Most people understand that brewing your own coffee as opposed to stopping by Starbucks everyday can save you quite a bit of money. However, most people aren’t able to get that coffee shop quality or taste when they brew it themselves. The following article will help you learn how you can make consistently great tasting coffee from the comfort of your own home.
Keep your automatic coffee maker clean with white vinegar. Run a brewing cycle with one part water to one part white vinegar. After allowing the carafe to soak in the vinegar for a while, run a cycle with plain water to rinse the machine. Clean your coffee maker once every week or two to remove rancid coffee oils, mold and other contaminants.
Make an effort to buy coffee that is pesticide-free. Coffee is a very absorbent crop, and derives lots of flavor from the soil in which it originated. Enjoy the natural flavor of coffee buy purchasing organic beans.
For people who really enjoy a great cup of coffee, never take your beans or grind out of the freezer and into the hot water. Keep your beans at room temperature prior to brewing. If you have a lot, freeze some and keep enough at room temperature for the week.
Coffee should never be reheated. Just buy yourself a mug that will stay hot for a long time. If that is not feasible, just make another pot to get the most taste.
Don’t just default to storing your coffee in your freezer. Actually, coffee can often take on smells and flavors from other foods. The best storage place for your coffee is an airtight, opaque canister at room temperature. If you really want to freeze or refrigerate it, use a sealable freezer bag.
A great tip when brewing coffee is to always use the right water. You can’t just use any water when brewing coffee. If you’re using dirty tap water, you can probably expect an unpleasant tasting cup of coffee. Good water to use should have some minerals in it that will help to extract the best flavor.
Don’t throw away your old coffee grounds. They can serve a wide variety of useful purposes in your home. They can help clean your dishes and get rid of backyard pests. In addition, they can be used as compost in your garden. Finally, they even have some beauty uses! It’s amazing what these old coffee grounds can do.
Never drink coffee in the eight hours prior to going to bed. The half-life of caffeine can range from 30 minutes to 8 hours, so this is the only sure fire way of having it out of your system when it is time to rest. Otherwise, you are going to need even more caffeine the next day. A coffee habit can be a little healthy, but caffeine dependency is bad news.
To cut down on acidic coffee, pull out that salt shaker. You can use just a pinch of salt in your coffee grounds when brewing to curb the acidity of the brew. Be careful not to overdo it. Too much salt will obviously change the overall taste of the brew.
Before you decide on a drive-thru establishment that you want to purchase from each morning, try them all to get an idea of the one you like the most. The last thing that you will want to do is settle for a mediocre coffee, if there is a place that you would enjoy better.
Avoid buying coffee beans from bins where several of the beans are visibly broken. Chances are these beans are either old and dry or have been exposed to heat or light. All of these conditions allow the rich flavor of fresh beans to seap out. A bin full of fresh beans should also have a very strong aroma.
Eliminate the expense of coffee shop lattes by making your own at home. With practice you can even teach yourself to create the fancy designs produced by the baristas at your favorite local coffee shop. All you need to perfect your design is patience and practice. Pour the milk into the cup slowly and finish with melted chocolate.
As with everything, don’t overdo it when drinking coffee. Excessive coffee drinking can leave you dehydrated. You need at least a few glasses of water for each coffee cup to maintain a balance. Multiple cups of coffee are very likely to cause dehydration, so take care when it comes to consumption levels.
For the freshest coffee, buy fresh beans. If you have the choice, buy from a professional roaster and ask the roaster the time since roasting on the beans you are considering. Look for beans that were roasted that day. Steer clear of store-bought brands, especially those that you pick from bins. Those have more than likely lost flavor due to being in direct light.
In order to brew the very best cup of coffee possible at home, try to purchase a coffee maker that has an integrated charcoal filtration mechanism. By ensuring that the water used to make each cup is as pure and clean as it can be, you can rest assured that you are extracting the best possible flavor from your beans or ground coffee.
Do your own math. The ratio of coffee to water you use is very important. However, not all coffee pots are alike. Pay attention to how much your coffee pot will hold. Don’t just trust the instructions on the back of your coffee’s packaging. Do your own math to get the ratio just right.
If you are in the habit of drinking a couple cups of coffee every day, you should think twice about having it if you get pregnant. The effects of caffeine on your unborn baby may be harmful, especially if you drink it in the first trimester. It is best to cut out other caffeinated drinks also.
As was mentioned earlier in this article, making your own coffee often doesn’t result in coffee shop quality java. However, when you implement the tips and tricks given in this article, you are mere moments away from creating wonderful tasting coffee that is sure to brighten up your morning.