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Top 10 Tips
and Tricks for Coffee Brewing
1. Decorating your own lattes
With some practice, it's possible for anyone at home to decorate their
coffee in a way they probably thought only baristas could pull off. Baristas
make it look simple, and if you do it then you can also get great and positive
results - especially since you are not a barista who's being rushed to perform
four jobs at once.
The trick is to work with the milk and
make it frothy without any big bubbles and then pour it into the coffee cup at
an angle.
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2. Buy fresh whole bean coffee
Don't buy the pre-ground coffee. Buy
fresh beans. Most coffee companies don't bother with dates for when the beans
were packaged - it's likely the beans were left there for months after picking.
Fresh coffee goes off pretty quickly. To find fresh beans, it's best to check
coffee shops, and some coffee shops will roast them right there, and that means
fresher coffee for a great brew.
Pre-roasted coffee beans also mean the
beans are discharging more carbon dioxide, meaning that the escaping gases
remove more flavor from the coffee than freshly grounded and roasted beans.
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3. Use good quality water
The quality of your water matters when
it gets to the time for you to brew coffee. Hard water, which is full of extra
minerals, won't bond as well to the coffee that's brewing, which leads to a
weak coffee and not what you were hoping for. Worse, using this high content
mineral water could result in limescale build up in your coffee maker. If you
use this type of water then you will need to descale your coffee machine
regularly, something you do not want.
Heavily filtered water can also lead to
other problems when you brew coffee, but lightly filtered water will be
perfect. Also, the best temperature for water for brewing coffee is 88 to 94
degrees centigrade.
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4. How to cold-brew for a different
flavor to your coffee
Cold brewing your coffee is a great option if you love iced-coffee and want to
avoid buying pricey iced-coffee.
There are many ways to brew coffee that
can be iced, but there are also machines that make this possible. A benefit is
that this method eliminates the acids that coffee produces. This method also
brings out different ranges of flavor for the coffee lover to indulge in,
however, some dislike it because there is no acidity.
Alternatively, you can use a special
jar, called a mason jar. It's really easy - you just take your ground coffee,
pour it into the jar, and then pour in cold water before placing the water into
your fridge for 12 to 24 hours. When it's ready, just strain the grounds out
and serve with ice. Give it a try!
Also, if you want to sweeten it up, add
a caramel syrup, or something similar.
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5. Measure your coffee out
When you begin to brew coffee, figure
out which ratio of the coffee you measure out is the strongest, and which one
is the weakest so then you get a great coffee experience without weakening it
or making it too strong for your tastes.
The most common ratio is 1 liter of
water to 60 grams of ground coffee, and the easiest way to get this is to
simply measure the coffee out on a set of scales, however, it's also possible
to measure it out by simply measuring out 60 grams by using a spoon.
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6. Pre-infusion, or the bloom
Always make sure that you remove the
carbon dioxide from the coffee grounds or your brew will be weak. If you've got
a coffee machine, make sure it's got a setting that covers this and makes sure
it's always on.
Coffee blooms are common in coffee
shops. It's created by the roasting procedure, and the heart causes carbon
dioxide to be captured by the bean and trapped. When the roasting is completed
the gases are discharged slowly. This is called "degassing." Ideally,
if you use freshly roasted beans, the coffee will have more flavor than roasted
and ground beans that have been left untouched for days.
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7. Brewing and diluting for weaker
coffee
If you want to brew coffee, that's
great, don't brew it for too long, just increase how much ground coffee you
have already. If, however, you prefer it weaker, then simply don't brew it for
a shorter time but rather brew it correctly and then you dilute it to drink
afterward.⇆
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8. Tips for using filter paper
If you prefer to use filter paper to
brew the coffee grounds then gently pour hot water over the filter paper so
that it is wet before use. This will remove the likelihood of getting that
papery/cardboard like taste in your mouth that you'd likely get if you just
pour the water over the coffee grounds if the paper is dry before you start. If
you pre-wet the paper, then you'll clean it and get rid of that papery taste,
meaning you'll still have a great-tasting cup of coffee.
When you're brewing a cup of coffee with
this method, pour the hot water over the coffee grounds in a circular motion so
that the water from the coffee slowly appears in the pot. This is called the
bloom. Keep pouring more water slowly over the grounds, let it take its time to
seep, and then wait for the coffee to collect at the bottom of the pot.
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9. Flavored coffees
If you prefer your coffee to have
different tastes, for instance, a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, or vanilla or almond
extracts, then pour some of those extracts into the cream or milk. Sprinkle
some cinnamon or nutmeg over the coffee, or you could even sprinkle some other
ground spices like cardamom for a coffee which is more spiced and different
than the type you know.
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10. Maple syrup drizzle
Another option for flavored and
sweetened coffee is to swap sugar with maple syrup
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4. How to cold-brew for a different flavor to your coffee
Cold brewing your coffee is a great option if you love iced-coffee and want to avoid buying pricey iced-coffee.
⇆
Ads
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If you want to brew coffee, that's great, don't brew it for too long, just increase how much ground coffee you have already. If, however, you prefer it weaker, then simply don't brew it for a shorter time but rather brew it correctly and then you dilute it to drink afterward.⇆
Ads
If you prefer to use filter paper to brew the coffee grounds then gently pour hot water over the filter paper so that it is wet before use. This will remove the likelihood of getting that papery/cardboard like taste in your mouth that you'd likely get if you just pour the water over the coffee grounds if the paper is dry before you start. If you pre-wet the paper, then you'll clean it and get rid of that papery taste, meaning you'll still have a great-tasting cup of coffee.
Ads
If you prefer your coffee to have different tastes, for instance, a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, or vanilla or almond extracts, then pour some of those extracts into the cream or milk. Sprinkle some cinnamon or nutmeg over the coffee, or you could even sprinkle some other ground spices like cardamom for a coffee which is more spiced and different than the type you know.
Ads
Another option for flavored and sweetened coffee is to swap sugar with maple syrup