So you want to brew coffee at home?
Yes, instant coffee is horrible.
If you opened this post thinking I would tell you which instant coffee to buy or making a cup of coffee is just mixing powder with hot water, I am sorry, this is not about it.
This will be about how to start making a delicious cup of coffee at home. I will cover which equipment to buy and which method to choose based on your preference for coffee.
Also - I will try to keep the costs low. If you haven't figured it out already, coffee is an expensive hobby, not because the equipment is pricey, but because there are so many ways you can make coffee, and once you start, you want to try them all.
I have been brewing coffee at home for over 5 years now. I grind my beans and make a cup every morning. So today I pen down thoughts and recommendations.
Table of Contents
What do you prefer?
I will talk 4 ways to get started - mokapot, french press, aeropress and pour over, along with what equipment is needed.
This is your guide to choosing which method to pick. If you -
Prefer it black: literally any method
Prefer with milk: Mokapot - Best. You can also experiment with French press and Aeropress to get concentrated coffee.
Want it quick: French press is your best bet
Appreciate all the characteristics of the beans: Pour over
Beginner-friendly but not too easy: Aeropress
How do we get the beans? The best is to buy whole beans and grind them just before you brew. You will need a grinder for this. Grinders are the costliest part of a home brewing setup. They should be. Getting a good one that gives you a consistent grind is crucial in brewing a good cup. We wrote about grind sizes and how to tweak them in the Grind size post.
To begin with, you can buy ground beans based on the brewer you want to use.
While going through the brewing methods below, I will cover an overview of each type and not get into the nuances - to avoid this post getting any longer. But I promise to cover all the details in future issues.
Regarding the equipment, having a kitchen scale handy helps immensely to get consistent cups. When you measure out how much coffee and water go in, it because easy to adjust and alter.
Mokapot
I would call this a wannabe espresso, popularly known as a stove-top espresso. This is best to drink as is if you are an espresso person. It suits well if you plan on adding milk. Or you can add more water to make it an Americano.
The coffee is espresso-like, strong and bold. Medium and dark roasts work well with this. Light roasts feel too sour sometimes.
Equipment: Mokapot and a stove/electric stove.
How you brew: Fill water (preferably hot) upto the valve, fill the basket with ground coffee, screw the lid and put the mokapot a stove on low heat. Wait till coffee brews and collects on the top chamber.
French Press
Lot of people, including me, begin with this. This is the easiest way to get into brewing coffee. You get nice bold black coffee out of it.
Vikra started home-brewing a few months ago and now he can’t start his morning without his French press.
I covered how to start brewing with it in detail in the french press post.
On a side note: if you get a french press, it also doubles as a milk frother.
Equipment: French press, kettle/stove to heat water
How you brew: With the plunger out, fill the french press with ground coffee and hot water. Wait for around 4 minutes, plunge and drink. Easy?
Aeropress
Aeropress looks complex, but it is an easy-to-learn brewing method. Good part? It is generally forgiving with the technique and coffee grind sizes. Perfect for beginners.
This gives nice, clean cups of coffee compared to the french press. Coffee is not muddy like a french press brewed.
I have one and I carry it with me when I travel.
Equipment: Aeropress, filters that you keep buying, and a kettle.
How to brew: In an inverted orientation, put ground coffee and hot water, stir so every ground is wet, wait for around 2 minutes, plunge and drink. Again, easy?
Pour over
This is my daily driver. Pour over method produces some fine coffee taking advantage of the complete flavour profile of the beans you use.
This method is definitely an art. There is some technique you should learn. But then, you can tweak almost every parameter in your technique like the pouring speed, agitation, height from which you pour and see the flavour of the coffee changing.
I love playing with these parameters.
Equipment: Pour over, filters (paper or cloth), and a gooseneck kettle.
If you observe, I mentioned the “gooseneck” kettle. This is important as it controls the pour rate, a crucial part of your technique.
How you brew: Put the pour over on you cup or a coffee server, put the filter in it and rinse it with (preferably hot) water. Get rid of that water. Add your coffee, now pour water in circles on the coffee. We generally don’t pour all the water at once but do multiple pours and time them.
I hope this helps in deciding which method to start with. Or if you already brew at home, which one to move to next :p.
If you want to know more or get any links for the above mentioned equipment, reply and I can send them over.
You generally get the equipment on Amazon, but here are a few coffee specific places where you can find them.
That’s all I have. Have a caffeinated weekend.
See you.
Keep on brewing!