A Beginner’s Guide to Brewing Coffee

There is a certain percentage of people around the world who has never tasted a drop of coffee in their entire lives. This not so surprising revelation is mainly due to several reasons which can range from health problems (intolerance for caffeine) to a matter of personal choice. Today, braver souls are now venturing to engage their taste buds in another bitter brew with no alcohol content.

First time coffee drinkers often get their first taste of coffee by purchasing a cup from an expensive coffee shop. But the entire coffee experience can be made at home. For first time coffee drinkers, it is important to know that making coffee at home is quite easy to do.

Before one can conjure up a delicious cup, below is a practical guide made perfectly for first time drinkers and roasters on how to handle their first bag of beans:

Ground Coffee versus Whole Beans

One of the most common dilemmas faced by first time coffee drinkers is whether or not to purchase a bag of ground coffee or a bag of whole coffee beans. Ground coffee is known to have a shorter shelf life than its whole counterpart. And to help maintain your future brew’s quality, it is important to store your stock properly.
Coffee experts would recommend buying only a few days worth of coffee in your home for one to be able to fully enjoy a fresh cup. An effective method of storing store bought coffee is by keeping them in airtight containers. This will prevent air from letting the beans stale. It is also highly recommended that an investment in a good coffee grinder and a bag of high quality beans instead of ground coffee is your first step in creating a good homemade brew.

Beat the Heat

Generally, coffee is enjoyed in a hot, steaming cup. Yet surprisingly, one of the biggest enemies of coffee is heat, extreme heat. When your brew sits for more than 20 minutes on the coffee machine’s heat plate, consider it burnt coffee. Extreme heat diminishes many of coffee’s organic compounds that are necessary in maintaining its signature taste and aroma.

Unlike food, the only determining factor that your brew is burnt is through the taste not the look. To prevent your coffee from burning, most avid coffee drinkers would suggest turning the setting of your coffee machine at Low heat. This will assist you in determining whether your batch of coffee is good for serving.

It is important to remember that burnt coffee cannot be remedied by the application of cold water or creamer. Burnt coffee will always be bad coffee.

Clean equipment produces the best batch.

One important factor that is crucial in creating a good batch of fresh coffee is making them in clean equipment. Coffee leaves out certain residues that get stuck in certain parts of your coffee equipment. As time progresses, the residues stales.

The quality of coffee declines when it becomes mixed with stale leftovers. Make it a habit to always flush out residue from your equipment every after use. You will save yourself the trouble of wasting your money and stock of coffee.

Purified water for a good cup of coffee.

The quality of water is important when brewing coffee. Coffee is mostly water and therefore its flavor can be easily contaminated by certain substances found in the water. When choosing the right water for your brew, coffee experts swear by this golden rule that when water does not taste right, it must not be used.

Distilled water or “softened” water are highly discouraged due to the lack of minerals present that are essential in aiding the coffee compounds during the brewing process. The quality of water used in brewing coffee is often the most overlooked reason as to why coffee can sometimes taste wrong.

Plan ahead to get the most out of your coffee experience.

The best way to fully enjoy your cup of coffee lies in its preparations. Clean equipment and high quality water are essential but the most important ingredient lies in having the freshest coffee beans around. One of the biggest blunders often made by coffee drinkers is by storing coffee for a long time.

Before purchasing your very first bag of coffee beans, it is important to consider how long one will be able to consume the coffee. Remember that coffee starts to become stale the moment that it is released from its airtight packaging. Storing them in airtight containers, particularly ceramic ones is the best option in prolonging your coffee beans’ shelf life.

To get the most out of your coffee beans, it is highly recommended to purchase them from a highly reliable store fit for only a few days of consumption. An investment in a good coffee machine and purified water is your next step to brewing your first cup.

A small batch will suffice for first time drinkers who want to slowly immerse themselves in their very first cup. Acquiring a taste for this bitter concoction varies from one individual to another. Whether it’s intolerance for caffeine or for its bitter taste, a cup of coffee is one perfect healthy perk me up drink you can consume every day.

Sophie White is a foodie blogger based in Australia. She is passionate about all things food-related and is an accomplished home cook herself. With a tongue for all dishes local and international, she leads the online marketing campaign for the Australian coffee brand Coffee Galleria.