Everyone loves a freshly brewed cup of coffee at your local coffee shop, but do you ever wonder why your own homemade coffee doesn’t taste quite as good. Well this is a problem that many people face but if you read on, you can learn how to make cafe style coffee right in the comfort of your own home.
There are coffee makers that are great for brewing only single cups of coffee. Keurig systems give you the opportunity to pick and choose exactly what kind of coffee you want, one cup at a time. You can choose from a variety of makers with many different features.
When consumed properly, coffee can be a healthy part of a mixed diet. How you prepare your coffee makes a big difference; cream and sugar are generally not ideal. Try an almond milk latte sweetened with honey or stevia in order to remove the unhealthy elements of this beverage.
Seal all of your coffee in airtight containers. Air degrades the quality of the coffee beans, making them stale and producing horrible coffee. Bags that have one-way valves are not a good choice. Once the seal is broken, the air can get into the package. They only let air escape after roasting to let them cool.
Buy a coffee grinder, and buy whole bean coffee. There is no substitute for the taste of freshly ground beans. If you can’t afford a coffee grinder, you can still buy whole beans. Most supermarkets have grinders that you can use to grind your coffee purchase before you leave the store.
Did you know that drinking a cup of coffee will improve your exercise? Studies have shown that the caffeine in coffee will give you a great boost when consumed prior to your exercise routine. This little lift may be just what you need to get through your exercise and preform the way you want.
If you are living alone, or are the only one in your family who drinks coffee, consider purchasing a single-serve coffee maker. Companies such as Keurig have created coffee makers that use a coffee pod, a single serving of coffee grounds in a small container that fits inside the machine. This type of coffee maker is also useful if you like to drink a different flavor of coffee each day.
Using the purest water available will give you the best coffee from your beans. All things you put in the coffee will affect the taste. That is why bottled water, distilled water or at the very least filtered water from your tap results in the best tasting cup of coffee.
For those individuals who do not want to consume caffeinated drinks, but love the flavor of coffee, they can enjoy decaffeinated coffee. Some people do not have a problem with a little caffeine, and half-caffeine coffee is a good choice for them. There is no appreciable difference in the flavor between full and half-caffeine coffee.
Avoid purchasing beans that come in cans or in vacuum-sealed bags. Coffee beans need to be protected by valve-sealed bags to remain fresh. Besides, valve-sealed bags allow the carbon dioxide that emanates from the beans to escape, which means the beans will retain all their flavor and stay fresh longer.
To keep your coffee beans fresh, put them in the freezer. While many people refrigerate their coffee, doing so allows the beans to absorb odors from foods inside your fridge. A better solution is to freeze the beans. One easy approach is to divide the beans into several smaller packages so you can simply remove a package as needed.
A big mistake that many people make when brewing coffee is not using the proper amount of coffee. The proper ratio of ground coffee to water is six ounces of water for every two tablespoons of coffee. Any less coffee and you will have a weak and unsatisfying brew that tastes more like water than coffee.
Even though you may find yourself anxiously awaiting your morning coffee, wait until the cycle is completely finished before pouring a cup. Even if your coffee maker has this feature, it ruins the quality of the coffee. Rather, think about getting a machine equipped with a timing mechanism. If you do this, your coffee will be all ready when you get up in the morning.
Make sure that you refrain from combining coffee beans from different brands. Not only will the flavor be different, but you will also be combining two sets of coffees that have different expiration dates and levels of freshness. Stick with the same brand and the same bag of coffee beans each time.
When brewing coffee that will end up iced, make it extra-strong. Use up to two tablespoons of ground coffee for every four ounces of water. This ensures that your coffee will not taste diluted or watered-down once you pour it over the ice. Never pour hot coffee into a cold glass, however; allow it to cool first.
If you are grinding your own coffee, the medium grind is preferable for regular purposes. It works great for the home drip brewer. It should be around the consistency of common table salt when you are done. Practice with your own machine until you learn what produces flavors you prefer.
To give brownies, frosting, or other chocolaty treats more depth and complexity, add coffee. The type of coffee depends on the recipe. In some cases, you can replace some of the liquid with cooled, brewed coffee. In other recipes, a couple of teaspoons of instant coffee granules or very finely ground coffee is better.
Stay away from those open coffee bins at the supermarket. You have no idea how long the coffee has been there, or how fresh it is. It is highly possible that you might end up with stale coffee that makes a mediocre cup of coffee. Try instead to get your coffee straight from the roaster, who knows how fresh the coffee is.
As was mentioned earlier in the article, making your own coffee doesn’t always turn out as well as it does when you order from a coffee shop. However, if you implement the tips and tricks given in this article, you are well on your way to creating wonderful tasting coffee time and time again.
