They say that coffee is not just a drink, it is a mood! And rightly so. Brewing a perfect cup of coffee is an art and it requires a full skilled person to make it the right way. Although it said that drinking black coffee without sugar, milk, cream or sweeteners can be an acquired taste. But it is definitely considered more rich and wholesome by the coffee aficionados. You can taste the full-bodied flavors of the roasted coffee beans.
Black coffee is usually made in a French press or a pot but lately, the fresh young coffee connoisseurs believe that the pour-over method is equally good for making a sinfully good cup of black coffee.
Here we are discussing some of the best methods to make black coffee. Scroll down to keep reading and find out more.
Method 1: Making Pour-Over Black Coffee
Step 1: Purchase perfectly roasted fresh whole coffee beans. If that is unavailable or for some reason you are not able to obtain freshly roasted beans within a week or so of being roasted, then you can opt for a vacuum sealed bag of coffee from a reputable national coffee-bean roaster.
Step 2: Grind the freshly roasted coffee beans. You can do it in your own grinder, or get it done from the store. It is recommended to choose a burr grinder instead of a regular blade grinder. For best results, it is advisable to grind the coffee fresh before consumption everyday and not do it in bulk.
- You could experiment with different ground sizes. Although it is said that the finer ground coffee beans taste the best but depending on your taste, you might also like the coarser grind. Also, finer grounds are more bitter than the coarser ground coffee.
- Many experts suggest that the most perfect size is the size of a coarse sugar.
Step 3: Use good quality water. If your tap water is drinkable and you like the taste of it then you could go ahead and use it and rest assured, it will make good coffee. Distilled water or softened water should not be used but carbon-filtered water could be used to reduce the chemicals of tap water. The natural minerals present in the water are important to obtain a good taste.
Step 4: You will need a kettle, funnel and unbleached filters for your pour-over coffee. It is a common belief amongst the coffee connoisseurs that this pour-over, single cup coffee brew method provides the richest and the best cup of brewed coffee.
Step 5: Next you need to place the funnel on the cup that is big enough to hold your coffee. Put approx. 3 teaspoons of your ground coffee in the filter and you are ready to brew now. More expert brewers focus on the weight of the coffee grounds rather than the volume. If you are in for this method then, you could put 60-70g of coffee on the filter per liter of water. This quantity may vary depending on the coffee cup.
Step 6: The ideal temperature to brew a coffee is 93 degree Celsius. For that, you will need to boil your kettle. You can either boil it and allow it to cool for 30-60 seconds, or you can just turn it off before it reaches the boiling point. It is believed that darker roasts require less hot water and vice versa. For light roasts your temperature could be 97 degrees Celsius and the dark roasts, a temperature of 90.5 degrees Celsius could be sufficient.
Step 7: Use a timer for four minutes. You can wet the ground coffee on the filter with little water and then give it a minute or two to trickle down. And likewise, you can pour the remaining water patiently giving the filter enough time to brew the coffee. Make sure that at no stage the filter is overfull.
Step 8: Viola! Your coffee is ready.
Method 2: Machine Made Black Coffee
Step 1: Buy your freshly roasted coffee beans from the market. Make sure they are fresh because any exposure to sunlight or air will make them go rancid.
Step 2: Use an unbleached filter for your coffee machine. Ensure that your coffee machine is clean before brewing a fresh cup. You could clean it manually or you could run it on cleaning mode with a mixture of half water and half distilled white vinegar. After straining this, follow this procedure for fresh water to clean any residues of vinegar. To clean areas with hard water, repeat the process with larger portions of vinegar.
Step 3: Grind your coffee beans for fresh use. It is recommended to use a burr grinder instead of a regular blade grinder. It is also advisable to grind fresh coffee beans before each consumption. You can grind the beans depending on your taste. But it is believed by the aficionados that finer beans hold more taste, are richer and more flavorful.
Step 4: Next you can add the ground coffee to the filter. You can use two and 3/4th teaspoons of coffee per 8 oz. cup of water. With time, you will get a better idea of how much coffee you prefer with a certain amount of water. You can adjust the amount to your taste.
Step 5: You can start brewing the coffee now. Remember to turn off the ‘keeping the coffee warm’ feature, since this feature can bring the perfectly brewed coffee to boil hence, ruining the taste.
Step 6: Once the timer is done, your freshly brewed coffee is ready to be relished. Enjoy!
So, you could try either of both of these methods for the best results. Let us know which one you liked the best. Happy brewing!
