If you’re like me, one of the things you may miss most is picking up a great cup of coffee from your favorite coffee shop. The good news is this: Now is a perfect time to work on your barista skills. Whatever your perfect cup may look like, here is a guide for making that perfect cup. No matter your method (unless you’re using a Keurig or machine, more on those later), to get a great cup of coffee you need three basic things.
BASICS
First things first. You have to have good beans. A coffee subscription like Trade will keep your kitchen stocked with always fresh, always delicious local beans from amazing roasters across the country. Once you have your beans, you need to be weighing them. A counter scale is excellent for this. You want to be able to weigh your beans out so you can perfect your coffee to water ratio. This differs depending on exactly how much coffee you’re using compared to the ratio of water. The necessary ratio differs depending on what method you’re using. If it sounds intense, it’s really not, and I guarantee, you’ll never make coffee without weighing it again. Another item you need is a good coffee grinder. I normally grind my beans at the grocery store, but I took this time to finally invest in something I’ve known I’ve needed for a while now. This coffee grinder allows you to grind small amounts of beans at home, so the rest of your beans stay fresher for longer. It also has multiple settings so you can hone in on your perfect grind, depending on your method. The Burr grind means no essential oils are lost while grinding coffee, so your coffee will remain flavorful, too.
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PERFECT POUR OVER
If you’ve ever wondered why the coffee at your favorite coffee shop is so good, it’s likely they’re doing a pour over. A pour over is my favorite coffee extraction method. For it you need a V60 cone. It’ll go over your mug of your choice, and then you’ll place a filter in there. Pre-wet the filter with a splash of water. Measure in about 23 grams of fine ground coffee (about as fine as kosher salt) using your scale, then pour in about 50 grams of water to “bloom” it. Blooming releases CO2 which is what makes your coffee bitter. After about 10 seconds, slowly pour in more water moving in concentric circles so water is distributed evenly. For this, I love my gooseneck kettle because it allows me to pour with precision. For 23 grams of coffee, you’ll want to add 350 grams of water for an absolutely perfect cup.
CAPPUCCINO TIME
I love a good cappuccino in the morning, and this might be what I miss getting most from my coffee shop. No one makes it like your coffee shop does. But you can try, and without investing in a whole espresso machine. I have a Bialetti Moka Pot, which works on any stovetop. Grind about 20 grams of coffee as fine as you would for espresso, fill the bottom chamber with hot water, screw on the sprouted top, and set on your stovetop over medium heat. When the water in the bottom starts to boil it will push coffee upwards and you’ll hear a delicious burble. Turn it off, pour, and froth some milk in a milk frother. Now tell me that doesn’t taste delicious, and look beautiful in these cappuccino cups.
FRENCH PRESSING
French presses are excellent options for more reason than one. They make great batches of coffee and are simple to use. Just put in 60 grams of coarse ground coffee per 700 grams of water, steep it for five minutes, press it, and drink up. But what I really love about french presses, and what I’ve been using mine for, is for a cold brew maker. That’s right. You can make cold brew in them by just adding about 100 grams of coarse ground coffee, and three cups of cold water. Let it sit for about 14 hours, press, and strain into wherever you’d like to keep it. If you want to get really fancy, you can pour some of the cold brew into this ice tray to make coffee ice cubes. This is my favorite, as you can put cold brew on cold brew ice to keep your morning or afternoon coffee spicy.
MY KEURIG SECRET
This cup will not match your local coffee shop by a long shot. But I must confess, I’ve drunk a lot of Keurig coffee in my day. All I’ll say is this: This K-Cup is the only one I’d ever ever use if I had a Keurig at home. But please please please recycle them when you’re done. Or if you want to customize your K-Cups, you can go for this eco-friendly option. These reusable K-Cups allow you to put whatever grind you want in them, and you don’t have to throw them out after. Win, win.
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