Today feels like I woke up from hibernation. I can hear the buzz of early-morning commuters and birds too excited about Spring. Every movement feels executed, like a baby in his first steps.
One glimmer of hope as I shuffle to the kitchen is the light now coming through my blinds. Never been a fan of the dark, gloomy Winter mornings.
Most of us have our morning coffee rituals. For me, the only ritual to coffee is that it’s my first movement of the day.
Today’s selection is drip coffee. It’s one I often find myself utilizing because of its practicality in time as well as quantity. There is less guilt in going for a third cup when it’s out of a giant coffee pot.
Usually it’s me making the coffee, but I’m a morning person in a house of late-risers. It’s funny how working in coffee has designated me to the job anywhere I go; though it’s no mind to me. I don’t think there’s anything better than making someone’s morning a little brighter.
My family and friends always compliment me on my ability to make coffee taste better, even drip coffee with whatever machine they’re using. There’s a myth that drip coffee just sort of provides a basic coffee, but it’s less about the machine than what goes into it.
Today’s the day I reveal my secrets, or at least get my lazy friends to get up and make the pot themselves. I’m going to list some tips on how to make drip coffee better and talk about why. In a lot of ways drip coffee is no different than other brewing methods and can yield some tasty results.
So here we go, 5 ways to make your drip better:
- Clean. Seriously, clean your nasty coffee pots people. The first thing I think about in making coffee is: when was the last time this pot was used. It’s a good rule of thumb to clean a pot to make sure theres no mildew or residue to impact the taste of your coffee. Don’t forget to clean the basket where you place the filter and grounds, it’s often black but can get really dirty and seep grounds into the pot
- Coffee. There’s no arguing coffee is best fresh. Best ways to ensure that is that the coffee is within a couple weeks of roast (prime in the first 3-7), and after you grind it, immediately brew. My recommendation here is to not grind coffee the night before. Also, I know there are those of you out there with your coffee in the freezer, I’m looking at you too.
Quick Tip: if you’re grinding your coffee at home, make sure that the grind is set properly. It should look like a coarse sand. Also, always use a burr grinder over a blade grinder. Blades don’t have the grind consistency needed and can ever burn the beans in some cases. Burr grinders crush the coffee.
- Water: Best advice here is to just know how you measure your coffee out and in comparison to how much water you’re putting into the pot. I constantly find myself removing grounds from the basket because I put too much in. Also, use cold water in your pot! Cold tap is usually fresher since it doesn’t sit in a water heater, but also because electronic machines assume you’re using cold water too (timing purposes). Furthermore, use good drinking water that you’d drink regularly, but know filtered coffee doesn’t often have the necessary molecules for coffee to attach to for taste.
- Pre-infusion: Handy little tip someone showed me. When I turn the machine on, I remove the pot so that the water sits in the basket for a little bit, probably about 30-45 seconds or until the basket is just above half-way full. This lets the coffee have some R&R with the water, or maybe they’re sitting over a nice brunch. During this time, there are a lot of aromas and flavors being released in the coffee that make a noticeable difference.
- Quality-testing: This is my favorite part. It’s like your parent handing you the spoon of the cake batter, or the empty bowl that’s primed for your child fingers. It’s also the distinction that makes us coffee enthusiasts: does this taste good? Treat your home coffee better and evaluate it. Does the coffee taste like the original aromas after it was ground? Or in a more general sense, did it taste better than last week. This drives me to think about if my coffee is fresh or what may be lacking in how I made the coffee. Check back at blog post 6 for some inspiration!
I have a notebook for new coffees I try, how I brewed them, and what they tasted like. Knowing my routine is consistent helps me evaluate coffee from roasters or regions of the coffee.
When I first got into coffee, I only had a drip pot. These steps helped me stay into the game with those using fancier brew methods or just compete with the quality of coffee I had at coffee shops.
With those steps, I want to leave you guys with a challenge: make your coffee better! Take the next step whether its grinding at home or buying a new brewing apparatus. With better coffee, our days our enriched. To top it off, try something sweet with your coffee to detect some of those subtle flavors. It also helps if you’re next step is to just drink your coffee black.
This week I’m challenging myself to go back to my aeropress. I also want to revisit a blog from week one and see what sort of milk creation I can create with the “espresso.” You can check my Instagram (@clayton_1life) to see if this week I make something worth a mention!