How to make café quality coffee at home
Imagine if you could brew the perfect coffee at home to create your own amazing sensory experience every day. Being able to choose your favourite beans and your preferred coffee-making process, it’s also a more affordable option, saving you money on your daily takeaway.
From the moment the aroma of fresh beans fills your kitchen, to your first indulgent sip, and the deliciously smooth aftertaste – we’ll show you how to make a café-quality coffee at home.
Step 1. Decide on your taste preferences
Do you prefer a light, medium or dark roast? Do you enjoy a bright, fruity coffee… or a rich, chocolatey one?
Once you know what flavours you prefer, you can then begin to explore different bean origins.
Step 2. Get to know where your coffee comes from
Coffee grown in different regions will each have a unique acidity, strength and flavour profile. For example, beans from Ethiopia are known for their fruity and floral notes, while beans from Brazil tend to have a nutty, chocolatey taste.
Take our Bob-Bob Arabica and Robusta blend for instance. It includes beans from Ethiopia, Brazil, Peru, Columbia and India. A delicious combination, the resulting flavour is characterised by a low acidity, with rich velvety tones of orange citrus and decadent chocolate.
Step 3. Use high quality coffee beans
Using a premium quality bean has a huge impact on the aroma, flavour and after-taste of your coffee.
How do you know if coffee is good quality? You can gauge this by the aroma, taste and shape of the beans.
Specialty coffee is considered to be of premium quality because it must meet a range of growing, processing and roasting standards.
For example, coffee grown in the shade under a natural forest shade canopy produces a higher quality bean than sun grown coffee. Additionally, microlot batches – where beans are grown at high altitudes in nutrient-rich soil - are also known to be of exceptional quality.
Step 4. Your beans must be fresh
Always purchase beans that have been roasted recently - locally roasted beans are always best.
Once opened, store your coffee in an airtight container at room temperature. This shields it from sunlight and helps keep it fresher for longer. Never refrigerate or freeze your coffee, as the bean is extremely absorbable and will take in moisture.
Grind your beans only as you need them. This will keep your at-home coffee as fresh as possible. You may also want to consider a coffee subscription, ensuring your favourite coffee is regularly delivered fresh to your door.
Step 5. Use a burr grinder
Did you know the grind size of coffee determines how quickly the flavours are extracted from the beans?
Smaller particles extract faster than bigger particles. This is why it’s important to achieve an exact grind, matched for your coffee making method. A burr grinder consistently produces a very specific grind size, making it easy for you to the perfect coffee at home.
Step 6. Invest in scales and get your coffee-to-water ratio correct
This is an important element of making a café quality coffee at home. Different coffees and blends can vary widely in terms of size and density. Rather than use a spoon, scales allow you to use the same amount of coffee to water ratio every time, ensuring a consistent flavour.
A good rule of thumb is to stick to a ratio of 18 grams of coffee to 300ml of water.
Step 7. Ensure your water is at the optimal brewing temperature
While you can make your coffee with a regular kettle, a pouring kettle gives you more control in achieving an even extraction. Pouring kettles with a built-in thermometer will ensure your water is at the optimal temperature for brewing (93˚C)
While the temperature of your water affects the speed of extraction, it also affects what gets extracted. Brewing at the right temperature brings out the sweetness of coffee, without extracting the bitterness.
Step 8. Brew your coffee at home with filtered water
Because around 98.5% of brewed coffee is water, its quality and taste plays a huge role in how your cup will taste.
If your tap water has a strong chlorine taste or slight odour, it’s best to use spring water or water that has been through a home filtration process.
Step 9. Find the right brewing method for you
With a range of different methods available for brewing your coffee at home, it’s important to choose the one that suits your lifestyle and your taste preference.
If you prefer a rich, bold brew, the French press could be right for you. Or perhaps you’re after a simple stove top espresso? Maybe you enjoy the process of a pour over, or like to brew a delicious coffee in your espresso machine?
Whichever method you ultimately choose, be sure to experiment first! Try different beans, different roasts and different ways of making your coffee. It’s the only way to truly find and create your favourite daily ritual.
If you already understand your taste preferences and are looking to try a range of specialty coffee blends, our Taster Kits are the perfect option. Offering sample sizes of Billy-Bob, Bob-Bob and Misty Mac, it’s a wonderful opportunity for you to try the different roasts, acidities and flavours. You can also match them to your favourite brewing method.