As we all spend more time brewing at home, we wanted to share the top 3 elements of brewing a delicious cup of coffee at home. You love coffee! It’s something you have every. single. day. Why not invest in a thing or two to make your coffee that much more enjoyable? Whether you’re working with a drip machine, a French Press, a Chemex… no matter how you brew, these 3 basics will help you achieve barista-level coffee with every batch.

Arm yourself with these 3 basics for delicious coffee at home:

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#1 A PROPER GRINDER
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On the surface it sounds trivial – does a grinder really make that much of a difference? Surprisingly, the consistency of your coffee grind is actually one of the most important factors of extracting the coffee’s natural flavors. Each brewing method lends itself to different grind types for proper extraction of flavor and body. Methods like French Press & Aeropress work well with a a coarser grind, where as pour-over methods work better with finer levels of grinds.

Our Recommendation:
The best type grinder you can buy is a Burr grinder – Burr grinders use 2 blades to ensure that the coffee beans are all cut with the same consistency. Our absolute favorite grinder (truly, we use it ourselves every morning) is the Baratza Encore. It’s beginner friendly and has a wide range of settings for however you brew. For those not wanting to spend over $100 – here’s a well-reviewed burr grinder for $99.

 

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#2 A SCALE
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Brewing the perfect cup of coffee is as much a science as it is an art. One of the biggest mistakes people make when brewing coffee is using too much or too little coffee relative to amount of water they use to brew. A scale takes the guess work out of the equation and is key for a creating a consistent and quality cup. You can’t become a coffee alchemist with guess work! Level-up, Scale-up.

Our Recommendation:
Here’s one of our favorites – although there are several acceptable options out there.

 

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#3 FRESHLY ROASTED COFFEE BEANS
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No amount of high quality gear, not even a fancy countertop machine, can make up for poor quality coffee, and one of the keys to coffee quality is how freshly roasted coffee beans are (there’s also something to be said for where you get your beans from of course!). Especially when you might not be able to go out to grab fresh beans whenever you’re running low, a coffee subscription that roasts your coffee to order and ships it to you, when you need it, is a great option to make sure your coffee is always fresh.

Our Recommendation:
Make sure that you buy your coffee beans fresh and grind them only before your brew. Also keep your coffee beans in a cool, dry place! We understand it’s tempting to stock up, but we strongly recommend against storing your coffee in the fridge / freezer, as this makes the coffee lose most or all of its flavor after just a few days. This is one of the 5 biggest mistakes that people make when brewing coffee.

 

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