How to Make High-Quality Coffee at Home

Today we're going to talk about how to make quality coffee at home, because knowledge never hurts and there are certain guidelines to make it perfect. We'll tell you how.

What is coffee?

Coffee is a beverage obtained by hot infusion (and occasionally under pressure) of the roasted and ground seed of the coffee plant.

The coffee plant or coffee tree is native to tropical Africa, specifically Madagascar and nearby islands in the Indian Ocean. Exported to other countries around the world, it is now cultivated across broad equatorial regions of South America, Southeast Asia, India and Africa. The earliest evidence of coffee consumption as we know it today dates back to the 15th century in Yemen.

Coffee has a mildly stimulating effect due to the presence of the well-known caffeine. This has made it one of the most popular beverages worldwide.

Methods to prepare coffee

Throughout history humans have invented various methods to extract the best from the coffee bean. The different devices used require different grind sizes, but current methods can be summarized as follows:

1. Italian-style stovetop coffee maker

We all know it, as it has been and remains very popular in our country. The design can vary, but the principle is the same: two chambers separated by a siphon where the ground coffee is placed. The water in the lower chamber is heated and rises under pressure through the coffee, leaving the prepared drink in the upper chamber. I love the ones from Bra, which are stainless steel.

Kaffe Bra coffee maker and Gefu Lucino Espresso Coffee Maker

2. Plunger or French press

In this coffee maker a mixture of coffee and boiling water is prepared and left to infuse before pressing the brew and filtering the liquid with a plunger filter. These coffee makers can be used to make coffee, but are also useful for preparing other types of infusions, like teas and herbs.

Le Creuset press coffee maker

3. Espresso machines, manual or automatic

Very common in bars and restaurants, these machines have become popular for home use. They require electricity to generate the pressure and temperature that forces water through a metal filter containing the ground coffee.

Both manual, the automatic and super-automatic models are very easy to use and in a short time achieve coffee extraction at the proper pressure and temperature, all in an automated way. Some models also allow grinding coffee on the spot.

If you want to discover the advantages of automatic machines, their pros and cons and how to choose the right one for you, we recommend reading the post "Automatic coffee machines: advantages and how to choose the ideal one"

Lumero WMF espresso coffee maker and Sage Breville Barista PRO manual coffee machine

4. Drip coffee makers

Among these are Melitta-style machines, which we all know, and Chemex coffee makers, which are very fashionable. In both types, coffee is obtained by passing boiling water through a paper filter that contains the ground coffee. The coffee is collected by gravity. Later we discuss the particularities of the Chemex.

Chemex coffee maker

5. Siphon coffee makers

For coffee connoisseurs, in this type of coffee maker the water contained in a glass chamber connected to another chamber placed above it is heated with a burner, where the coffee sits. The water boils and rises to the upper chamber, flavoring with the coffee in a manner similar to the Italian stovetop maker, but then the burner must be turned off. As the lower chamber cools, a suction is produced that draws the coffee back down into the lower chamber, ready to drink.

Making good coffee with an Italian stovetop coffee maker

As mentioned earlier, Italian stovetop makers, like the Gefu Lucino, are among the most popular in our country due to their ease of use, good value for money and excellent results. The Kaffe by Bra like its sister, the Efficient by Bra, combines the virtues of Italian stovetop coffee makers with a beautiful design that makes it perfect for serving at the table. In addition, these are stainless steel and can be used on all types of cooktops, including induction.

We tell you how to make good coffee with any Italian stovetop coffee maker:

1. Use good coffee: it may sound obvious, but not everyone does. You can buy it ground, or grind it to your liking using a grinder, like the Krups Fast Touch or the WMF coffee grinder.
   
2. Measure the water properly: stovetop Italian coffee makers usually have a valve on the body and it is recommended to fill with water up to the level of this valve.
3. Handle the coffee with care: the coffee should be dropped into the metal filter, without compressing it or forcing it to fit too much. To level it we will tap the filter laterally with a spoon.
4. Keep the heat steady: sudden temperature changes affect the coffee flavor. Once the heat is on, keep its intensity constant, without the flame rising above the bottom of the coffee maker, and do not turn off the heat until the last drop of coffee has come out through the inner spout.
5. Stir the coffee before serving: few people know that it's advisable to stir the coffee obtained, since the concentration of the liquid at the beginning of the extraction is not the same as at the end and it can be somewhat layered. If we don't stir, not all the cups we serve may have exactly the same concentration.

Kaffe Bra coffee maker

Making good coffee with a Chemex

We're sure you've seen the beautiful Chemex coffee maker before. This drip-style coffee maker was invented by a German chemist, Peter Schlumbohm, who patented it in 1941.

The Chemex is made of glass, shaped like an hourglass, and uses patented paper filters with a special treatment that remove most of the coffee oils and sediments. In this way, the manufacturer claims that bitterness is eliminated.

The coffee obtained with a Chemex is of the American type, more diluted, perhaps than what is usually seen in our country, but its flavor is intense and pure.

We tell you how to make a perfect coffee with the Chemex:

1. Place the filter correctly: the filter should be opened in a cone shape so that one side has 3 layers of filter. The spout should be covered with this 3-layer side.
2. Measure the coffee properly: the recommended dosage is one slightly heaped tablespoon per 140 ml cup you want to prepare. Of course you can vary this if you prefer a stronger coffee.
3. Wet the coffee: heat the required water, wait until it stops boiling and pour enough water over the ground coffee to wet it. Wait 30 seconds. The perfect water temperature at this point is 93 °C.
4. Pour the water: after wetting the coffee, slowly pour the water keeping the level well below the top edge of the brewer. Do it with a circular motion (starting from the outside) or with a back-and-forth motion over the grounds so all of it soaks evenly.
5. Wait for all the coffee to drip: the liquid falls by gravity through the filter and is collected in the lower part of the brewer. Discard the filter.

You can now serve an excellent coffee prepared with your Chemex. If you also use the Set of sugar bowl and creamer matching piece, with the same design as the brewer, or the Le Creuset milk jug, you'll leave your guests speechless... And that is priceless.

In summary:

What makes the Chemex so special

1. Its design, but
2. above all its filters, thicker and that filter more thoroughly.

References:

• Historical coffee preparation methods that have survived to the present day. My Philips world
• Main coffee preparation methods. Federation of Coffee Growers
• How to master the art of the Italian stovetop coffee maker. Saula Coffee
• Brewing 101 with Chemex. Chemex Coffee Maker