Last Updated on May 24, 2022 by John Moretti
Coffee on its own, when enjoyed either white or black, is already full of flavor, aroma and filled with the richness and intensity of a whole roasted coffee bean. However, if you are feeling somewhat adventurous and are looking for other means of “spicing up” your coffee, then there are a few ways that would help to make your coffee more flavourful.
The first step to making your coffee taste better is to use premium-grade coffee beans when preparing your coffee. Building on that, you can use a manual coffee maker to brew your coffee instead of a cheap coffee pot. The correct water temperature can help get the authentic flavor from your coffee.
Now that we know a few of how we can improve the taste of our coffee, let us delve into each of these methods in a little more detail.
So, your regular cup of morning coffee is beginning to get a little boring and is starting to lose its magic. What can you do? The first thing you can do is finish reading this blog! I will list a few items that you can add or change that would spruce up your regular cup of coffee and kick some zest back into your morning coffee routine.
Use Only Premium Grade Coffee Beans
The difference between an ordinary coffee and a spectacular cup of coffee comes down to the type of beans used for brewing your coffee. Not all coffee beans taste the same, and neither are they made in a factory.
Don’t buy low-grade coffee beans; you can leave those for instant coffee. You want to buy the highest quality coffee beans, the type that baristas would use at a coffee shop.
The trick to buying a good bag of coffee beans is to buy it directly from a coffee roaster and not a bag that has been sitting on your supermarket shelf for two to three weeks. You also want to buy whole coffee beans instead of ground coffee.
The quality and taste of ground coffee start to decline after a while, so you want to buy the coffee beans whole and then grind them yourself. This would also mean that you need to invest in a good coffee grinder.
The Coffee Maker Is Your Friend
A good cup of coffee usually starts in your coffee brewer or filter coffee machine. Your coffee maker is probably your best friend and is possibly one of the few items that help you wake up each morning.
So, the first way to improve your regular cup of coffee is to ensure that you have the right coffee maker for the task.
Sometimes, your old coffee maker could have run out of miles, and it needs to be replaced with a newer model. If you are on a strict budget and cannot afford to buy a new coffee maker, do not despair.
You can still use your existing drip brewer or filter coffee maker but make a few small changes to it. You could try to use a different type of coffee filter in your drip brewer. You have a few options to choose from when it comes to filters.
There are paper filters, metal, and cloth coffee filters. If you have a metal filter, then giving your filter a good solid rinse and clean can also help with improving the taste of your coffee.
Use Only Premium Filtered Water
Your coffee is 98% water, so water has a significant impact on the taste of your coffee. All the minerals that water contains affect the taste of your coffee.
A small amount of these minerals in the water can help bring out the flavor, but too many minerals in the water and you will end up with dull and lifeless coffee.
If your water supply is too “hard,” meaning that it contains lots of calcium or magnesium, you should filter out your water. Coffee shops only use premium filtered water, but we usually use tap water in our homes.
A helpful tip to getting your water “just right” is to mix a packet of Third Wave Water minerals in a jug of distilled water, and you will end up having the precise quality of water that the Specialty Coffee Association recommends.
Water Temperature Is Everything
As a rule of thumb, the water temperature for brewing coffee should remain between 195 to 205 degrees Celsius. When brewing coffee at this temperature, the water extracts all of the pure flavors from your coffee without extracting the bitterness of the coffee bean.
Water temperature under 195 degrees, and you end up with slow extraction from the coffee bean, and your coffee will have a sour taste. Anything over 205 degrees is fast extraction, and you will end up with bitter-tasting coffee. You would not want sour or bitter tasting coffee.
It also helps if you considered your elevation (above or below sea level), as that also affects the temperature at which the water must boil. If you live at sea level, your water needs to cool down for a few minutes after it boils.
At 3,000 feet above sea level, you can use the water immediately after it has boiled. If you are in 7,000 feet above sea level region, you need to brew your coffee immediately as it boils to ensure that your temperature stays in the correct range.
Follow The Coffee To Water Ratio
Having the right quantities of coffee to water can make a pretty big difference to great-tasting coffee. Most coffee lovers would agree that using the right amounts of coffee to water can make a huge difference between an average cup of coffee to the best-tasting coffee you could ever have.
The ideal ratio you need to follow to get that perfect cup of coffee is 1:15-18.
Which is one gram of coffee to fifteen to eighteen grams of water. It is that easy! No need to complicate it further.
Having the right balance of coffee to water achieves two things. Firstly, the strength of your coffee is well balanced; it is neither too weak nor too strong. Secondly, the flavor of your coffee is perfectly balanced. You neither end up with too sour coffee nor too bitter coffee.
Add Flavor To Beans Not To Your Cup
If you add any kind of sweetener or flavor, such as chocolate, cinnamon, or other spices, add them straight to the beans before grinding them.
With this simple method, your coffee is guaranteed to taste a whole lot better, and you don’t need to flavor your coffee any further. Your tastebuds will thank you immensely for using this simple but effective technique!
Make Your Own Homemade Latte
If you want to have a coffee shop-styled latte made in your kitchen, all you need is an inexpensive milk frother.
You can easily pick up a milk frother for around 20 dollars, and it will give you just the right amount of foam to make a very fancy coffee shop-style latte. Add some warm milk and sugar into your cup and let the frother do the rest. Within minutes, you will have thick, beautiful foam.
Try An Iced Coffee Instead
If you are tired of drinking bland old filter coffee, you could make an iced coffee instead for those scorching summer days.
To make a tasty, iced coffee, all you need is to combine some instant coffee with a bit of sugar to taste and add some warm water. Throw all of this into a sealable jar, then cover the jar and give it a good shake.
Pour out your mixed coffee into a glass filled with ice, and sit back and enjoy a tasty, iced coffee.
Sweeten Your Coffee With Honey
Honey is widely used as a substitute for sugar in tea, but it could be used as a sugar alternative in your coffee as well. Since honey is naturally sweet, you don’t need as much to sweeten your coffee as you would with sugar.
Honey is a true source of antioxidants and contains more nutrients than regular sugar. You can play around with the quantity of honey to add to your coffee. But once you’ve tried honey in your coffee, you might not want to have any other coffee sweetener.
Experiment With Butter And Coconut Oil
If you feel somewhat adventurous and want to go all out and try a new taste of coffee, try adding some butter and coconut oil to your coffee.
This style of coffee has been made famous by what is now known as “bulletproof coffee.”
The best way to achieve bulletproof coffee is to combine butter and coconut into your coffee and then mix it all in a blender so that the fats and oils do not separate and rise to the top of your coffee.
This style of coffee makes a rich, thick, and satisfying coffee and is fantastic to lift you when you need an extra boost of energy in the morning.
Conclusion
There are so many other ways to enhance the flavor of regular coffee at home. In this post, I have only listed a few of the most common (and one not-so-common one).
However, you are free to be adventurous and try other ways to add flavor to your coffee. For those who have allergies to dairy milk, you can also try using a healthier plant-based non-dairy substitute instead.
If you have diabetes, you could also try using a sugar alternative like coconut sugar, agave, or stevia. The choice is yours, so experiment with different methods, and surprise your taste buds with all the variations of coffee that you can make yourself.
