Brew your best with these coffee hacks
Be your own barista
Nothing beats a good brew, but barista blended coffee is a bit of an indulgence – a R40 cup of coffee isn’t something (most of us) can afford a couple of times a day.
This is why we have scoured the internet for the best, easiest and most affordable coffee – hacks to help you up your brewing game and treat yourself and your guests, one cup at a time. Here’s how you can be your own barista.
What goes into coffee? (And why does it matter?)
Water
It seems like such a silly thing, but the quality and purity of your water really does matter. While we are lucky in South Africa, with most of municipalities’ tap water being perfectly fine for consumption, this doesn’t mean that it’s good enough for a coffee connoisseur. We suggest getting a good water filter for your kitchen and using filtered wate for cooking and drinking. This won’t just improve the taste of your coffee, but also protect your kettle from limescale deposits.
Temperature
We talk about “boiling” the kettle to make coffee, but is this right? According to Columbia Coffee Roasters, an Oxford based coffee company, the correct temperature for brewing coffee is between 90.5 – 96.1 C, which is slightly below the boiling temperature of water at 100 C. If your water is too cold, your coffee won’t reach a depth of flavour and be tasteless, not achieving a good brew. When your water is to warm, you can burn your coffee and create a bitter, acidic after-taste.
Top Tip: You’ll know that your water temperature is just right when your coffee makes a rich crema (dense foam that forms from on top of a perfectly brewed cup of coffee).
Beans and basics
Obviously the quality of your cup of coffee will depend greatly on which type of coffee you use and which method of making and serving. This does not mean that you have to buy the most expensive beans, and have a coffee machine that costs as much as a small car.
There are many great coffees out there, to suit each taste and budget.
Some of the internets’ favourites include:
Soluble/instant coffee: Nescafe Gold Espresso instant coffee (100%freeze dried arabica beans) is a favourite around our office but for a full breakdown click here
Beans: The experts have a lot to say about coffee beans, but we want to give you something you could actually buy locally and without completely busting your budget. (We couldn’t make up our mind, so decide for yourself. This list of world class South African Coffee Roasters had us craving a cuppa straight away.)
Pods: The people who introduced us to coffee pods, Nespresso, still reign supreme. Click here for a full breakdown of which pods and machines to choose.
Blend it: How you drink your coffee is up to you – black, sweet, bitter, milky…whatever. Just be sure that whatever you blend into your coffee adds to it and doesn’t overpower your delicate coffee notes. For a lengthy and in depth discussion on milk click here
What is in a mug?
Finally, the mug you drink from matters. Like the spoon you eat your ice cream with makes a difference to the taste, Whether you like a thin porcelain cup, a comforting mug you can wrap your hands around or an modern glass vacuum vessel – try all the different shapes and mugs and invest in the one you love!
