The 3 Ways To Make Strong Coffee At Home (A Quick Guide)

Last Updated on December 28, 2021 by John Moretti

For a coffee lover, there is nothing worse than a lackluster brew. In the search for the ideal coffee, every coffee drinker will inevitably find themselves drinking stronger coffee, which can be a challenge to replicate at home. However, if you know how, strong coffee at home is simple to make.

The three best ways to make strong coffee at home are to use a high brew ratio for filter coffee, such as 60 grams of ground coffee per liter, brew espresso at home with a 2:1 ratio and 18 – 22 grams of coffee in, and to use high-caffeine coffee beans such as Black Insomnia coffee beans.

Just as there is nothing worse than a weak brew, there is nothing better than a good strong cup of coffee, especially one made at home on a cold morning. The only trouble is that making a strong cup at home can be a challenge. Let’s take the time to discover some of the best ways to make the perfect strong cup of coffee at home.

how to make strong coffee at home

The 3 Best Ways To Make Strong Coffee At Home

Making a strong cup of coffee at home is perfectly achievable if you know how to do it. There are several brewing methods that can be used, various coffee drinks to make, and different types of coffee beans to use.

There is a variety of factors that contribute to the strength of a homemade cup of coffee, but coaxing a little more strength from the beans is important for every coffee lover.

Let’s go over the best ways, methods, and beans to use for making a strong cup of coffee at home. These ways to intensify your coffee are attainable for everyone, regardless of your coffee brewing skills or understanding.

Brew Your Coffee With A Strong Ratio

brewing strong coffee with a coffee maker

The most common reason for a weak or somewhat lackluster cup of coffee, regardless of the brewing method, is due to a low brew ratio. The brew ratio of a cup of coffee is the ratio of ground coffee beans to the water used for the brew.

A higher brew ratio will result in a higher concentration of coffee in the cup, which will ultimately result in a stronger cup of coffee. The brewing method that you use has an ideal strong cup ratio; the only trick is to find the ratio.

It is important to find the ratio that you prefer without going too high or staying too low, or the coffee that you brew will always be disappointing.

A good starting ratio is roughly 60 grams of coffee per liter of water for all brew methods other than pressurized brewing methods such as espresso.

Sixty grams of coffee brewed into a liter of water will produce a good strong cup of coffee every time, and this ratio is very simple to work with. If you are brewing more or less than a liter of coffee, scale the ratio down or up to suit your requirements.

For example, with this ratio, brewing with 500ml of water should require 30 grams of ground coffee. 250ml of water, which is roughly one cup of coffee, must then be brewed with 15 grams of ground coffee. 

However, with that being said, this is just a starting point. If you prefer your coffee to be a stringer, then try using more grams of ground coffee per liter. If 60 grams per liter is too strong for you, use less coffee in the ratio. This is a good starting point brew ratio, but it may not be ideal for everyone.

Use A Home Espresso Machine

brewing strong coffee with an espresso machine

Among the best ways to make a very strong cup of coffee at home is to invest in a home espresso machine. Espresso is one of the strongest brewed coffee types possible, and with an espresso machine at home, making a strong cup of coffee is relatively simple.

Making espresso is a sure way to produce a strong cup of coffee every time, so long as you get your brewing ratio right for producing a strong cup.

The best espresso brew ratio is a little different from other brew ratios, but it is just as important. The ideal brewing rating for a string espresso is a 2:1 ratio. Ideally, using between 18 and 22 grams of espresso should pul between 36 and 44 grams of liquid out. 

These figures are a rough range, but they should yield a good strong shot of espresso that can be enjoyed straight on its own or used to make a strong espresso-based drink such as a latte or a flat white.

Use Stronger Coffee Beans

strong coffee beans

A typical cup of coffee, around 250mml of coffee, contains roughly 100mg – 150mg of caffeine. This is considered to be a regular strength cup of coffee.

A quick way to increase the strength of the coffee that you brew at home is to use coffee beans that have higher caffeine content. This will not necessarily make the coffee taste stronger, and it may make the coffee taste slightly more bitter than you are accustomed to, but the coffee that you drink will be much stronger.

There are several coffee roasters who produce coffee bean blends that have a higher than average caffeine content. Such brands as Black Insomnia Coffee Company produce coffee beans that contain 4x more caffeine per cup than average beans. 

The good news is that the taste of these stronger coffee beans is not necessarily stronger, which means that the coffee will still be enjoyable, but it will offer more strength than other coffee beans. The chemical caffeine present in coffee does contribute to the bitter flavor of coffee, so expect more bitterness in a cup of coffee than has high caffeine content.

Conclusion

There is nothing worse than a weak cup of coffee in the morning, but with the right methods and the right beans, lackluster coffee will be a thing of the past.

Using a strong brewing method when preparing filter coffee is the best way to make the coffee stronger. Brewing espresso at home is an excellent way to ake strong coffee; just be sure to use a 2:1 ratio with a relatively high ground coffee dose.

Brewing strong coffee at home can also be easily achieved by simply using strong coffee beans. 

By using these methods, the coffee that you brew at home will always be strong and satisfying and provide the morning jump-start that you are looking for.