“How do baristas at coffee shops do it? They make a perfect cup every time, but why can’t I seem to get it right at home? What am I doing wrong?”
If you have found yourself wondering these exact things, you’re not alone. Often times you brew a cup, or a pot for that matter, of coffee expecting the elixir to bring you new life, but it just falls flat. The aroma is decent, the flavors are all but nonexistent, and the warmth you through your soul would feel is nowhere to be found.
Never fear, we’re here to help. We want every single person to be able to brew the perfect cup every time with our medium roast Yemeni coffee beans.
The simple answer is to add more grounds. But there’s a whole lot more where that came from, so read on you a fanatic.
It begins with the purchasing of the beans. The first, and possibly most vital, the step is to get a pure, robust bean heaping with flavor, like our beans straight from Yemen. Without this, it doesn’t matter what you do next, your brew will likely not be exactly what you were hoping for. A medium roast bean is the safest bet as you can go extremely weak or extremely strong, but let’s be honest here- what coffee lover doesn’t want a strong, piping cup first thing in the morning?
Once you’ve found your perfect match (we’re still talking coffee beans here), the next step is the grinding process. Any coffee connoisseur will tell you that this step cannot be ignored. Grinding the beans yourself just before brewing will make the coffee taste fresher and therefore more flavorful. The grind size of the beans also matters as it can determine how much flavor is released and at what speed. If the size is wrong, it can adversely affect the taste you get entirely.
The brewing method you chose can also partially determine how strong of a taste you will get. An espresso maker or French press is going to give you the boldest flavors. You can also choose to turn the espresso into an Americano, latte, cappuccino, Mocha, or macchiato as these are all made with espresso. However, for now, we’ll stick with the regular stuff.
The simplest way to make espresso is with a stovetop espresso maker or Moka pot. You’ll want to grind the beans fine to extra fine for this, and then fill the basket to the top. To get a stronger cup, press the grounds (gently) into the basket to fit as much as possible. Then fill the bottom chamber with water and let the machine do its work. Once it is finished, pour the espresso into a cup and pour hot water over it. This will produce a bold cup of coffee much stronger than a regular drip coffee machine would give you.
Another method is using a French press, or plunger. If you have a smaller plunger you may want to use a medium grind size. Otherwise, you should use a nice course grind. Start out by measuring 2 scoops, or tablespoons, of grounds per 6 ounces of water. If this isn’t strong enough, you can always go back and add more grounds. Feel free to experiment here to find what you really like best! Place the grounds into the pitcher, pour over the correct amount of hot water, place the plunger on top (but do NOT press it down yet), and allow it to steep for about10 minutes, the longer the better. Once it is done brewing, push the plunger down slowly and pour into a cup. And there you have it.
Enjoy your homemade cup of liquid gold, we’ll talk later!