Do you miss getting coffee from your favourite neighbourhood bistro and have tried all the possible tricks and hacks at home for it? To brew a delicious cup of cafe like coffee, there are certain variables you need to master: the ratio of coffee to water, brew time, water temperature, and the grind size of your beans. All of these factors have to come together to create a balanced cup. When the coffee grinds are introduced to hot water, the water begins to extract compounds from the coffee beans. The goal? A liquid that is not too bitter, burnt or sour. And to get there, you need to extract the right compounds from the beans at the right time.
So, we spoke to Abhinav Mathur, CEO of Something’s Brewing to understand the secrets behind brewing cafe like coffee at home. He said,
While there are standard recommendations, coffee making is really all about personal taste. Brewing coffee at home doesn’t need to be difficult, and with the right techniques, your homebrew can be just as delicious as the coffees served in our cafes.
For all the coffee enthusiasts, here are a few recipes and alternate hacks that will ensure you have a cafe like coffee ready at home!
1. Coffee Concentrate
The coffee concentrate is produced through ground coffee, soaked for certain hours and filtered, until you get the right texture to it, creating a strong coffee liquid and a base for all your other coffee.
Coffee concentrates are a great way of brewing a larger amount of black coffee in a short amount of time. There are many iterations of coffee concentrates—from cold brew concentrate to hot coffee concentrates, and coffee extracts.
How To Brew It At Home?
Ingredients
1 part coarsely ground coffee
4 parts cold water or room temperature water
Coffee filter or muslin cloth
Mason Jar or coffee brewing container
Instructions
Step 1: Steep the coffee overnight. Place the ground coffee in a mason jar or pitcher and cover with cold or room temperature water. Stir to make sure all the grounds are wet. Cover with a tea towel and let sit on the counter for 24 hours.
Step 2: Strain the coffee concentrate with a filter or muslin cloth. Carefully pour the coffee and grounds into the container. Let it sit undisturbed until there is no liquid dripping through the pitcher.
Step 3: Transfer the concentrate to another covered container. Discard or compost the grounds.
Step 4: Store the concentrate in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Step 5: Dilute the concentrate with boiling water. When you’re ready to make coffee, bring the appropriate amount of water to a boil.
Step 6: Pour the concentrate into a carafe or thermos. Slowly add the hot water and serve.
2. Cold Brew
Making cold brew coffee is no great secret, nor does it require the ninja-level skills of a trained barista. You don’t need any special equipment. Only a large container and a strainer. If the thought of making a cold brew at home excited you, look no further! Here’s how to do it.
How To Brew It At Home?
Ingredients
Cold Water
Ground Coffee
Instructions
Step 1: Pour coarsely ground coffee into the filter. Wet the coffee ground thoroughly, seal it and place it in a mason or canning jar.
Step 2: Fill the jar with cold water and allow it to soak for 12 to 18 hours.
Step 3: Unseal it and store your cold brew in your fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Step 4: Enjoy complementing 1:10 or 1:8 coffee grounds and water ratio basis your taste preference.
3. Pour-Over Coffee
Pour-over coffee is the most basic: just you, a cup, a filter and a funnel. By pouring a slow, steady stream of hot water over coffee grounds, you can extract a full flavoured but delicate cup of coffee that’s filled with nuance and intricate flavours.
How To Brew It At Home?
Ingredients
Filtered, distilled or sprinkle water
Medium fine ground coffee
Instructions
Step 1: Grab the ingredients and tools like Espro Bloom or V60 cone, gooseneck kettle, a measuring cup, digital clock.
Step 2: Pour hot water into the serving cup to warm it.
Step 3: Add water to a gooseneck kettle and heat it on the stove until it reaches around 93 degrees C (off the boil).
Step 4: Grind coffee beans to a medium to fine texture. Measure the ground coffee in the pour-over brewer.
Step 5: Set the drip cone on the cup’s rim.
Step 6: Zero out the scale and start the timer. Beginning in the centre of the coffee grounds and working your way around, pour just enough water from the kettle to wet all of the coffee. Let it bloom and saturate the coffee for between 30-45 seconds.
Step 7: With the kettle angled as close to the cone as possible, continue to slowly pour water over the coffee. Work in even circles, starting in the middle and moving outwards. Pause as needed to let it catch up until the jar is full.
Step 8: Tap the cone to release the last bits of coffee. Serve and enjoy!
Alternate Hack
No Hario, no Chemex—how do you create pour over without one?
Ingredients
Fresh ground coffee
Hot water
Large coffee mug
Fresh handkerchief and rubber band to hold it on the lid
Pro Tip: If you don’t have coffee filters, try a handkerchief, a cotton kitchen towel, a paper towel or a cheesecloth. Ultimately, a handkerchief is the best for this method as it is both easily available and durable enough to withstand the temperature and pressure of water being poured over.
Instructions
Step 1: Get your clean handkerchief and fold it into a square that will fit the mouth of your mug or cup. Make sure to leave a margin of cloth, around two inches, that should hang over the sides of your cup.
Step 2: Clamp the handkerchief securely to the sides of your cup. Check the tightness of the rubber bands to ensure the cloth stays in place while you’re pouring hot water.
Step 3: Once you have enough coffee to reach the target measure, place the ground coffee onto your filter set-up. Give it a little shake to spread the grounds equally on the handkerchief.
Step 4: Boil two cups of water and let the water cool for thirty seconds.
Step 5: Pour a bit of water on the grounds, just enough to wet the coffee. Let it bloom—a process common to pour-over methods. Let the steam of the coffee be released for 30 seconds so as to have a fine fresh coffee.
Step 6: Do four slow pours, one every thirty seconds, until you have used up all the remaining water.
Step 7: Once this two-minute process is complete, all the coffee grounds should be fully saturated. When all the water has seeped through the handkerchief, you can carefully remove the rubber band holding it on the lid.
Hope these tricks to making cafe like coffee at home help you out!
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