Coffee Basics
How to Make Great Coffee at Home
The pillar guide: five variables, and what to do about each one
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Great coffee is not about expensive equipment. It comes down to five variables, and once you can name them you can fix almost any cup.
Start with fresh beans
Coffee is a fresh product. Roasted beans are at their best between about one and four weeks after roasting, and ground coffee begins losing aroma within minutes.
Buy whole beans with a roast date on the bag, in quantities you will finish in a few weeks.
Grind for your brewer
Grind size controls how quickly water pulls flavour out of the coffee. Fine grinds extract fast; coarse grinds extract slowly.
Match the grind to the contact time of your method: espresso is fine, drip is medium, French press and cold brew are coarse.
- Espresso — fine
- AeroPress and pour over — medium-fine
- Drip — medium
- French press — coarse
- Cold brew — extra coarse
Use water you would happily drink
Brewed coffee is about 98% water. Heavily chlorinated tap water will taste like heavily chlorinated coffee, and distilled water makes coffee taste flat and hollow.
A simple filter jug is usually enough. Aim for water between 198 and 205 °F for most brewing methods.
Weigh your ratio
Scoops vary wildly; weight does not. A 1:16 ratio — one ounce of coffee to sixteen ounces of water by weight — suits most filter methods.
If the cup tastes thin, move toward 1:15. If it feels heavy, try 1:17.
Control the time
Each method has a time window that produces balanced extraction. Too short and the coffee tastes sour and thin; too long and it turns bitter and drying.
Change one variable at a time, and taste after each change.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the single biggest upgrade for home coffee?+
A burr grinder. Consistent particle size improves every brewing method more than a new brewer will.
Do I need a scale?+
It is the cheapest way to make your coffee repeatable. Without it you are guessing at the most important variable.
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