How To Brew Coffee: Top Tips on Making Great Coffee

Knowing how to brew coffee correctly is important if you love a good, tasty cup of coffee that drinks like it came from your favorite coffeehouse.  You can buy the most expensive coffee, the best coffee makers and finest whole coffee beans but if it's not properly brewed, you've wasted your time and money!

So let's look at some basics to help you learn how to make coffee drinks that taste just great! It's not hard to learn how to brew coffee correctly if you remember a few simple rules. 

Cleanliness is next to good coffee!

The best coffee beans properly ground can taste awful if your equipment is not clean.  Every time you make coffee your coffee maker of choice is coated with the oils that give coffee its flavor. 

Those oils might make the coffee taste wonderful when you brew it but it's important to thoroughly clean your machine or pot when you are done.  If not, your next brew will have a slightly bitter taste.  Allowing the oils to build up will gradually make your coffee taste rancid.

And if you are brewing any flavored coffees, this is doubly important because the residues from some of the flavorings can hang about through several coffee making cycles. We tried to make coffee in our coffee machine, after using just one pot of Hazlenut flavored coffee. I won't tell you how odd it was to be drinking Hazlenut coffee three days afterwards.

It's not difficult to have a clean coffee maker: your machine will operate better, and your cleaning routine will be faster! But most important of all, your coffee will taste better.

Good Quality Coffee Beans Really Matter

Another important aspect of how to brew coffee is the beans.  The quality, age, roasting and storage of the coffee beans can all impact the resulting flavor in your cup.

Buy smaller amounts

If you buy and grind your own, don't buy more than you'll use in the next week or ten days.  Once a bag of beans is opened, the flavor can be lost rapidly.

And if you are bulk-buying your coffee beans, but only using a small amount, you'll notice a distinct loss of flavor as you work your way through the bag. Doubly so, if you are using ground coffee in large bags.

Store Well

Store the coffee beans in a cool, dry place and grind them as close to brewing time as possible.  If you buy ground coffee make sure that it's as fresh as possible; check the date on the package or ask the roaster when he ground the beans. 

 Grind with a burr grinder

Grinding beans with a burr grinder means a more flavorful, consistent brew so consider investing in one if you are currently using a blade grinder.  You'll definitely notice the difference!

Even a manual burr grinder produces a better quality grind than the most expensive blade grinder because it doesn't cause friction that can overheat the coffee grind's delicate flavors.

Grind to the proper size

Coffee might taste flat if it is ground too coarsely, especially if you're making espresso.  If it is ground too finely, it could taste bitter in your automatic drip coffeemaker, or you may even find sludge at the bottom of your cup because it's been so finely ground, it passed through the drip filter. 

Choose your coffee grind according to your primary method of making coffee. If you primarily drink French press coffee, grind more coarsely than for a drip coffee maker. If you drink espresso, grind finely, but don't try to use it in a French press.

If you are buying ground beans from a coffee roaster, let him or her know how to brew coffee the way you like, so they can grind it properly.  If you buy and grind your beans in a grocery store be sure to select the proper setting. 

Water everywhere, and not a drop to brew coffee

You should never use distilled or softened water when brewing coffee.  Also, avoid mineralized waters or natural waters that are rich in minerals. Distilled water may taste odd, while water with 'sediment' may cause your kitchen equipment to become silted and 'furry'.

Tap water is perfectly fine but if it has a strong taste or smells bad you should use filtered or bottled water.  Let it run a few seconds before filling your pot and always use cold water that has not been boiled previously.

Coffee proportions: Just right

It may seem obvious to say: Use the right amount of coffee.  But a little experimentation on the quantities may help you to determine which is the optimal amount for your own brewing. This is the perhaps the one things that many forget in their attempts at how to brew coffee.

Taste does matter, but tastes vary somewhat. On average, you should use one or two tablespoons of coffee for each six ounces of water.  You may like it stronger or weaker. And remember, coffee grounds absorb water, too, turning a large jug of water into something less than you perhaps first expected.

For those who make coffee too strong, adding a tad hot water can make a strong coffee more appealing to some drinkers. In fact, that's how Americano came to be made. For coffee that comes out to 'light', there's not much to be done, except try again.

Coffee Temperatures

Coffee is sensitive to the heat of the water. So the temperature of the water soaking the grounds should be at least 195° but no more than 205°.  Colder water may make the coffee taste flat while hotter water will scorch the grounds and make it bitter.

Many modern coffee makers automatically check and adjust the temperature, but you may want to check for yourself that the settings are in the optimal range.

If you are one of those that like to brew manually, bring the water just to a boil and let it sit for a minute before you pour it over the grounds.

In short...

Make sure you have all the things you need to brew your coffee. Then to learn how to brew coffee properly, keep your equipment clean, use great quality ingredients, grind properly, use proper proportions, and brew well. Do all these things and you'll find that that brewing great coffee just becomes a simple habit! And your friends/co-workers/neighbors will be coming over just to say 'hi' a lot more, too...

Whether you like espresso, plain unadulterated coffee or cappuccino, the flavor you get depends on how to brew coffee.  It doesn't matter if you like mild coffee or a strong, robust brew, it will always be perfect if you learn how to brew coffee the right way. 

And finally...

Wherever you are, remember "Only Coffee Beans Make Great Coffee"! And enjoy that cup of coffee!

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