Coffee Mistakes Most People Make

On paper, making your own coffee at home sounds fantastic. You save money, get to use your fancy reusable travel mug, and avoid the Starbucks drive-thru wait in the morning while you’re rushing to work. However, for many individuals, the coffee that comes out of their coffee pots in the morning pales in comparison to the coffee they’d have from their favorite neighborhood coffee shop. Given its pervasiveness in our daily lives, coffee may seem to be the simplest thing in the world to prepare, yet many individuals are chomping down bitter, greasy coffee every morning, foregoing the delights of a well-brewed cup of Joe in favor of a simply utilitarian, joyless shot of caffeine. We are entitled to better.

There’s no need to be embarrassed the next time you need to pull a coffee grind out of your teeth quietly – producing a decent cup of coffee is an art. When you’re sick of your own brew, there’s a reason you’ll spend $6 for a coffee from your favorite café. However, if you want to go out into the wild world of coffee manufacturing, you’ll need to first identify some of the most frequent coffee blunders you’re undoubtedly doing at home.

Using the microwave to reheat your coffee

This is a scenario with which far too many busy individuals are all too acquainted. You’re at home or at work, and you’ve just brewed a cup of coffee, fully expecting to start drinking it as soon as it’s ready. But it feels like a thousand important jobs pop up in the period between when the coffee begins brewing and when it’s ready to consume. Your coffee lies there, cold and unappealing, for the next several minutes. If you’re like most people, you’ll simply pop it in the microwave to bring it to that ideal, piping-hot temperature.

However, if you want your coffee to taste decent, this is a catastrophe waiting to happen. You should consume your coffee as soon as it’s ready, if possible. The longer you let coffee out, the bitterer it becomes. When you consider that warming coffee makes your cup of Joe even more bitter, it’s easy to understand why you should consume your coffee as soon as possible. If you often find your coffee becoming cold, instead of putting it in the microwave, you may want to invest in a quality thermal mug.

Purchasing coffee of poor quality

Wine connoisseurs have been around for a long time, and craft beer fans have taken over almost every city and suburban pub in the nation. A real coffee aficionado, on the other hand, is still a somewhat uncommon breed. Most of us aren’t aware of what distinguishes a great cup of coffee from a decent or even average one. If you don’t like the flavor of your coffee, it’s possible that you’re purchasing low-quality beans.

You’re aiming for the proper balance of acidity, bitterness, and sweetness in every sip when it comes to flavor. If you’re fresh to the realm of fine coffee, though, your taste buds may not have have developed that sense. Don’t be concerned; it will arrive. In the meanwhile, what’s a better method to identify whether you’ve got a good bean or not? Some of the beans should be ground and spooned on top of a glass of cold water. After a few minutes, the color of a high-quality brew should not bleed into the water, but a lower-quality coffee ground would.

Using coffee beans that are old or stale

Even if you know exactly what you’re looking for in a high-quality bean and roast, you might still be making a mistake in the bean area. The freshness of the beans contributes significantly to the flavor of a good cup of coffee. You won’t get the greatest taste if you don’t start with a fresh bean. You may believe that you can store coffee beans in your cabinet for months without losing any of their taste, but this is just not the case.

In fact, if you don’t take precautions to keep your newly roasted beans fresh, they may only last a week to a month before going bad and losing their flavor. This is a complete waste of money if you had purchased higher-quality beans. The most essential thing to remember while storing coffee beans is to keep them out of direct sunlight and in airtight containers to avoid oxidation. If you’re fortunate, your coffee will arrive in a valved pack; all you have to do now is make sure it’s well sealed. If you don’t have one, you can always buy a cheap airtight container to keep your beans in.

Using coffee grinds rather than whole beans

When you go to the grocery shop or market to get your next bag of coffee, you have to decide whether to get the beans or the grounds. Listen, we get the allure of purchasing land. You won’t need to buy a loud coffee grinder, and you’ll have one less step between you and your coffee when you’re groggy from a night’s sleep and brewing your first cup of the day. But bear with us: Ground beans are considerably inferior than whole beans.

