$ more than once to replace a coffee maker that keeps breaking down or just does not deliver the taste you desire. Based on my experience of owning several different coffee makers, I highly recommend the Technivorm Moccamaster KBT741.
#2- Coffee maker wattage
Check that your coffee maker has a wattage of 1000 Watts or close. Good coffee makers like the Technivorm Moccamaster have a wattage of 1475 Watts. Wattage is an important element in making good coffee because a coffee maker without adequate wattage will take a longer time to brew coffee. This causes the water to extract a higher of solids necessary from the ground coffee causing overextraction, thus making your coffee almost undrinkable depending on your tolerance of poor tasting coffee!
#3 – Optimal water temperature
A good coffee maker provides an ideal temperature for coffee brewing. This temperature lies in the region of 200 degrees Fahrenheit or approximate 90-95 degree Celsius. Any reputable coffee maker will have this written all over its packaging as it is considered this temperature is considered the Holy Grail of coffee brewing. Otherwise, assume that you are underheating the coffee.
#4 – Coffee and heat
If your coffee is heated for too long, it could burn. Some coffee makers come with a temperature setting. I usually experiment with the temperature settings until I find one that I am satisfied with. The lower the temperature setting, the less likely it is to burn. However you may find that sometimes your coffee is not hot enough with the lower setting. It is really a give and take sort of thing. If your pot of coffee is served and finished very quickly, by all means go with the higher setting.
#5 – Why your coffee probably tastes like crap
There are several things that make your coffee taste horrible. One of the biggest contributing factor is the age of your roasted coffee beans. That bag of roasted coffee you bought is probably stale the time you bought it or probably left too long in your kitchen. Heres an interesting tip; roasted coffee beans go stale after 2 weeks. It is probably a better idea to roast your own coffee.
Do not be in despair for many coffee lovers have through cup after cup of not-so-tasty coffee. It might take some time to get brewing right, but once you spend the time to get brewing to perfection, you are in for a treat! I hope some of these tips are helpful to you and help you make good tasting coffee from your own kitchen and not paying for overpriced mediocre coffee from your coffee shop.
For more more tips on making coffee and reviews of some of the best coffee makers around, do visit Coffee Maker Reviews.
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