How to brew the perfect coffee at home

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

How to choose high-quality coffee and prepare it correctly so as not to lose a drop of taste and aroma.

The right ingredients

Quality coffee

Arabica and robusta are the most popular coffee varieties. It is the varieties, since these coffee trees are also divided into subspecies, so two different packages with an attractive inscription "100% Arabica" will have different tastes.

Arabica has a more noble taste with a slight sourness, robusta is coarser, astringent and strong. In its pure form, robusta is never used, only as an admixture to Arabica. It gives an excellent dense foam in espresso, which is why baristas love it.

The taste of coffee depends on many factors: the place of growth, the degree of roast, the combination of varieties (if it is a mixture), storage conditions.

Correct coffee is sold in an opaque package with a degassing valve that removes carbon dioxide outside and prevents oxygen from entering. After roasting, coffee emits several liters of carbon dioxide during the day. If you see a package in a store without such a valve, it means that the coffee was not packed immediately after roasting, it had been degassed for some time and had significantly lost its taste. Essential oils partially volatilize during degassing.

Look at the roast date. The closer it is to today's date, the better. Ideally, no later than two weeks, but this is difficult to achieve even for shops specializing in coffee and tea only.

Take coffee beans. There are several reasons for this.

1. Self-ground coffee eliminates the presence of impurities in the cup. It is easier for unscrupulous producers to mix cheaper robusta varieties and even chicory, malt, barley, rye into ground coffee. It is better to grind yourself, even in the simplest coffee grinder.
2. Essential oils are the basis of coffee taste. As we now know, oxygen is the main enemy of the right taste. Grinding before direct brewing will maximize the aroma of the beans.
3. You have more opportunities to experiment. Coffee for espresso machines requires a medium grind, for a French press - coarse, and for a Turkish coffee should resemble flour.
4. You will be able to evaluate the shape of the grain itself, make sure that the grains are the same size, matte and whole. The uniformity of the grains excludes the addition of cheaper robusta. The shine indicates that the grain is stale and has already begun to release essential oils. The shards will give bitterness as they roast harder than whole grains. Of course, you can understand all this only when you open the package and draw conclusions about the manufacturer for the future.

Water

Ideally - spring, but you can do with filtered. The main thing - do not take water directly from the tap and do not use boiled water.

Spices

Some coffee lovers add a little salt during preparation, which helps to better reveal the taste and aroma of coffee and reduce bitterness. If you decide on salt, then take the most common cooked coarse grind. With the extra variety, there is a risk of oversalting, and iodized salt will give an unpleasant aftertaste.

We pass from theory to practice - brewing coffee.

Making coffee in a Turk

Choosing a Turk

The Turk has been known since the times of the Ottoman Empire, and, in fact, the name of this tableware speaks of its origin. In its historical homeland, it is called a cezve, and both names have taken root in the Russian language.

Today the Turks are made from a variety of materials: copper, aluminum, stainless steel, brass and even ceramics. There are both small Turks for a 100 ml cup, and large ones for a solid mug.

Among coffee lovers, preference is given to the copper little Turks.

The copper heats up evenly, and the small volume allows you to maximize the taste of the grain.

Aluminum cookware heats up quickly, but in principle it is undesirable to use it for cooking any food, since this material reacts with food when heated. The stainless steel warms up unevenly, which is why a hotbed of the highest temperature appears in the center of the dishes, the coffee begins to boil, although the temperature has not yet reached the desired mark at the edges.

Ceramics and clay also heat up, but these materials continue to give off heat, even when you have already removed the dishes from the stove: the foam will continue to rise, and there is a risk that you will flood the table or stove. Due to the porous structure, clay cezves absorb odors well, so over time the taste of coffee will only get better, but you can only use it for preparing one variety.

If you have an induction cooker, then it makes no sense to take a ceramic Turk: it simply will not heat up. In the case of buying a copper one, pay attention to the fact that in its bottom there should be special inserts on which induction will be induced.

The most regular shape of the Turks is the traditional conical one with a funnel-shaped bell. The cone will not allow the thicker to get up, and the bell will prevent the foam from rising too quickly, which is especially important for those who have not had experience using this dish before. The handle can be of any length, but the longer it is, the more convenient it will be for you to remove the Turk from the fire.

