coffee tips

While visiting your favourite cafe to enjoy that morning cuppa is great, you have to admit there’s something magical about not having to step out of your house for a quality cup of coffee.

Be your own barista and follow these eight amazing tips and hacks for the perfect brew right in the comfort of your own home.

1. Buy Whole Beans, Not Pre-ground

It may not seem like a big thing, but you can really taste the difference between pre-ground coffee and whole-bean coffee.

Having a whole-bean coffee means you’re getting the freshest cup possible. If you think about it, it makes sense, too: from seed to plant, coffee beans go through a long process. Once the bean is ground up, it starts to age at a rapid pace.

Whole-bean coffee is generally fresher, has better flavour, and smells a whole lot more impressive.

• Read more: A Guide to Buying the Freshest Coffee Beans

2. Stick to the Good Stuff

This tip seems self-explanatory, but it’s important to be selective and choose quality beans.

If you’re unsure where one would go for quality beans, look to specialty coffee shops, which are more likely to have beans that aren’t over-roasted. If you’re shopping for beans online, don’t bulk buy, and check for a ‘roasted on’ date and not a ‘best by’ date.

When looking at the roast date, search for something that’s been roasted anywhere from seven to 21 days from the said roasted date. Any coffee in this time frame will more or less be as fresh as it can possibly be.

• Read more: Why You Should Care About A Coffee Bean’s Roasting Date

3. Arabica vs Robusta, Light Roasts vs Dark Roasts

A common misconception about pour over coffee: pour hot water over coffee grounds, wait for the coffee to drip, and ta-da! A piping hot cup of delicious coffee!

We hate to burst your bubble, but perfecting the pour over method requires some basic knowledge (and brewing time) to get the best cup of coffee.

Let’s dive deeper into the world of pour overs.

1. Use the Right Grind Size

Brewing a great cup of coffee begins with a consistent grind, regardless which brewing method is used.

The general rule of thumb: the finer the grind, the faster the extraction. Similarly, coarser grounds will reduce the speed of extraction, and may risk a bitter brew due to over-extraction.

For the pour over method, a medium-fine grind is ideal as it allows water to flow through the grounds seamlessly while ensuring a perfect extraction.

• Use this infographic to find out which grind size is best suited for your brewing method.

Pro-tip: Grind your beans just before brewing for a fresher brew.

2. Roast Profile

Some brewing methods lose their flavours in light roasts. However, that’s not the case with the pour over method.

• Read more: From Dark to Light: The Serious Coffee Lovers’ Guide to Coffee Roasts

With its shorter infusion time, a medium to dark roast is recommended as their flavours are e

Crafting a perfect cup of coffee at home is actually easier than it seems. Nonetheless, there are some common mistakes that we can avoid, in order to improve and refine our coffee-making skills.

Let’s learn the fundamentals of brewing while addressing 11 of the most common mistakes that homebrewers make.

1. Not Using Fresh Coffee Beans and Grounds

Most of us are guilty of using coffee beans that have been hanging about in our kitchen cupboard for several months. In fact, the shelf life of coffee beans is a mere 4-5 weeks.

Our pro-tip is to purchase small bags of coffee beans each time, and stay away from store-bought beans. These beans often have an expiry date of 12-24 months, which is way past their shelf life.

For greater convenience, consider signing up for a coffee subscription service which delivers freshly roasted beans to your doorstep at your preferred frequency.

2. Pre-grinding Coffee