{"id":38148,"date":"2023-12-20T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/22d1ec47-b2e3-4da1-bb51-424307179d2f"},"modified":"2023-12-20T17:46:12","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T16:46:12","slug":"the-5-laws-of-making-better-home-coffee-according-to-science","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/the-5-laws-of-making-better-home-coffee-according-to-science\/","title":{"rendered":"The 5 laws of making better home coffee, according to science"},"content":{"rendered":"

Social media is filled with expensive tools and fancy new coffee techniques, but most of these aren\u2019t that helpful, these are the factors to focus on. <\/p>

By Alex Hughes\n <\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 20 December 2023 at 16:00 PM<\/p>

\n\n

How do you make the perfect cup of coffee, you ask? Sadly, there isn\u2019t an easy answer. A quick scroll through social media or niche coffee forums will leave your head reeling with machines costing thousands and unique tips to get your coffee tasting its best.<\/p>

However, as such a subjective drink, there really is no perfect<\/em> coffee. Instead, there is simply a really good cup that fits your tastes. And to get to that point, there are just a few things you need. After that, costs fly up while improvements stay somewhat marginal.<\/p>

So, the better question \u2013 how do you make a killer cup of coffee without breaking the bank? We spoke to Chris Hendon<\/a>, a professor of computational materials chemistry at the University of Oregon, and an all-round leading coffee science expert to find out.<\/p>

1. Get the right beans<\/h2>

A good coffee starts with the beans \u2013 there is absolutely no surprise there. While pre-ground coffee bought from the supermarket is convenient, it isn\u2019t going to provide the best result when it comes to taste.<\/p>

\u201cCoffee is a natural, seasonal product. Once it is roasted, it starts to de-gas and lose organic molecules that give rise to aroma and flavour. The fresher the coffee, and the nearer to the roast and harvest date, the better the flavour profile is going to be,\u201d says Hendon.<\/p>

\u201cYou want to seek out coffee that has been roasted between 1 to 4 weeks before you buy it. This can mean shopping around a bit, but it makes a huge difference in the end result\u201d.<\/p>

Of course, this is going to be more time-consuming and expensive. If you aren\u2019t able to track down fresh quality beans, it is still best to try and avoid pre-ground coffee for the best taste.<\/p>

Credit: Jose A. Bernat Bacete<\/figcaption><\/figure>

2. Perfect your grind<\/h2>

Okay, so we said you don\u2019t need to invest in all of that expensive coffee gear. But if you do put your money towards one gadget, make it a grinder. This will make the biggest difference to your cup of joe, according to Hendon.<\/p>

\u201cGenerally, the price scales linearly with the ability to grind better-sized coffee particles. There are blade grinders that, while cheaper, don\u2019t tend to do as good a job,\u201d says Hendon. He explains this is because they don\u2019t let the particles out when they\u2019re sufficiently small, so you end up with a variety of sized clumps of coffee. The little pieces will get wet before the big bits, leading to a more bitter taste.<\/p>

Usually more expensive, a burr grinder crushes the coffee instead of splitting it with a blade. For those willing to put in the extra step, Hendon and his team have recently performed research into the concept of ‘spritzing your beans<\/a>‘ \u2013 which basically means adding a small bit of liquid to your grind. This reduces its static electricity, which will bring more flavour.<\/p>

3. Change up your water<\/h2>

Sure, ground coffee is a key ingredient in the immensely popular drink but there is a second ingredient we don\u2019t put much thought into. The water being used makes a huge difference to the outcome of a cup of coffee, and it all comes down to chemistry.<\/p>

\u201cIn the UK, there is a big problem with the water. Hard water contains high mineral content, calcium and bi-carbonate, when these combine, they form limescale. The limescale combination does a weird thing to coffee,\u201d says Hendon.<\/p>

\u201cThe calcium helps facilitate flavour extraction from the coffee, but the bicarbonate completely mutes all the acids and turns them off. Coffee is naturally acidic in taste so this is going to massively take away from the taste.\u201d<\/p>

Hard water is extremely common, not just in the UK but around the world. This can often be why, despite controlling for all other factors, coffee at home just can\u2019t quite match up to the ones you get from a caf\u00e9.<\/p>

Hendon recommends going out and buying a bottle of soft or distilled water and trying this with your home-brewed coffee. If it makes a noticeable difference, it is likely that hard water is limiting the taste of your morning java.<\/p>

4. Control the temperature, timing and mass<\/h2>

You can invest in a good grinder and coffee, and make sure you\u2019re using soft water to brew your coffee, but there are actually four other key factors that affect your coffee, and luckily, they don\u2019t cost anything extra.<\/p>