Want the coffee you serve up at home to be just as tasty as the stuff you pay huge amounts for at your local espresso joint? You’re not alone. With coffee culture continuing to grow, more and more people are discovering that a truly exceptional cup doesn’t have to mean a trip to a specialty café, or the eye-watering price tag that comes with it.
But where do you even begin? Beans, grind size, water temperature, brewing method – the variables can feel overwhelming.
That’s why we picked the brains of Deaton Pigot, Head Roaster at top Brooklyn coffee house Toby’s Estate, to cut through the noise.
With years of expertise and a passion for helping everyday coffee lovers get the most out of their morning brew, Deaton shares his insider tips on everything from sourcing the right beans and understanding roast profiles, to nailing your grind and perfecting your technique – so you can start every day with a cup worth savoring.
1. Good beans cost good money
“My job is focussed on the coffee program, which means I buy green coffee by travelling to origin, roast the beans on our Brooklyn floor and handle quality control. We source our coffees using direct farm relationships across the globe.
Coffee producers find us their best coffees and in turn we pay premium prices, far above fair trade coffee prices. We visit the farms to make sure the producers have sustainable practices and pay their workers a fair price. This ensures we follow the bean from crop to cup.”
2. Roasting coffee at home is fun
“Imagine your guests arriving just as you’re roasting coffee to be enjoyed after dinner – although note that it’s best to let it rest for at least 12 hours before drinking. There are online green coffee companies that offer a wide range of coffee beans.
Once you dial in your home roaster and understand your personal preferences I don’t see why you couldn’t replicate something similar to what you’d get from your local professional roaster.”
3. Get on that grind
“I highly recommend investing in a home grinder, as coffee stales a matter of minutes after it’s ground. I’d go for a Baratza Encore grinder if you’re using a pour-over method, or a Mazzer Mini for espresso.
You really pay for quality in a grinder: the Mazzer has flat, metal burrs which produce less fines (smaller coffee particles that go a long way to producing a bad cup); metal burrs are a better option for espresso.”
4. Don’t leave ground coffee for too long
“While coffee doesn’t expire, it stales surprisingly quick. Try to avoid keeping it for longer than a couple of weeks, and look for a roasted on date so you can keep an eye on freshness. Think of it like fresh bread and buy small amounts weekly.”
5. And don’t leave it in the fridge
“Refrigerating or freezing coffee is unnecessary, and hinders fleeting aromatics. The best way to store it is in an airtight container away from heat and direct sunlight – kitchen cupboards work a treat.”
6. Home brewing is best kept simple
“I leave espresso brewing to the professionals at my local cafe. At home I use a Chemex or Hario V60, and a relatively inexpensive $300 grinder that lets me grind fresh on demand just before brewing a cup.
I make pour-over, filter-style coffees because they produce a much cleaner cup. A French press has a lot more ‘body’ in the mouthfeel from the unfiltered fines floating in the brew – some people love that, but I prefer the finesse of a filter coffee.”
7. How to brew up a perfect cup
De’Longhi’s newest and most-hi-tech bean-to-cup machine, the PrimaDonna Aromatic, currently sits atop out best coffee machine guide. Itoffers more than 35 one-touch coffee recipes, including cold brew (in under five mins) and cold foam milk for iced cappuccinos.
A five-inch touch display lets you scroll through and choose, or control via theMyCoffee Lounge app.It comes with two Latte Crema milk carafes: the black-topped one is for hot drinks, the white-topped one for cold.
It works with plant-based milks as well as dairy. But note that for cold drinks, cow’s milk should be skimmed. There’s a chute in the top for adding a scoop of ground coffee to use instead of the beans. This means you can use different blends, decaf, etc.
8. How to drink coffee on the go
In a hurry? The AeroPress Go is one of our favourite travel coffee makers for a number great reasons. It’s ultra-portable, comes with a cup and couldn’t be easier to use – albeit with a little elbow grease required to overcome the inherent resistance.
The company also sells a Manual Coffee Grinder boasting the same focus on portability and ease of use. There’s an impressive 60-plus grind seeings that’ll get you anywhere from AeroPress-friendly espresso to a coarse ground more suited to a french press or a pour over.
It’s constructed with Italian-made titanium-coated burrs, which have a lifetime guarantee, and offers the promise of an ultra-consistent grind. It’s so portable it fits inside the AeroPress itself, and there’s a detachable magnetic handle for extra convenience. Aeropress says that inch-for-inch it’s the most compact high performance grinder on the market.
Liked this? How to make the best coffee at home, whichever machine you have
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