How to make quality coffee at home

Today we are going to talk about how to make quality coffee at home, because knowledge does not take up space and there are certain guidelines to make it perfect. We tell you.

What is coffee?

Coffee is a drink that is obtained by hot infusion (and sometimes under pressure) of the roasted and ground coffee seed.

The coffee or coffee plant is native to tropical Africa , specifically from Madagascar and neighboring islands in the Indian Ocean. Exported to other countries around the world, it is currently cultivated in large equatorial regions of South America, Southeast Asia, India and Africa. And the first evidence of coffee consumption, as we know it today, dates back to the 15th century in Yemen.

Coffee has a slightly stimulating effect due to the presence of the well-known caffeine . This has made it one of the most popular drinks around the world.

Methods of brewing coffee

Throughout history, humans have invented various methods to extract the best from the coffee bean. The different devices used require different degrees of grain grinding, but in terms of current methods they can be summarized as follows:

1. Italian type coffee maker

We all know it, because they have been and are very popular in our country. The design may vary, but the foundation is the same: two containers separated by a siphon in which the ground coffee is placed. The water in the lower container is heated and pressurized up through the coffee, leaving the brewed beverage in the upper container. I love the ones from Bra , which are made of stainless steel.

Kaffe Bra Coffee Maker and Lucino Espresso Maker by Gefu

2. Coffee plunger or French press

In this coffee maker, a mixture of coffee is prepared with boiling water that is left to flavor to finish by pressing the infusion and filtering the liquid obtained with a plunger filter. They are coffee makers that you can use to make coffee, but they can also be used to prepare other types of infusions, such as teas and herbs.

Le Creuset Press Coffee Maker

3. Espresso coffee maker, in manual or automatic coffee machines

Very common in bars and restaurants, these coffee makers have become popular in the domestic environment. They require electrical current to generate the pressure and temperature that makes the water pass through a metallic filter that contains the ground coffee.

Both the manual ones , the automatic ones or the super-automatic ones are very easy to use and in a very short time they extract the coffee with the right pressure and temperature, all in an automated way. Some models also allow you to instantly grind the coffee.

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

Sage Breville Lumero WMF Espresso Maker and Barista PRO Manual Coffee Maker

4. Drip coffee makers

Among them are the Melitta-type coffee makers, which we all know, and the Chemex coffee makers , so fashionable. In both types, the coffee is obtained by passing boiling water through a paper filter that contains the ground coffee. The coffee is collected by gravity. Later we will talk about the peculiarities of Chemex.

Chemex Coffee Maker

5. Siphon coffee makers

For coffee connoisseurs, in this type of coffee maker, the water contained in a glass container connected to another container, placed on it, where the coffee is located, is heated with a lighter. The water boils and rises to the upper container, flavoring itself with the coffee in a similar way to what happens with the Italian coffee maker, but then the burner must be turned off. When the lower container cools, coffee is sucked, which descends to the lower container, ready to be consumed.

Prepare a good coffee with an Italian coffee maker

As we have said before, Italian coffee makers, such as the Lucino de Gefu , are among the most popular in our country, due to their ease of use, their good value for money and their excellent results. The Kaffe de Bra coffee maker, like its sister, the Efficient de Bra , combines the virtues of Italian coffee makers with a beautiful design that makes it perfect for serving at the table. Also, 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 coffee maker:

1. Use a good coffee : it seems platitude, but not everyone does it. You can buy it ground, or grind it to your liking using a grinder, such as the Krups Fast Touch or the WMF coffee grinder .
   
2. Dose the water well : Italian coffee makers usually have a valve on the body and it is recommended to fill with water up to the height of this valve.
3. Treat the coffee with care : the coffee should be dropped on the metal filter, without crushing or forcing it so that a large quantity fits. To flatten it, we will hit the filter from the side with a teaspoon.
4. Keep the heat constant : sudden changes in temperature affect the flavor of the coffee. Once the fire is lit, keep its intensity constant, without the flame protruding from the bottom of the coffee maker, and do not turn off the heat until the last drop of coffee has come out of the inner tube.
5. Stir the coffee before serving it : few people know that it is convenient to stir the coffee obtained, since the concentration of the liquid obtained at the beginning is not the same as at the end of the extraction and it can remain somewhat stratified. If we don't stir, not all the cups we serve may have exactly the same concentration.

Kaffe Bra Coffee Maker

Prepare a good coffee with a Chemex coffee maker

We are sure that you have already seen the beautiful Chemex coffee maker at some time. This drip-type coffee maker was invented by a German chemist, Peter Schlumbohm, who patented it in 1941.

The Chemex coffee maker is made of glass, in the shape of an hourglass, and makes use of patented and specially treated paper filters , which separate most of the coffee oils and sediments . In this way, the manufacturer ensures that bitterness is removed.

The coffee obtained with the Chemex coffee maker is of the American type , more diluted, perhaps than 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 coffee maker:

1. Place the filter correctly : the filter must be opened in the shape of a cone, so that one side has 3 layers of filter. The sump should be covered with this 3 layer zone.
2. Dose the coffee well : the recommended dosage is a slightly heaping tablespoon for each 140 ml cup you want to prepare. Although of course you can vary if you want the most strong coffee.
3. Moisten the coffee – Heat the necessary water, wait for it to stop boiling, and pour enough water over the ground coffee to moisten it. Wait 30 seconds. The perfect water temperature at this point is 93 °C.
4. Pour in the water – After moistening the coffee, slowly pour in the water keeping the level well below the top rim of the pot. Do it in a circular motion (starting from the outside) or back and forth over the ground coffee so that everything is soaked equally.
5. Wait for all the brewed coffee to drip : the liquid falls by gravity from the filter and collects at the bottom of the coffee maker. Discard the filter.

Now you can serve an excellent coffee prepared with your Chemex coffee maker. If you also use the matching sugar bowl and milk jug set , with the same design as the coffee maker, or the Le Creuset milk jug , you will leave your guests speechless... And that is priceless.

In summary:

What makes the Chemex coffee maker so special

1. its design but
2. especially its filters, thicker and more thorough filtering.

References:

• Methods for preparing coffee from the past that have survived to this day . my Philips world
• Main methods of coffee preparation . Federation of coffee growers
• How to Master the Art of the Italian Coffee Maker . cafe saula
• Brewing 101 with Chemex . Chemex Coffee Maker