An Ultimate Beginner's Guide To Coffee Making

The way in which we brew coffee has evolved dramatically since 800AD where the first cup was made by Abbott monks in Ethiopia. This was following the discovery of the coffee cherry by a goat herder named Kaldi. The story goes that the monks believed this was a gift from God, it allowed them to stay awake for long periods of time and gave them more opportunity to pray.

Fast forward to the year 2020 and coffee still helps us stay awake for long periods of time aiding us in completing our daily tasks, but everyone likes their cup in their own certain way.

There are a few things to understand about brewing coffee at home that will really make a difference from your cup of joe to barista brilliance.

Table of Contents

Your Brewing Method Will Change The Flavour

Here’s the thing, there are so many attributing factors that will affect the flavour of your morning cup of coffee so it’s worth knowing the things that will make a big difference. How you brew your coffee is one of these factors and I would highly recommend trying out a number of different methods to discover what suits you best.

The cafe aficionados from Alternative Brewing suggest that you start with the pour-over method as it is the simplest yet remains one of the best ways to make quality coffee. You can try doing this with items that you already have around the house or get your hands on some products that are specifically made for this brewing method.

While we’re pretty sure that your end product will be enjoyable, you are bound to find yourself wanting to learn more about other brewing methods just to taste for yourself just how different the end results could be.

Different brewing methods are making waves in the specialty coffee scene, and in some cases, it’s become so prominent that competitions have been created around those methods, The Aeropress Championships, and the Brewers Cup are two examples of this.

If you’re pulling an espresso from a home machine then you will have a small drink, around 50ml, that’s packed full of powerful flavours and a thick creamy head, whereas if you were to brew your cup using a Chemex then you would have a larger drink, usually around 250 – 350ml, that’s very light and delicate in flavour almost making it tea-like.

Choosing your brewing method isn’t something that happens overnight and will also depend on what coffee you are using, but we will get to that later, so take your time to experiment and find out what you love about each one.

Yes, The Coffee Matters!

Something I am always shocked with is the sheer volume of people that don’t realize how important sourcing a good coffee is, with the number of small roasteries rocketing at the moment, getting a good coffee to work with is no excuse. Before any bag of coffee reaches the kitchen counter it’s been through quite a journey and each step affects the flavour, I’ll summarise.

Firstly we should understand that coffee is similar to wine in many ways, the tree in which it comes from will affect the flavour. Most of us have heard of Malbec or Merlot, but have you heard of Bourbon or Geisha? Getting to know the flavour characteristics of each coffee tree will help you have a better understanding of what you like.

Once the coffee has been picked then it needs to be stripped of its fruit, washed, dried, and shipped. There are 3 main processing methods and each one will give you a different outcome:

Natural – this doesn’t make the others unnatural, this is just a process that involves leaving the cherry on whilst drying the coffee fruit after it’s been picked. This means it will have more of a fruit and fermented flavour due to its elongated time with the natural sugars of the fruit.
Washed – this is where the fruit is taken off (known as de-pulping) and the coffee is washed and then dried. This gives a very clean flavour and highlights how well the coffee has been grown.
Honey – where coffee is de-pulped but not washed and left to dry with remanence of the coffee cherry left on the bean. This can be seen as a processing method that’s directly between Natural and Washed.

There’s a lot to discover when it comes to choosing a good coffee so if you’re feeling a little overwhelmed try and speak to a local roaster, if you let them know what kind of flavours you like in a coffee they will be more than happy to help.

Water Matters!

This comes as a bit of a shock to nearly everyone I speak to, but when thinking logically it becomes obvious that an ingredient making up 97% of your cup would affect its flavour. Without going into the science, water needs to have a certain mineral content and be at a certain ph level to have the best chance of brewing an amazing cup.

To keep it simple I would suggest using a water filter or bottled water. If you want to find out more then there are loads of websites that will explain the science behind water and coffee.

Recipe Matters!

You can’t expect to brew well if you have thrown in what looks to be the right amount of coffee with an unknown quantity of water. Coffee is a science and should be treated the same way we treat baking, a measured amount of coffee goes in with a deliberate amount of water at a certain temperature and left to brew for a recorded amount of time. There are literally thousands of recipes online and if you get really into it then you can get hold of some recipes used by champions of the coffee world!

Don’t Boil It!

One of the most common mistakes I hear about is people brewing their cup of coffee with boiling water, don’t do it. Coffee isn’t as hardy as tea and we should wait a few minutes after we have boiled the kettle before using it, we don’t want it to burn after all. Coffee from espresso machines is brewed around 94 degrees Celcius!

Whilst there are a million more doors that can be opened when brewing coffee at home, these are the five things I believe that every novice coffee drinker should understand. If you get to know the things you like then you will always be able to make yourself a nice cup, there’s always time to make yourself something you’re going to enjoy. If you like the thought of geeking out then have fun on the coffee journey you’re about to embark on.