Everyone loves a freshly brewed cup of coffee at your local coffee shop, but do you ever wonder why your own homemade coffee doesn’t taste quite as good. Well this is a problem that many people face but if you read on, you can learn how to make cafe style coffee right in the comfort of your own home.
No matter how attached you are to your favorite blend, don’t be afraid to try a new variety. You don’t need to invest in a large bag to try out something new. Almost all brands will offer a single pot or sampler size to allow you to try out new flavors.
If you are looking for a great way to turn basic, boring drip coffee into a special treat look no further than your own fridge and pantry. Hot chocolate mix or a scoop of vanilla ice cream can be great ways to sweeten up a cup of coffee and make it something special.
Do not use tap water when you are making coffee unless your faucet is fitted with a device that will filter out all of the impurities. There are many people that have no problem with tap water, but the reality is that tap water that tastes bad will make your coffee taste just as bad.
Keep your automatic coffee maker clean with white vinegar. Run a brewing cycle with one part water to one part white vinegar. After allowing the carafe to soak in the vinegar for a while, run a cycle with plain water to rinse the machine. Clean your coffee maker once every week or two to remove rancid coffee oils, mold and other contaminants.
To add excitement to your daily cup of coffee or impress dinner guests, learn how to decorate your lattes. Carefully poured milk is all it takes to make an attractive swirl design while more proficient pourers may choose to add chocolate for a more flavorful decoration. When it comes to the more elaborate designs, practice makes perfect!
While your coffee is brewing, try soaking the coffee mugs in hot water. A cold mug will cool off your drink before you can even get it to your lips! When the coffee is ready, simply dry off the mugs and serve. This trick will keep it hot much longer.
Rinse off your coffee filter before placing it inside of the coffee maker. The coffee filters may have fibers or plastic on them when you take them out of the plastic packaging. If you leave these items on the filter, they will end up in your coffee when it brews.
If you are making iced coffee with instant coffee grounds, you should add twice as much as you would normally add to a hot cup. This is because adding ice will dilute the coffee and make it weak if you do not make sure that you make it strong enough.
Try using coffee when cooking meats. When you think of coffee in foods, you typically think of a flavor that is rather strong. In desserts, that’s definitely true. But when you use coffee as a rub for red meat, it actually brings out the flavor of the meat itself, making for a much tastier meal.
Never drink coffee in the eight hours prior to going to bed. The half-life of caffeine can range from 30 minutes to 8 hours, so this is the only sure fire way of having it out of your system when it is time to rest. Otherwise, you are going to need even more caffeine the next day. A coffee habit can be a little healthy, but caffeine dependency is bad news.
If you like the taste of coffee, but you avoid it due to it giving you the jitters, you should switch to a brand of coffee that does not contain caffeine. You will be able to drink as much coffee as you want without worrying about getting a huge caffeine rush.
Use a French press for your coffee rather than a standard drip. The reason for this is because a greater amount of the coffee oils will get in your cup rather than in the machine filter. As a result, your cup of coffee will taste a lot better. Give it a try!
Eliminate the expense of coffee shop lattes by making your own at home. With practice you can even teach yourself to create the fancy designs produced by the baristas at your favorite local coffee shop. All you need to perfect your design is patience and practice. Pour the milk into the cup slowly and finish with melted chocolate.
You can use coffee to bring the shine back to hair that looks worn and dull. Brew some extra strong coffee then allow it to cool. Place it on hair that is clean and dry and leave it on for 15-20 minutes. After that, rinse your hair and style it as you normally would.
If you are a coffee drinker with a short attention span, then consider getting a single cup brewing machine. These machines pre-measure their grounds for the perfect cup every time and also give you the choice of switching out your brew with every cup you drink. A single-cup machine also ensures that every cup you have is hot and freshly brewed.
As was mentioned earlier in the article, making your own coffee doesn’t always turn out as well as it does when you order from a coffee shop. However, if you implement the tips and tricks given in this article, you are well on your way to creating wonderful tasting coffee time and time again.