Over here at A Couple Cooks, we are unashamedly coffee obsessed. It’s not just about caffeine. It’s that cozy feeling when you’re holding a warm, fragrant cup and embrace the promise of a new day. Since research seems to indicate that drinking coffee is A-OK (as long as you’re not overdoing it), we’re passionate about sharing the love of a great cup of joe. Here’s how to make coffee at home: 6 different ways!
And now…how to make coffee!
The journey toward great coffee
I first got into coffee while studying in Spain. In my university building in Madrid, there was a little cafe that served café con leche. The flavor was intense, and perfect mixed with the creamy milk and sugar it was the best I’d ever tasted. For equipment, you’ll need the Chemex and its special filters, and a kitchen scale to weigh out the coffee. An electric gooseneck kettle is helpful for heating the water to a specific temperature and pouring it in a circular motion into the grounds. Recipe: Pour Over CoffeeAlso try: Add ice for Chemex Iced Coffee. Recipe: French Press CoffeeAlso try: French Press Cold Brew, French Press Iced Coffee, or French Press Espresso. To make cold brew coffee, you grind a boatload of coffee and place it in a pitcher with cold water overnight. Letting the coffee stand in the refrigerator “brews” it by letting it seep into the water. We love keeping a pitcher of cold brew around for afternoon coffee with no brewing required! It’s also our base for making iced coffee. Recipe: Cold Brew Coffee Espresso is an Italian way of making coffee in highly concentrated shots. A single espresso shot is 1 ounce, and a double shot is 2 ounces. Recipe: How to Make Espresso The Moka Pot is a stovetop coffee maker used to make espresso-like coffee. It uses boiling water to force steam through the coffee grounds, so the coffee bubbles up into the pot versus percolating down like in brewed coffee. Recipe: Moka Pot Coffee The Aeropress has its own filters as well, and the method is not as exacting as the Chemex. Overall, it’s cheaper and quicker! You can use any roast of coffee with the Aeropress. Recipe: How to Use an Aeropress to Make Coffee Café con leche was my gateway to trying espresso, that astringent dark bitter liquid in a tiny cup. On our honeymoon to Rome and the Amalfi Coast, Alex and I drank espresso with breakfast and at a little Roman cafes with a pastry. We brought back our new European coffee habit to the US, mainly drinking dark roast coffee like the Italian espresso that we loved. After a few years, our coffee tastes changed again when we met our neighbors, Sarah and Andy, who run a local coffee roastery Blue Mind Roasting. They taught us about the nuanced flavor of craft medium roast and light roast coffee. At first, light roast tasted oddly floral and almost like tea! But after starting to drink their light and medium roast coffees, we began to appreciate the unique flavors of single origin beans. We’ve been making this coffee in our Chemex every morning ever since (though I’ve since switched to preferring a morning Americano and a mid-morning cold brew!). After years of cultivating a passion for coffee brewing, we’ve now perfected our six favorite methods. We hope you enjoy these coffee resources and that they help you in your journey. Let us know in the comments below! No reviews
