Brewing coffee at home - a simple guide

I want you to experience delicious coffee, brewed at home. Here are some handy tips...

  1.  Start with a simple brew method like an aeropress or cafetière  There are fewer variables to control but these simple brew methods can deliver stellar coffee.
  2. Purchase a water filter. 98-99 per cent of your coffee is water. So it stands to reason that the quality of your water affects the flavour of your coffee.
  3. Invest in a coffee grinder. Here's why. Roasted whole bean coffee will stay fresh for many weeks. When you grind the beans you open up the surface area and expose the coffee particles to oxygen. The coffee immediately starts to lose what we love about coffee - it's smell and flavour. Every time you grind, you experience this delight. Invest in a burr grinder, not a blade grinder. The former grinds, the latter chops. Make sure your grinder is suitable for your brew method. (Some grinders don't grind fine enough to make good espresso.)
  4. Only adjust one variable at a time. Always weigh your dose for consistency. If you want it to taste stronger, add more coffee. If you want it to taste weaker, use less coffee. If your coffee tastes too acidic, grind finer. If your coffee tastes too bitter, grind coarser.