“Don’t look back, don’t give up, pour yourself another cup,” Paul Carrack sang on the mid-‘90s Mike + The Mechanics song “Another Cup of Coffee” — and it’s advice that bears emphasis today, given how reinvigorating a great cup of coffee can be to drink.
How, though, can you make a cup of coffee ‘great’? Here are just a few worthy pointers.
Source your Coffee Beans Fresh
EatingWell insists: “Without question, coffee is best when used within days of being roasted.” Theoretically, the closer your coffee beans are to the source when you buy them, the fresher they will be.
Primarily, though, you should make sure your coffee beans come from quality-conscious roasters and are sold in sturdy, vacuum-sealed bags, as these can lock in freshness.
Be Careful how you Store Coffee Beans
Once you have opened their original packaging, those beans should be kept in an airtight container, such as a glass canning jar or ceramic storage crock with a rubber-gasket seal. Roasted beans should never be refrigerated, as they too easily take up moisture.
Choose the Right Coffee Making Machine
If you’ve already got one, it might make financial sense for you to simply keep using that particular coffee maker. However, it’s not necessarily going to be capable of making optimum-quality coffee.
Real Homes states: “Arguably, the best tasting cup of coffee is made using whole beans which can be ground using a coffee maker or grinder.” Fortunately, there are various bean-to-cup coffee making machines available to buy online.
Use Good Water
What exactly does ‘good’ mean in this context? It certainly doesn’t mean tap water tinged with chlorine and potentially tasting a little ‘off’. Softened or distilled water would also be a no-no, as too many essential minerals will have been sacrificed.
Coffee-drinking aficionados tend to make their coffee with either bottled spring water or water from taps with activated charcoal/carbon filters fitted on them.
Don’t Skimp on the Quality of your Coffee Filters
You might be able to pick up quite a few cut-price paper ones at a bargain price, but the coffee’s quality would suffer as a result, according to expert opinion. It would be worth your while for you to look out for ‘oxygen-bleached’ or ‘dioxin-free’ paper filters instead.
Trying a new kind of coffee? Don’t be too quick to add the cream and sugar
Before making these additions, you should see how the coffee tastes as it already is. In an article for The Inspired Home, writer Destiny Alfonso enthuses: “I just recently found a coffee that hardly needs ANY sugar! So I add just a touch of almond milk for a smoother taste and that’s it.”
Remember to Regularly Clean your Coffee Machine
Otherwise, milk, hard water and coffee grind residue could all accumulate inside it and jeopardise the standard of the coffee you subsequently make with the machine.
Incidentally, it could already include built-in features that always conveniently rinse out the machine before it is used, making it even easier for you to enjoy an unblemished coffee.
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