Best Coffee

When trying to determine what the best coffee is there’s so much more to consider than the quality of the product itself.  How much does it cost, and is it worth the price?  Is it ethically sourced?  What methods can (or can’t) be used to make it?  There’s also the matter of personal preference, which muddies the search for answers even more.  Coffee drinkers, and coffee connoisseurs, in particular, can be very opinionated when it comes to which is the ‘best’.

How To Make The Best Coffee?

Making the best coffee involves a little knowledge and prepwork.  There are many different coffee methods like pressure methods and gravity methods, and different machines like French press and drip coffee makers.  Each and every machine and technique involves its own unique elements like timing, pressure, temperature.  It can also make a huge difference if you grind the beans right before making the coffee or are using pre-ground beans from the store.  

Aside from making sure you have the best coffee grinder and best coffee maker for the job (whether it’s the best drip coffee maker or best French press), there are other tools often used.  Naturally you’ll want coffee filters and your favorite mug, but some methods call for specific measurements so it’s important to make sure your kitchen is stocked with measuring spoons and cups, as well as a scale.  Spoons are great for stirring in milk and creamer after its made but some methods require you stir before the final pour, so you may need a longer stirring stick (chopsticks work as well).

What Is The Best Coffee Maker?

This is a tricky one to answer because different coffee makers and methods work better for different types of roasts, and for achieving certain flavors.  Single-origin beans and light roasts work better with the pour over method.  Cold-brew on the other hand works well for medium roasts.  Medium dark roasts are best served using a French press or espresso maker, while truly dark roasts are best done with pressure methods like espresso or using an Aeropress.

Of course, it’s never a bad idea to experiment with method and roast type to find a flavor that’s truly unique and perfectly suited for your taste.  But some types of coffee simply don’t work well with certain methods and coffee makers.  For example, finely ground is a poor choice for the pour over method because the smaller grounds inhibit the flow of water.  Flavor is extracted more quickly from dark-roasted coffee beans than light-roasted coffee beans.

What Is The Best Coffee?

Aside from flavor, there’s one other thing that needs to be considered when determining the best coffee- caffeine.  Yes, it’s usually the biggest draw to drinking coffee, but not everyone drinks for the caffeine.  Plenty of people shouldn’t or can’t for health reasons.  The process of decaffeinating coffee not only removes the caffeine, however, but it can also strip some of the natural compounds that give the coffee its rich flavors.  That’s why the flavor of decaf is always a hit or miss.  If you’re someone who shouldn’t or can’t drink caffeine you’ll want to be extra cautious of which brands of decaf coffee you buy, as some are simply better tasting than others.

How To Make The Best French Press Coffee? 

As is true with most coffee makers, it’s best to avoid using pre-ground coffee in a French press as they’ve lost most of their aroma and flavor while on the shelves.  If you prefer to stick to pre-ground though, find some that are made to be used with a French press coffee maker or look for the word ‘coarse’.  You’ll want to have your beans coarsely ground, not too fine.  Finely ground beans allow for more flavor to be extracted, but they’re likely to cause over-extraction and make your drink unpleasantly bitter.  The best coffee grinder to pair with a French press would be a burr grinder, as it creates a more even grind size.

The water to coffee ratio is extremely important for brewing a cup with that robust flavor you’re looking for.  If you want something slightly stronger than the average drip coffee maker, 1:15 is a decent coffee-to-water ratio to follow.  You’ll also want to have a scale handy to make sure your measurements are exact.  When pouring the water into the coffee maker you’ll want to do so in a spiral motion, or anything that lets you submerge every ground evenly.  If the grounds have their coffee extracted at the same time, the flavor is more balanced.

After the first pour wait thirty seconds, then fill the rest of the carafe and give it an even stir.  Be sure not to stir too fast or the extraction process will be thrown off, potentially ruining the flavor of your coffee.  Give it that long-awaited first press without completely touching the bottom, and then wait four minutes.  When four minutes have passed press down again, this time hitting the bottom, without pressing too hard or too fast (again, this can make your drink excessively bitter).

If you’re not going to drink everything in one sitting or want to finish it at a leisurely pace, store the rest of the coffee in a separate carafe or pitcher.  The longer the grounds sit in the water the more bitter the drink will become.

Final Word On How To Make The Best Cup Of Coffee?

Ultimately how to make the best cup of coffee comes to two things- knowing what flavor you want to create, and what you’ll need to make it.  But don’t be afraid to experiment and try all sorts of different combinations.  Half the fun of coffee is the endless different ways it can be made and enjoyed, the other half is actually enjoying it.  Bottoms up!