When it comes to hot beverages, brewing coffee is many people’s first choice. In fact, millions of people in the United States drink coffee regularly.
Although we rank at the eighth spot among most coffee drinking nations, it is certainly clear why so many companies have already invested in making residential coffee brewers.
Residential coffee makers have become very common today, but people still make a couple of mistakes while using them to brew coffee. These result in a not-so-good brew.
To make sure you end up with a perfect brew, we have listed some of the commonly made mistakes for you to avoid.
Coffee Beans
One of the reasons why your brew is not as good is because you might be using stale coffee. Another mistake people make with coffee beans is buying low quality ones.
Using low quality or stale beans greatly affects the brew. Using old coffee beans also results in bad coffee.
In addition to that, using frozen beans also deteriorates the quality of your brew because they tend to lose their taste over time.
Thus, you will need to buy fresh coffee beans and grind them yourself (or use a grind-and-brew coffee maker).
However, this may be difficult if you are not experienced in determining the fresh beans from the not-so-fresh ones. Do thorough research and perhaps ask your nearest and dearest if they have experience in purchasing fresh coffee beans.
Since fresh beans are the absolute best, you should make a concerted effort to learn the difference between fresh, low quality and stale beans.
An Unclean Brewer
Another one of the common mistakes people make is not cleaning their coffee brewer regularly. When you brew coffee, water minerals tend to stick to the inside of your brewer.
With time, this could start affecting the taste of your brew. The best way around this problem is to thoroughly clean your brewer at least once a week.
Although, it is always best to clean it immediately after each use to avoid any problems with your next brew.
This filter is especially important to keep clean. If your machine uses disposable filters, ensure you know how to replace it and have enough replacements to last a while.
Water Temperature
A very commonly made mistake while brewing coffee in a coffee brewer is not having the water heated at the optimum temperature. This also results in poor tasting coffee.
For best results and a tasty cup of brew, make sure that the water is being heated anywhere around 200 degrees.
A steaming hot brew will also last much longer than a cooler one. Reheated coffee just doesn’t taste the same.
Rush Hour
Weekday mornings are quite busy.
In order to get to work on time, people often take their cup of brewed coffee along. But this is not a good move.
For one, having your coffee sit for long makes the brew bitter. Secondly, if it goes even mildly below the level of hotness it was at the time it got ready, the taste of the brew diminishes by a good margin.
Try to get up earlier and have your brew before you leave home. After all, having coffee on the go always contains the risk of it spilling all over you.
If getting up earlier is not always possible, having a programmable brewer is the next best thing. It can be set to a certain time for each morning, and will be brewing your coffee before you’ve even gotten out of bed.
Optimal ratio
Making coffee requires a perfect combination of both the coffee and water. Putting in too much coffee will ruin the whole brew, and so will lesser amount of coffee in a brew.
In order to enjoy the perfect cup, you need to manage the ratio of coffee to water.
According to Speciality Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE), a liter of fresh water can be used with around 55 grams of coffee.
Another common mistake people make is to add water to weaken the effect of coffee.
This will do nothing but ruin the entire ratio, consequently making your brew less tasteful to drink.
Summary
In summary: use fresh beans, keep your brewer clean, water temperature should be around 200 degrees, don’t take it to go and ensure the perfect water-to-coffee ratio.
If you want to make great coffee, follow these simple guidelines.
Furthermore, having a good coffee brewer also adds greatly to the quality of your coffee. If you don’t have a coffee maker yet, then be careful when choosing one.
It may not be an entirely big purchasing decision, but a coffee machine does tend to be an important kitchen appliance. Make sure the one you purchase is the best one for your household.
Research and compare multiple brewers before making your choice. You don’t want to have to return it to the store a few days later due to a small water tank or some other silly problem.
