Coffee is the beverage of choice for multitudes of people when they get up in the morning. While some choose a different drink to get them moving and wipe the cobwebs from their brain, coffee seems to be the favorite. There are few aromas more tantalizing than fresh coffee brewing as you awake.
You will get a better coffee the more expensive it is. To get the best possible cup of coffee, you have to start with the best beans and the best brewing equipment. If you try to skimp on ingredients and equipment, however, the flavor of your coffee will suffer.
Coffee tastes much better if it is fresh brewed, and is actually lower in caffeine if consumed soon after it is made. Some people are particular about using only spring water or bottled water to make it, while others seem to think tap water works just fine for making good coffee.
Keep your automatic coffee maker clean with white vinegar. Run a brewing cycle with one part water to one part white vinegar. After allowing the carafe to soak in the vinegar for a while, run a cycle with plain water to rinse the machine. Clean your coffee maker once every week or two to remove rancid coffee oils, mold and other contaminants.
If your coffee maker is old, brew a hot pot of plain water through the machine before brewing your coffee. Once you have a hot pot of water, add the grounds and pour your hot water back into the machine. This will help you get a flavor that is robust.
While your coffee is brewing, try soaking the coffee mugs in hot water. A cold mug will cool off your drink before you can even get it to your lips! When the coffee is ready, simply dry off the mugs and serve. This trick will keep it hot much longer.
If you really want good coffee, throw away your cheap machine. It isn’t going to make you a great beverage and there are other alternatives that are very inexpensive. Just go to the store and locate a pour-over brewer. You will also need some paper filters. Go online and find a tutorial on how to use these products. They will cost you under ten dollars and the coffee will taste much better!
Store your beans and coffee grinds properly. Whole beans and ground beans both lose their flavor rather quickly. To prevent this, get them into a container that is airtight, and place the container in a dry and cool area. For extended storage, you could even freeze the beans for up to three months.
If you brew a large pot of coffee that will not be consumed quickly, take it off of the burner. Place it into a pre-heated storage device. When coffee is left on the burner, the taste will deteriorate quickly. A nice carafe or other storage device will eliminate this concern.
A great tip to remember if you’re after the best-tasting cup of coffee is not to let your coffee sit for an extended period of time. Coffee will only stay fresh for about ten minutes so you should be prepared to drink your coffee right after it’s been brewed.
To cut down on acidic coffee, pull out that salt shaker. You can use just a pinch of salt in your coffee grounds when brewing to curb the acidity of the brew. Be careful not to overdo it. Too much salt will obviously change the overall taste of the brew.
Experiment with varying levels of grind for your coffee. Finely ground coffee often results in a strong flavor, but you can weaken flavor with a more coarse grind. The best time to grind is right before you actually brew. Grinding earlier than that can result in stale tasting coffee once brewed later.
You don’t have to waste money on fancy coffees. Unless you’re really picky, it’s unlikely that you’ll notice a great difference between blends of coffee. Often, the plainest coffees will be the ones you enjoy most. There is nothing wrong with buying cheap coffee if it satisfies your coffee needs.
Always use cold water in a drip coffee brewer. You should never use hot water inside these machines. The brewer will heat the water for you during the brewing process. If you start with hot water, you will probably burn the coffee. This leads to poor tasting coffee and can be a safety issue as well.
If you like strong coffee, avoid using a coarse grind. This is one of the most common causes for people thinking their coffee is too weak. If you do not grind your own, you may discover that a darker roast will help you. Either way, you want to create coffee that you enjoy.
Keep your coffee sealed to preserve the freshness of it. Oxygen exposure can ruin the taste of coffee. This will make your coffee seem flat and not fresh. For the best coffee, place it in an airtight container.
Do not throw away those used coffee grounds once the pot is empty. You can use them to exfoliate your skin. Mix them with a small amount of olive oil and make a scrub for your skin. This will remove any dead skin cells and leave your skin nice and smooth.
Rinse filters before you use them for coffee. Many people just put their filters into their machines without realizing there can be some stray fibers of paper. Rinse the filter quickly and you will ensure that those fibers don’t give you the taste of paper in your morning coffee cup.
As a general rule, the strength and flavor of your freshly ground beans relies heavily on how you grind and brew them. For example, coarsely ground beans brew much faster while still giving good flavor. On the other hand, ground beans must be brewed slowly but give you the most depth.
If you need a way to get moving and out the door to your job, coffee is an effective energy drink. Most people have more than one cup, but others are happy with just one. Whether you add sugar and creamer, or drink it black, coffee tastes great if it is fresh brewed.
