Coffee Blog

Don’t let bad coffee hit your coffee cups and mugs

Good coffee isn’t as easy as percolating water through coffee grounds. Bad coffee, of course, is a cinch to make. But if you want the tastiest and freshest java for your morning wake up call, you need to take certain precautions before it even hits your coffee mugs.

First off, start with fresh cold water in your coffee machine if you want something delicious in your coffee cups. Steer clear of using water from the hot tap or water that has already boiled. For the best results in your coffee cups, fill your carafe with bottled or filtered water, especially if your home has old plumbing. Old pipes can leave an unpleasant flavor in your coffee mugs. This will also be the case if you live in an area that heavily chlorinates its tap water or has very hard water.

The temperature of the water is also important to deciding what ends up in your coffee mugs. The best temperature for brewing tasty coffee mugs is between 195 degrees and 205 degrees. If the water is too hot, it could leave a bitter taste in your mouth when you have these coffee cups. Water that is too cool, on the other hand, won’t suck out all of the flavor from your grounds, leaving no flavor in your mouth after a few coffee mugs.

If you press brewing your morning coffee cups, reach this optimal water temperature by letting your water wait for a moment after it comes to a boil. For your typical dip coffee machines, you can get a similar effect by pre-heating the pot. Do this by pouring hot water into the empty carafe, which will warm it, and then dump this water out to start brewing.

Next, make sure you have the correct grind for your particular coffee machine. There is no one all-purpose grind. You need to choose your coffee grinds from the two main groups, depending if you are using a press pot or an electric machine to fill your coffee cups. For press pots, you’ll want to grind your own beans for about 10 second in your typical, inexpensive blade grinder. This will leave your grinds at a medium to coarse consistency and make for delicious coffee mugs. For electric brewers and other drip machines, you’ll need to grind your own beans for about 15-20 seconds. This will result in a medium to fine grind, not to mention perfectly steamy coffee mugs.