How to get my home brewed coffee to taste like expensive cafe coffee?

Buy good coffee. Buy a good grinder and good machine (or French Press in my case). The good coffee is the main part. I buy beans and roast them myself.

kevin the baker wrote:

Please, teach me. any tips or secrets to this? I crake bolder, richer coffee but dont want to pay $3 every time I want it.

Use more coffee. A full scoop per cup, and buy something decent. That'll satisfy your crakings.

crave*

Buy good coffee and don't use crappy paper filters.

As mentioned above, use a French Press and adjust amount of beans to your taste.

Also, dump the grounds in your garden and your plants will love it.

Get a 12 oz french press and a bag or can of espresso beans. Make one cup of coffee with one scoop of grounds at a time.

It will actually be less caffeinated than a grande drip but, taste similar.

If you use cream/sugar/cinnamon, add it to the hot water while it brews in the french press. Or, heat the milk first and you got yourself a latte!

Check out the Aero Press. It is a cleaner stronger richer taste than even the french press.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?sku=17429019&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=CKrTgo2JjLYCFahlOgodywYALw

And invest in a good grinder.

Buy your beans : Whole foods or your best coffee shop should have them.

1. Buy good beans. Buy them whole.

2. Buy a good grinder to grind your good beans. Not a blade grinder, mind you, but a burr grinder, which does a much better job. A decent one will cost you eighty bucks or so, but will quickly repay you in money you don't spend at the coffee shop.

3. Buy a french press. There are better brewing methods, but the french press is the most consistent and the easiest to use on a regular basis.

4. Heat water. After you've started it, grind your beans coarsely (for french press) in your new burr grinder. Use 2 scoops of whole beans per 12 oz. cup of coffee.

5. Once the water has boiled, let it cool for a minute or two. Put your grounds in your french press. Fill your empty mug with hot water to warm it up (this will keep your coffee hot longer).

6. Pour, very slowly, just enough water to cover your grounds into the french press. Make sure all the grounds are wet, but don't pour in any more water than needed to just get them wet. Let it sit for one to two minutes. This is known as blooming the coffee. It removes CO2 and drastically improves the taste of the drink. Don't skip this step, it's the difference between a decent cup and a very good cup.

7. After the bloom, stir the beans gently, then pour in the remaining water. Let the coffee brew for about four minutes.

8. Stir the brew gently, then press it SLOWLY.

9. Dump the hot water out of your cup, then pour the coffee in and enjoy.

This sounds like a lot of steps, but most of it is passive and you can make your breakfast as you do it. 10 minutes or so total from starting the water to a delicious cup of coffee.

Also an electric kettle makes this all really easy and quick.

Try Folger's. It's mountain grown, the richest kind of coffee!

I like Maxwell House because it softens my hands while I do the dishes.

Skip the French press and get an Italian stove top espresso maker. Brew up the coffee in that and add some foamed milk and cinnamon and you have a latte that is better than anything Starbucks can serve you.

http://www.kitchenvirtue.com/Bialetti_Moka_Express_Espresso_Maker_6_Cup_p/SCMO6.htm

Good beans, roast and grind them yourself (or at least grind them yourself), and then use a Technivorm Moccamaster.

To save time, use Folger's Crystals. They are rich enough to be served in America's finest restaurants.

nbxs wrote:

Buy good coffee and don't use crappy paper filters.

As mentioned above, use a French Press and adjust amount of beans to your taste.

Also, dump the grounds in your garden and your plants will love it.

Doesn't that make your soil super acidic, or have you not had any problems long term doing this?

SLappityDoo wrote:

nbxs wrote:

Buy good coffee and don't use crappy paper filters.

As mentioned above, use a French Press and adjust amount of beans to your taste.

Also, dump the grounds in your garden and your plants will love it.

Doesn't that make your soil super acidic, or have you not had any problems long term doing this?

I have not been doing it very long but I did not see any ill effects on my garden last summer. It is a small raised bed but I did try to spread them around. Coffee grounds were recommended as an effective ant deterrant for gardens on one of the web sites I looked at and it did seem to work for that. Something about the nitrogen burning their legs?

Coolio

calebb wrote:

10 minutes or so total from starting the water to a delicious cup of coffee.

10 minutes for a cup of coffee? You don't value your time.

Josh Hamilton's Addiction wrote:

10 minutes for a cup of coffee? You don't value your time.

It's no slower than waiting for a drip machine. And you can do other stuff (make breakfast, check the news, stretch, foam roller) while you wait for the water to boil and then for the coffee to brew.

howie wrote:

Skip the French press and get an Italian stove top espresso maker. Brew up the coffee in that and add some foamed milk and cinnamon and you have a latte that is better than anything Starbucks can serve you.

http://www.kitchenvirtue.com/Bialetti_Moka_Express_Espresso_Maker_6_Cup_p/SCMO6.htm

+1 for the Aeropress. I purchased one about 8 years ago when they first came out. Makes the best damn cup of coffee and is quick and easy to clean. The only problem is that you end up using quite a bit more coffee per cup than you would a drip maker but to me it is worth it. Even makes the crappy coffee grounds they have at work taste good!