How to upgrade your morning brew #TonyTries #HomeBarista #SK6EP1
Have you ever had coffee at a cafe and wondered why it tastes far better than homemade coffee? I hope to answer this question in this multipart series on this blog.
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We here are keen on trying new hobbies to increase our repertoire of skills. Whether you’ve stumbled across this for the first time or are a regular, thanks for taking the time to look through what I have created. Read on to start your journey towards mastering skills that you are passionate about.
Today we explore ways to improve our morning fix. Coffee has been around for centuries. And over time, people out there have made it their mission to find the most delicious recipe for making coffee. However, my understanding of good coffee was buying premium instant coffee for a very long time. But that changed ever since I started learning about coffee.
Nothing like a delicious cup of coffee to get you out of bed in the morning! (Image by Jakub Dziubak)
From a very rudimentary Instagram poll, I found that only about 50% of respondents liked coffee. This is quite surprising to me as I can't imagine not liking coffee. To those who are currently not fans of coffee, I hope you can give coffee a shot by trying some suggestions to improve the experience of having coffee.
Coffee can be enjoyed with or without milk/milk alternatives. I would recommend giving both a shot as it's a matter of preference and tolerance. If you are new to coffee, I would recommend participating in a 'coffee cupping' exercise with an expert. It will help you understand your preferred way of having coffee.
Dipping my toes into the world of being a home barista
I first got into coffee by being introduced to a home coffee maker about five years ago. I was blown away by how pressing a button dispensed a beautiful-looking espresso. It was like when you first saw a home telephone and discovered how it could connect you with people far away. I wanted to have something similar to help improve my home coffee experience. Fast forward two years and I was gifted my very own pod-based espresso machine! It felt like life couldn't get any better.
Fast forward to 2020 when I was introduced to the world of independent local cafes by my cousin. I was surprised by how good the coffee tasted. It had this unexplainable sweetness to it. It wasn't like sugary sweetness, it was more like the sweetness you find in a fruit like an orange. I started visiting more independent cafes and trying their coffees. But no matter what I tried, I couldn't get the same taste at home.
That's when I stumbled upon James Hoffmann, a YouTube Creator with a focus on coffee. The more videos I watched, the more I learned about how to make better coffee. And so I wanted to start making my own coffee using coffee beans instead of relying on pods and powders that are traditionally used. I found a video titled 'A Beginner's Guide To Buying Great Coffee' which outlined many factors to look out for to buying great coffee online. Instead of doing the work to find the right beans, I proceeded to buy coffee from the company he founded instead.
All brewing methods that involve using whole beans require grinding coffee in some way. Therefore I headed to a shop and ground the beans for a french press. This turned out to be a mistake as ground coffee loses aromatics over time which contributes to flavour. I learnt the hard way that the best way to enjoy a cup of coffee is to grind the beans before brewing. When I received my ground bag of beans from the shop, the aroma from the bag was delicious and made me want a coffee. But as days passed, that aroma was almost non-existent. Since we taste with our smell as well, the coffee was losing its delicious taste with every passing day. Despite this, coffee made using those pre-ground beans tasted better to me than the methods I was using prior to that. Therefore it motivated me to double down on this skill and upgrade my setup for next time.
The coffee grinder has the biggest (impact) outside of the coffee itself, the biggest input in terms of the quality of coffee. Better the grinder, sweeter the cup, less bitterness, easier it is to make nice coffee.
-James Hoffmann, YouTube
If you are inspired to start your own journey into coffee, I would recommend purchasing an inexpensive burr hand grinder. As mentioned in the quote above, the grinder has one of the biggest impacts on the quality of coffee. Learn more about my experience of owning a grinder in the next episode.
That’s all for this week. I hope you enjoyed reading how to make better coffee (SK5). I hope this inspires you to learn how to make cafe-quality coffee at home. Do leave a comment and subscribe if you want to be inspired to learn new skills.
Until next time,
Tony
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