Written by Menswear Style in Food & Drink on the 18th March 2021

For many of us, a perfect cup of coffee is one of life’s great pleasures. From an iced latte in the summertime to a smooth cappuccino with a friend, coffee helps to keep you awake, stay focused on your daily tasks, and tastes delicious. While many of us have our favourite cafes and coffee shops, having your own coffee machine at home or in the office enables you to make delicious coffee yourself any time of the day. This will help you to save money and time, and can also be a lot of fun as you learn to experiment with making your own coffee. Whether you use a simple pod machine or go full out and grind your own beans to make your coffee from scratch, here is how to make a perfect cup of coffee every morning.

1. Choose the Right Kind of Coffee Machine 

To make a perfect cup of coffee every morning, you will first need to choose the right kind of coffee machine. There are various different types of coffee machine and deciding which one is right for you will depend on your coffee-making needs. You should look at different options like drip machines, pod coffee machines, and bean to cup machines, especially if you are going to be using the machine for home use. If you are looking for a machine for your business, you may want to consider an espresso machine as these are great for small and medium businesses, and won’t break the bank. You can either pour water into the espresso machine as you need it or directly connect it to your water supply. If you are looking for a machine for a coffee shop or a cafe, you will need to invest in a ground coffee machine. These are the machines that baristas use to create the different types of coffee such as lattes, cappuccinos, and americanos. They can be used to make many cups of coffee at the same time and have useful features like a steam wand and a hot water spigot.

2. Find Great Coffee 

The most important part of making the perfect cup of coffee is using the best beans. It doesn’t matter if you have spent thousands of dollars on a top-of-the-line machine, without great beans, you will never have great coffee. The difference in terms of flavour, aroma, and texture between quality beans and average ones is night and day. If you have a favourite coffee shop that makes really delicious espressos and americanos, you can try to buy their beans. These days, many coffee shops have their beans available for customers to purchase and you may even be able to pick up a special blend. Never buy beans in bulk because they will go stale if you open the bag and don’t use them for a long time. 

3. Learn about Grain Size and Quality 

After choosing the absolute best beans you can find, the next thing is to ensure that they are ground properly. Coffee beans should be ground just as they are needed because this is when they will be at their most flavourful and aromatic. If you are grinding your own beans at home, it is possible to do so with a pestle and mortar, but you will get better results if you use a proper coffee grinder. There are both automatic grinders and manual grinders which you operate by hand and either will do the job effectively. Automatic grinders have an advantage in that they are faster and also in that many models have a variable setting to produce different grind sizes. This is important as some coffee machines and the coffees themselves require the beans to be ground to a specific size.

4. Practice the Different Types of Coffee

The best thing about coffee machines is that they enable you to make all of the different fancy coffees available at a coffee shop. Bean to cup machines and pod machines can make everything from a latte to a macchiato while a quality espresso machine will give you the perfect shot of coffee you need to get your morning going. With a ground coffee machine, you will actually need to make the coffee yourself using barista techniques. Lattes and cappuccinos made fresh like this will be far tastier than those which come from a pod or a bean to cup machine but do require you to learn some new skills. Making great coffee is a learning process but by practicing every morning you will soon become a master barista. The most important skill is steaming the milk correctly. It is all about the position of the steam wand and the heat of the milk. Get that right, and your coffee should turn out great.

5. Add a Little Finesse 

After you have mastered making the different types of coffee, you can start to add a little finesse to the process. The first thing you should consider is how you are presenting your coffee. In order to fully enjoy your morning coffee, it is well worth investing in some high-quality china cups. If you have a ground machine, you can store the cups on top so that they are always hot and ready to go. Another way to make your coffee look great is to try out some latte art. We have all seen the amazing pieces done by talented baristas, and while you may not yet be able to paint the Mona Lisa on top of your latte, learning how to do a flower or a heart is actually very easy.

Coffee lovers know that there is a big difference between an ok cup of coffee and a cup that is really worth drinking. In order to make the perfect cup of coffee every morning, you will need to choose everything from the right kind of coffee machine to the most beautiful cups. Try out the tips in this article and you will be assured a delicious cup of coffee every morning of the week.

We discuss coffee machines, coffee grain size and quality, and types of coffee in this blog post on How to Make a Perfect Cup of Coffee Every Morning.