I write too much about how to make great coffee. I don’t spend nearly enough time talking about how to make bad coffee, so here’s a list of quick and easy ways to ruin your coffee.
- Don’t clean your coffeemaker regularly. Minerals from your water and oils from old batches of coffee can negatively affect the taste of your coffee.
- Use non-filtered water. Many sources of water come with minerals and other particles that can change the way your coffee tastes for the worse.
- Use ground coffee. Ground coffee starts to go stale and lose it’s flavor within fifteen minutes. Do you want to guess how long it was sitting on the shelf before you took it home.
- Use the wrong grind. The beans have to be ground to the correct size to get the best taste out of them, depending on your method of brewing. Use medium grind for a drip brewer. Coarse grind for a french press. Fine grind for an espresso maker.
- Use stale coffee. Even whole bean coffee has a limited shelf life. Depending on who you ask, whole bean coffee lasts one to three weeks, depending on how you store it. Think of it as a vegetable or a fruit, it can’t sit around on your counter for months without losing flavor.
- Store your coffee in the fridge or freezer. Both are good ways to make your coffee damp and coffee doesn’t do well in damp conditions. Plus, coffee absorbs the flavors and aromas of the other items in the freezer and refrigerator.
- Use too little or too much coffee. The target is two tablespoons of coffee grounds per cup of water. That might be too strong for some people, but start out there and work your way down to find a taste that you like.
- Reuse your coffee grounds. What’s left after you brew your coffee is nothing but bitter and disgusting tasting. Don’t even think about it.
- Let your coffee sit around all day. Extra points if you leave it in the carafe on top of a hot plate. Either way, your coffee isn’t going to taste fresh after an hour (15 minutes if you’re leaving it on your coffeemaker’s hot plate).
- Reheat your coffee in a microwave. Nothing kills the flavor of a cup of coffee more than a microwave.
Do you know any other good ways to ruin coffee?
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Photo by Fricke_K.
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{ 17 comments }
Well, I guess my coffee is ruined from the first tip. I don’t use whole bean because I am too cheap to buy a grinder
.-= Keith´s last blog ..4 Tips To Get More Blog Exposure Via Twitter =-.
Ok, ruined is a strong word! But get a grinder. My first one was twenty bucks and it was worth every penny.
The shame, the horror. I am guilty of microwaving my coffee, sigh. No Starbucks for me!
I do have 2 coffee grinders, one is an old hand crank which I adore. I really should buy some beans one of these days. And you answered my question on storing coffee in the freezer. I don’t do this anymore, but my sister does keep her coffee beans there.
.-= Anne´s last blog ..Free/Cheap Movie Rentals ~ Thrifty Tip Tuesday =-.
The realist in me does microwave coffee from time to time, but only because I hate to waste things.
I have an old crank one that I’m borrowing. A lot of fun to play around with. I’ll have some pictures coming soon.
And I was same way. I used to keep my coffee in the freezer until I found out how bad it was.
I used to do everyone of these.
I still do some. No grinder yet, but that is the next purchase. I’ll probably be using stale beans though, since buying them in a small enought amount for just me, isn’t really economical…unless I’m using 2 cups per cup of coffee. Is that right? REALLY? I use 2 tablespoons per 8 oz of water, It’s not the strongest thing ever, but 2 cups?!? That seems excessive.
Definitely should be tablespoons. Someone didn’t have enough coffee when they were writing this article.
I would have to agree with everything except #7. I trust this is a misprint 2 CUPS of grounds for every cup of water. Otherwise I would have to concur with all you say.
Definite misprint! I need to drink more coffee and double check my work.
2 Tablespoons per cup is pretty normal to me– two cups sounds outrageous… and would get super expensive.
.-= Joshua´s last blog ..Muse(ings) 9: Wit and Wisdom =-.
Yeah that was definitely my error. Sorry about that.
I allways use non-filtered water to make coffe and make best coffee with milk in the world
.-= Biffy´s last blog ..Bus Tours: Giving You the Ride of Your Life Within Your Budget =-.
I am going to assume that since I never read the bag and I just throw about 5 scoops in per shot that my coffee is probably terrible, I beat it up with enough coffee and sugar to destroy any noticeable issues.
Did your blood just boil?
.-= Extreme John´s last blog ..A Day in the Life of.. Episode 5 [video] =-.
haha! Somehow you don’t make that bad of coffee. Some day I’ll get you to start using a grinder though.
You forgot “Ask Stiletto Sports Jen to make you a pot” because I truly make the worst pot of coffee….all the time.
I have a decent coffee maker, you give me high end coffee, I measure fairly well, usually use cold water, clean my coffee maker on a semi-regular basis (kinda like how i get an oil change for my car on a semi-regular basis)……yet my cup never tastes as good as if someone else makes it for me!
my old roomie said “yeah, your coffee sucks. it tastes like you use dirty water or something.” which I suppose I do since I don’t use filtered
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..Pretty in Played: The Best Dressed Pro Golfers on the PGA Tour =-.
Yeah, I’m really not sure how you make bad coffee every time. It was no coincidence that whenever you were around, I made the coffee.
HaHa Love Coming Back Reading People Comments Nice Article Mike As Always Keep Up The Coffee Can Never Have 2 Much Coffee Info
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I would tend to disagree with number 7. I think the author is correct in his understanding that coffee does not do so well when it is damp but if one were to seal it correctly, as in air tight, then it should be fine.
Also the notion that coffee will soak up the flavor of other items is something we all must realize is the difficulty and beauty about coffee. Take for instance, different coffee from around the world does not get its taste solely from the ground it is grown on but also the farming and shipping habits of the many distributors. For coffee, we all must realize; is nothing more than a sponge and it is a sponge that can be selectively soaked up to one’s personal tastes. I personally store my coffee (Note: coffee somewhere from the America’s for crisp and clean taste) well sealed in the fridge next to either cocoa, lemons, or some other fruit because I like it to taste a bit more like these things, of which I might add is not for everyone. So if you like your coffee to taste like onions (generally you would not be able to purchase it this way) then store it next to the onions.
- Eugene Scray
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