Kitchen Hack: Brewing The Most Flavorful Cup of Coffee

Make your morning routine even sweeter by learning to brew the most flavorful cup of coffee possible. Merce Muse, our incredible Food Editor, gave us the scoop on how to craft the perfect cup of java—whether you’re using a french press or standard coffee maker.

If you have a single-serving drip brew (or pour-over) coffee maker…

You’re in luck! This is the simplest, easiest way to make coffee at home.

First, boil 2 1/2 cups of water. Grind 2 to 3 tablespoons of coffee beans to a medium-coarse grind. Think of coarse sea salt or raw sugar.

Next, place the dripper over your coffee cup and place a paper filter in the dripper. Pour half of the boiling water (1 1/4 cups) over the paper filter into the cup. Wetting the filter first gets the taste of the paper out of the filter, and warms up your coffee mug. Surprisingly, having everything at the correct temperature keeps your coffee from taking on that acrid, bitter flavor.

Throw out the water in the cup, and replace the dripper on the cup. Place the grounds in the wet filter. Pour about one quarter of the remaining water over the grounds in a circular motion, starting on the center and working your way towards the edges. Coffee aficionados call this the first pour or the first extraction. As the water saturates the grounds, you’ll see them start to swell up, or “bloom.” Let all of the water drip into the mug before pouring over the rest.

When this first extraction is complete, pour the remaining water over the grounds in a slow, steady stream. Once all the water has dribbled into the cup, your coffee is ready!

If you have a classic drip coffeemaker…

Still make sure to wet the coffee filter first. This will give your morning cup of joe a purer coffee flavor.

If you have a french press…

You also have the means to make a truly great cup of joe in a short time.

Grind your coffee beans as coarsely as possible. A good ratio of grounds to water is 4 to 5 tablespoons per liter.

Next, boil 2 liters of water and let it cool for 1 minute. Warm the french press by pouring 1 liter into it and letting it sit for another minute before emptying it out.

Pour the grounds into the now-warm french press. In one fluid motion (pun intended), pour the remaining liter of water into the press. Let the water sit for 30 seconds, then gently stir and place the top on the french press.

Wait 4 minutes for the coffee to infuse. Most baristas agree that 4 minutes is the ideal brewing time—letting the grounds sit in the water for much longer tends to make the coffee bitter and too strong. When the time is up, plunge the press down to separate the grounds from the perfectly brewed coffee. A delicious cup of coffee awaits!

Photo credit: Hello Goodbye via Unsplash