Have you ever noticed that all of your home-brewed cups of coffee may taste a little disappointing compared to the ones you buy in a coffee shop? Well, a Kinross-based roastery has unveiled the secrets to the perfect brew that you can carry out at home.
Brewing the perfect cup of coffee is one of those things that many of us wish we could do but don’t fully know how. How long do we leave it to brew? How hot should the water be? Does it matter what mug we use? Does the coffee need to be ground in a certain way?
Much of the time it is so much easier just to pop out to your local coffee shop and purchase your favourite, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
But having the perfect cup of coffee need not be an aspiration any longer as a roastery, based in Kinross and Stirling, has helped us unlock the secret to perfect coffee – and it’s easier than you think!
Unorthodox Roasters hosted one of their popular coffee brewing sessions online and walked coffee fans through how to make the perfect brew at home.
Using their own brand coffees Stratovolanic, Wax Lyrical and Projekt Java, Chris Bode, one of the roasters and co-founders of Unorthodox Roasters, unlocked the secrets and knowledge we all interested in hearing.
Take a look at the instructions below and follow along with the Instagram video to make it at home – they even let you use your favourite mug.
How to brew the perfect cup of coffee
Serves 1
What you’ll need
- 8.5g coffee (whole beans or ground if you don’t have a grinder)
- 150ml boiling water, straight from the kettle
- Cups or bowls, one of each for each type of coffee you are using
- A selection of spoons
- A set of scales
- A timer/stopwatch
What to do
- Weigh out your coffee into separate bowls per blend to 8.5g.
- Smell the dry fragrance and make note of what the main essence is.
- Pour boiling water straight from the kettle into each cup. Start your timer/stopwatch as the water hits the first cup and ensure there is the same amount of water in each individual cup.
- After four minutes, break the “crust” (there is more explanation of this in the video) with the back of a spoon and inhale the aroma immediately. Be sure to do this with each cup in the same order as you poured water onto the ground coffee.
- Use two spoons to skim off the grounds from the top of the cups.
- After another five minutes (this should be nine in total including the previous four) taste the coffee. Fill your spoon, slurp the coffee and let it aerate over your tongue to taste. Take notes.
- At minute 15 on your timer or stopwatch, taste the coffee again. This will give you a balance between when it’s hot and cold.
- You may wait another four to five minutes and taste again for a third time for final impressions – this is how you properly brew and taste the perfect cup of coffee.