Whole beans will not only keep fresher for longer, minimizing the chances of ending up with a complete bag of stale coffee, but they will also taste (and smell) better. Yes, it takes a little longer to create, but think of those additional 30 seconds of grinding as well-deserved self-care time. If you don’t already have a coffee grinder, now is an excellent time to get one.

brewing your coffee using low-quality water

When it comes to making a nice cup of coffee, water is probably not the first element that comes to mind. It’s all about the bean, if you’re like most people. However, given that an average cup of coffee contains 98.75 percent water, it makes sense to consider the quality of the water you use. Although tap water seems to be an easy option, the quality of tap water varies greatly depending on where you live, so you may not be getting the greatest cup of coffee possible if you use H2O directly from the faucet.

If you have access to it, filtered water is a preferable choice. You can acquire this from a refrigerator filter or, if you have one, a sink filter. You can always use a pitcher filter if you don’t have one. You’ll have better-tasting water to make your coffee if you remember to fill it up the night before. You may also use bottled water if you don’t mind the additional trash, albeit it isn’t the most ecologically responsible alternative.

When brewing coffee, using water that is too hot or too cold

When it comes to brewing the ideal cup of coffee, you must consider not just the quality but also the temperature of the water you’re using. The temperature you choose for your coffee will be determined by the technique you use to prepare it. Are you making coffee using a drip machine? If that’s the case, you’ll need to add some cold water. Most coffee makers presume you’re beginning with cold water and adjust the temperature appropriately.

If you’re using a French press, though, you’ll need to be a little more cautious with the water temperature. Of course, you must heat your water, but far too many people believe they must boil it before pouring it over the coffee grounds. But that’s a massive no-no. The recommended water temperature for your French press is 195°F, which is just below boiling. If it gets much hotter, the coffee will burn. Invest in a kitchen thermometer if you want to be particularly precise with your water temperature.

Using the incorrect coffee cup

When you’re attempting to create a better cup of coffee, questioning the quality of your beans or coffee machine seems sensible. But have you ever considered that the cup you drink from may make a significant difference? This may not be an issue for you if you’re sipping an iced coffee. However, if you want your coffee to be as hot as possible, you should avoid thin-walled and generally fragile mugs and cups. The heat is easily dissipated in these containers. So, in minutes, you may go from a steaming cup of Joe to something less appealing and more room temperature.

What is the solution? Use a coffee cup with a thick wall, like those seen in old-school restaurants. A handmade ceramic mug with strong walls might also be appropriate. If you’re the kind who’s constantly on the move, investing in a high-quality travel mug will allow you to carry your hot coffee with you to the workplace or wherever you’re going for the day.

Not cleaning your coffee machine on a regular basis

Every day, your coffee maker performs so many tasks for you that you wouldn’t be able to leave the house without it. Even still, if you’re like most people, your coffee maker sits neglected at home every day, screaming to be cleaned. Contrary to common perception, it is necessary to clean your coffee machine on a regular basis. Coffee makers, on average, are the sixth germiest object in your kitchen and bathroom, even germier than the handle on your bathroom faucet.

As a result, it’s critical to clean your equipment on a regular basis. The frequency of this may vary depending on the kind of coffee machine you’re using. Every time you use a French press, you’ll have to clean it. A drip coffee machine, on the other hand, should be cleaned at least once a month. Cleaning a bit more often than is required will not harm you and will guarantee that your coffee tastes as nice as it possibly can.

There is just one way to make coffee.

In our whole lives, many of us have only ever prepared coffee one way. Maybe you’ve only ever used a drip coffee maker, or maybe you’ve had a Keurig for as long as you’ve been drinking coffee (or as long as they’ve been around). But here’s the thing: you won’t know whether you’re losing out on a superior way unless you give the others a go.

A drip coffee maker, which is what most people have in their homes, is perhaps the most known to you. They’re simple to use and can brew large quantities of coffee at once. This procedure may not provide the greatest results in terms of flavor.