Coffee at home: Simple tips for Brewing mantap Coffee with less effort

Brewing coffee at home is a great way to enjoy high-quality coffee while keeping costs low in the comfort of your own home. This article aims to provide you with some tips and I hope there is something for everybody to learn. We’ll talk about the importance of using fresh coffee and storing coffee properly, then we’ll look at basic tools for coffee brewing, understanding brew ratio. Finally, we’ll look at three popular coffee brewing methods: French press, pour-over, and Aeropress.

Why is fresh Coffee important?

Fresh coffee is crucial to achieving the best taste and flavor. While stale coffee can taste flat and lifeless, fresh coffee can be bright and complex. Over time, coffee starts to lose delicious aromatic and flavour compounds. Look for roasting dates on the bag and check with the roasters their suggested shelf life of their coffee. Our coffee tends to peak at 3-4 weeks, other coffee may peak at 2 weeks. There is some variation to this and there isn’t a hard and fast rule. That being said, for home brewing you can start using coffee that’s been off-roast for a week and beyond. 

Proper storage is essential for preserving the freshness and flavour of coffee beans. Exposure to light, air, and moisture will degrade the quality of coffee beans. To store coffee beans, use an airtight or vacuum container in a cool, dark place (like all perishable dry food). Don’t store coffee next to items with strong odours because coffee absorbs odours and flavors from other foods. Salted fish and coffee…don’t go well together. 

Basic (but important) Tools for Brewing Coffee at Home

It will be easier to brew consistently high-quality coffee at home using a few essential tools: a weighing scale (a baking scale is fine, but really you can get some decimal scales for like RM20+ online), grinder, kettle, and timer. A scale ensures that the coffee-to-water ratio is consistent, while a grinder allows for the precise grinding of coffee beans. A kettle with a gooseneck spout provides control over the water flow, and a timer helps to ensure the brewing process is consistent. 

Small variations in the brewing process can affect the taste of the coffee significantly. Precision is essential for achieving a consistent and high-quality cup of coffee. For example, water temperature, brewing time, grind size and coffee-to-water ratio all play a crucial role in the final product.

That being said, you can still brew coffee without any of these tools…or at least in their most basic forms. Just try your best to keep things consistent using a certain metric. (1 tablespoon of coffee or pre-measure the water before you boil it in the kettle) If you’re just unmotivated to be precise, we recommend using full-immersion brew methods as they tend to have a more even and consistent extraction.

We recommend having a good grinder at home because the grinder will produce a consistent grind so that extraction can be more consistent. It’s like cooking, meat with uneven sizes in the same pan tends to cook unevenly; it’s the same with coffee extraction! Coarser grinds extract slower than finer grinds because of the reduced surface area. You can get the roaster to grind the coffee for you (as cafes/roasters are likely to have commercial grinders designed for this stuff) but bear in mind that the aging of the coffee is significantly accelerated. So consume as quickly as possible. 

What is Brew Ratio?

Brew ratio is the ratio of coffee to water used in the brewing process. It's an important aspect of coffee brewing, it determines the intensity and flavour of the coffee measured using TDS - there are also other ways to adjust TDS. A common brew ratio is 1:16, which means 1 gram of coffee per 16 grams of water. By experimenting with different brew ratios, you may find interesting results with your coffee. We find that for our coffees like the Nyatoh and Merbau blends, a 1:14 brew ratio works best as the roast is slightly darker for a filter coffee so the rate of extraction is generally higher compared to a lighter roast. 

We’ll now look at a couple of popular styles to start brewing coffee at home. It's a non-exhaustive list. These tools and methods are relatively inexpensive and accessible. 

The French press is a popular and straightforward method for home brewing. It produces a full-bodied, rich cup of coffee due to its metal mesh filter. To brew using a french press, boil water, grind coffee beans, add the coffee to the press, pour hot water over the grounds, and let it steep for four minutes. Finally, press the plunger down and pour. There’s also a variation of this tool which I particularly like, it’s called the American Press. 

The pour-over method is popular because it produces a clean and bright cup of coffee. To make pour-over coffee, boil water, grind coffee beans, place the filter in the dripper, add the coffee, pour hot water over the grounds in a circular motion, and let it drip into the cup.

The  final method is the aeropress, it’s probably the most expensive piece of kit here because it’s proprietary. The Aeropress is a versatile coffee maker that allows you to brew a variety of coffee styles. It is popular because it provides a good balance of convenience, portability and it also makes a great cup of coffee. The Aeropress is a good option for those who want to brew coffee quickly and easily without sacrificing quality. The one thing that I personally don’t enjoy about the Aeropress is it’s limited capacity for brewing. I guess you just can’t have it all…

So if you’re a lazy brewer like me, you can probably consider the Aeropress or the French press. If you enjoy something cleaner with more flavour clarity, try the pour-over method; just know that it might be a little more hassle and precision is key. You can get something inexpensive on shopee to start- online platforms like Shopee and Lazada are great if you’re looking for inexpensive brewing equipment. 

In conclusion, brewing coffee at home is a cost-effective and enjoyable way to enjoy the sweet ruby nectar. The tips outlined in this article are aimed at providing starting points to look at when looking to brew coffee at home. Experiment with different brewing methods to find the one that suits your taste and style. In the meantime, the Syarikat Kopi Kok team is always here to help!