MINNEAPOLIS — If you’re a coffee lover, you’ve probably made a cup or two at home, but have you noticed sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s almost undrinkable?
Many of us at KARE 11 have experienced this making coffee at home.
So, we set out to find someone who could teach us how to make the perfect cup of coffee.
We visited the roastery at Peace Coffee in Minneapolis to learn from one of the best coffee minds in the Twin Cities.
Coffee educator Jackson O’Brien says brewing the best pot of coffee starts with grinding the beans.
“What you want is to have as even a size as possible,” O’Brien says.
Too coarse and you won’t get proper extraction.
Too fine and the coffee will be bitter.
O’Brien says it may be tempting to buy a cheap $20 grinder, but he says most grinders at that price point will give you an inconsistent grind.
He recommends investing in a better-quality grinder.
“This grinder will cost you around $140, but you can see how it’s a big difference here in how consistent the grind is,” O’Brien says while holding up a handful of ground coffee beans.
O’Brien also recommends weighing your beans, not measuring them.
“Different coffees have different densities,” O’Brien says.
He showed us two shot glasses that were each filled with the same amount of coffee beans.
However, one of the shot glasses weighed 42 grams and the other shot glass weighed only 30 grams, which is a big difference.
O’Brien also recommends using hot water that is between 195 and 205 degrees.
He says you should measure it yourself, don’t rely on your coffee maker.
“No two coffee makers can agree on what a cup is. Some say it’s four ounces, some say four and a half ounces, others say it’s five ounces,” O’Brien says.
If you use a drip coffee maker, O’Brien says make sure it’s a good one that fully saturates the beans.
Some cheaper models only send water shooting down the middle, so the beans on the sides barely even get wet.
But if you have the time, O’Brien recommends using a French press or a pour-over. Both styles of coffee maker give you more control over the water.
And there you have it. O’Brien says if you master those simple tips, you’re well on your way to creating the perfect cup of coffee.
BONUS TIP:
We also asked that age-old question, is it a good idea to keep coffee in the freezer?
O’Brien says it’s a great way to keep the coffee beans fresh, but if you don’t have a good freezer, the beans could get freezer burned, so you should watch out for that.
And you should keep the beans in an airtight bag or container, so they don’t pick up any smells or flavors from everything else in your freezer.