Cooking in turk

We rinse the Turk, add 1 teaspoon of finely ground coffee and add 75 ml of cold water. Add sugar or a few grains of salt before we put the Turk on low heat. These components slow down the boiling process somewhat and make the foam denser.

We put on fire, heat, but do not bring to a boil. Your main task now is not to be distracted and wait for the moment when the foam rises. Remember the funnel-shaped bell? It will increase your chances of catching this moment and preventing coffee from pouring over the stove.

We remove the Turk from the fire, let the foam settle and put it on the fire again. The foam should rise three times and you should lower it three times. The process is clearly shown in this video.

Using a turk is not easy, it requires attention and certain skills. But it is this method of brewing coffee that has many followers, since a minimum of equipment is required: only the right dishes and a stove.

Making coffee in a geyser coffee maker

Choosing a coffee maker

The first geyser coffee makers appeared in the 1930s. By the way, the company that designed them still exists today - the Italian Bialetti. Today coffee makers of this type are produced by different companies.

When buying, you should focus on the material from which the coffee maker is made. You should definitely not take aluminum specimens. But stainless steel or ceramics is a matter of taste.

Pay attention to the number of cups the coffee maker prepares at a time.

In the case of a geyser coffee maker, you will not be able to pour less water and put a spoonful of coffee in order to make one for yourself instead of six cups. You should always prepare the full volume. Moreover, different manufacturers may interpret the volume of one cup differently. For someone it is 40 ml, for someone - 100. Find out this point before buying.

Cooking in a geyser coffee maker

We choose medium-ground coffee, put it into the filter. If later it turns out that coffee particles are floating in your cup, it means that the grinding was not coarse enough. Pour water into the bottom of the coffee maker.

As soon as the water boils, remove from the heat. In this case, there is no need to be afraid of boiling, since the coffee itself will not heat up to 100 ° C. The water, under the pressure of the steam generated during the boiling, will pass through the filter with the coffee and settle on the top of the coffee maker. With an electrical device, it's even easier: as soon as the coffee is ready, it turns itself off.

The whole process is shown in detail in the video instruction below.

If water leaks from the sides during use, it means that you have loosely tightened the parts or have exceeded the maximum mark for water.

Making coffee with an air press

Choosing an airport

Aeropress is one of the newest ways to brew coffee. The device was invented in 2005 by Aerobie and has become so popular that since 2008, annual championships have been held for brewing coffee in an airpress.

There are no difficulties with choosing an airport: the device is quite simple, the equipment of the goods may change slightly from year to year, the manufacturer adds additional stirring spoons, replaceable filters, funnels. The reason why it became possible to hold coffee brewing competitions is in the intricacies of using this simple device.

Cooking in an airpress

Grind 1, 5 tablespoons of coffee, pour into a flask. The grinding should be slightly coarser than for the Turk. You need to prepare 200 ml of hot water - not boiling water, the temperature should be around 90 ° C. If you have a kettle with a thermostat, then you can find the exact temperature. If not, wait three minutes after the kettle boils.

Fill the coffee with water. And from this moment the magic begins. The taste and strength of the drink depends on how long you keep the coffee in the flask and when you start stirring. It is no coincidence that a special application was released for iOS that tells how long coffee should be kept in an air press.

Owners of Android smartphones are a little less fortunate: they can only use a universal application that covers different ways of making coffee. There are also tips for the owners of air presses.

After the coffee has matured from one to three minutes, put the filter on the flask, turn the aeropress over and slowly push the coffee through the filter into the cup. If the piston is running hard, use a slightly coarser grind next time. The cooking process is shown in detail in this video.

Aeropress is very convenient to use, compact, easy to clean, coffee is brewed very quickly, and fine-tuning opens a truly limitless field for experimenting with the taste of your favorite drink. The only drawback is that there will be no coffee crema with this brewing method, since the water is heated separately from the beans.

Making coffee in a French press

Choosing a French press

Traditionally, a French press is made of glass. The material, albeit fragile, is neutral, which does not react in any way with the contents. More expensive models have more reliable springs and a strainer that is resistant to frequent use. But in general, it doesn't really matter which model you choose. The main thing is to decide on the volume of coffee that you plan to brew in it.

Cooking in a French press

Lifehacker has already written about the intricacies of using a French press for brewing coffee. Let's add only video instructions.

For those who like to experiment with the taste of the drink, we also recommend that you look at the articles about unusual ways of making coffee and mouth-watering toppings that are worth trying.