Quick answer: To make coffee taste better, start with freshly roasted beans, grind them just before brewing, weigh your coffee and water (around 1:15 to 1:18), and use clean, good-tasting water. Keep your equipment clean, don’t leave coffee on a hot plate, and experiment with brewing methods and milk or sweeteners until you find what you enjoy.
The best way to enjoy coffee more is to fix the cup itself. Most bad home coffee comes down to a few fixable habits, and these ten changes, roughly in order of impact, will make your daily cup taste better.
In this guide 11 sections
- 1. Choose a great coffee
- 2. Store beans properly
- 3. Measure the beans
- 4. Find the best grinder
- 5. Keep the water in mind
- 6. Explore alternate brewing techniques
- 7. Clean your equipment often
- 8. Avoid overheating and reheating
- 9. Use additives like creamers and sweeteners
- 10. Make coffee shop drinks
- Frequently asked questions
1. Choose a great coffee
Many coffee drinkers buy the same coffee for years. If you want a better cup, be willing to try something new: local roasters, grocery stores and online shops all sell far more choice than they used to. Our ranking of the best whole bean coffees is a good place to find a few to sample.
Look for bags with a “roasted on” date rather than just a best-by date; pre-ground supermarket coffee may have been sitting on the shelf for weeks or months, and coffee starts losing aroma soon after roasting.
A great way to find fresh coffee is to look around your area for the best roasters and then buy freshly roasted coffee in small batches from them so you can sample them. The coffee bean that’s right for you is out there; you have to find it.
2. Store beans properly
Coffee begins to lose its freshness once it is exposed to air. Like most foods, coffee beans oxidize over time, which dulls their flavor, so store fresh beans properly as soon as you get them home.
The best way to store beans is in an airtight, opaque container in a cool, dark, dry place. Air, moisture, heat and light are what make coffee go stale. The freezer can work for longer storage if you freeze beans in sealed portions and don’t refreeze them; see our guide to freezing coffee.
Buy only as much as you will use in a few weeks so you are always brewing fresh beans.
If you want to learn more about storing your coffee beans read our article on how long coffee stays fresh.
3. Measure the beans
A common mistake is guessing the amount of coffee. Too little gives a weak, sour cup; too much can taste harsh and heavy.
While measuring spoons and eyeballing might help you get a reasonable estimate, consider investing in a digital scale to get the correct measurement. It removes all the guesswork and enables you to get it right every time. As far as ratio goes, a common ratio of coffee to water is between 1:15 and 1:18 by weight, but you can decide to go slightly higher or lower until you get your desired taste. Our coffee-to-water ratio guide has amounts for each brewing method.
4. Find the best grinder
As stated earlier, grinding your beans at home is better than buying pre-ground beans. As a result, you will need the best grinder you can find that fits your preference, and that doesn’t cost much. A burr grinder gives a more even grind than a blade grinder, which makes your coffee more consistent. Whichever one you choose, being able to grind your beans by yourself is a significant step towards incredible coffee.
Ground coffee loses aroma much faster than whole beans because so much more surface is exposed to air, so grind only what you need right before brewing.
5. Keep the water in mind
Another critical yet mostly overlooked factor that determines how well you’d enjoy a cup of coffee is the quality of water you use. If your water smells or tastes of chlorine or anything else, your coffee will too.
Use clean, filtered water that tastes good on its own, but avoid distilled water: some minerals help extract flavor. The Specialty Coffee Association’s water standard targets around 150 parts per million of dissolved solids. More in our article on tap vs filtered water for coffee.
6. Explore alternate brewing techniques
If you’re unsatisfied with your current coffee experience, you might want to give another brewing method a try. The simple truth is that not all coffee brewing techniques are equal, which is why it is a great idea to explore other preparation methods.
For instance, you might want to try the pour-over method, which is one of the simplest, fastest, and cheapest ways to brew coffee. If that technique doesn’t do it for you, the French Press method might just be what you are looking for. Other options to consider are the stovetop Moka pot and AeroPress methods.
Each gives a different body and flavor, so trying another method is one of the easiest ways to find a cup you enjoy more.
7. Clean your equipment often
You might do everything outlined above and still not get the best experience if you don’t clean your equipment regularly. There will always be residue from the brewing process each time you use your coffee maker, and if you don’t clean it before you use it the next time, old coffee oils will make your coffee taste stale and bitter.
If you want a great taste, make it a rule to clean your equipment after each use. For most pots, brewers, and French-presses, a simple handwash would get the job done. But if you use a drip-brew machine, you will also need to descale it regularly to remove mineral build-up.
8. Avoid overheating and reheating
A lot of bitter, flat coffee comes from overheating and reheating. After making coffee, most people tend to save some up for later by leaving the pot on a warming burner. While that is not entirely wrong, the problem is that they often forget to turn off the burner on time.
One of the ways to prevent overheating is to make it a rule that you will leave a pot on the warming plate for not more than one hour. Alternatively, you can pour it into an insulated carafe or travel mug that can retain hotness for some time. If none of these solutions works for you, then the only option left is to brew a fresh cup of coffee whenever you need it. It might be inconvenient, but you know you won’t be drinking bitter coffee.
If you don’t mind cold coffee, refrigerate leftovers for iced coffee later rather than reheating them.
9. Use additives like creamers and sweeteners
If you have no problem adding something to your perfectly roasted and brewed black cup of coffee, consider exploring creamers and sweeteners as additives for a truly rich, flavorful, and thick texture. Whole milk, oat milk and other plant milks all change the texture and sweetness of a cup, and frothing milk at home is easier than it looks. Once you can steam glossy microfoam, try our beginner’s guide to latte art.
If you’re not trying to shed some pounds, you can go for any type of flavor of coffee creamers like caramel, vanilla, and French vanilla, chocolate and mocha, toffee and more. Have fun with your drink, and you will never have to endure a boring cup again.
10. Make coffee shop drinks
You can make those fancy drinks that you like in coffee shops in your kitchen. Who said you have to be stuck with plain, black, and boring coffee? If you’re willing to learn, you will realize that making coffee shop quality drinks at home is easy. You could either watch the barista at the coffee shop whip up an incredible drink or just head over to YouTube and watch some tutorial videos. Once you learn how to make a good number of popular coffee drinks, you will love to make them again and again by yourself – and also save a lot of money in the process.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best way to enjoy coffee?
Start with freshly roasted beans, grind them just before brewing and drink the coffee soon after it is made, before it sits on a hot plate. Then try a few brewing methods and add milk or sweetener only if you like it that way. The best way to drink coffee is the one that tastes good to you.
What is the quickest way to make coffee taste better?
Buy freshly roasted whole beans and grind them just before brewing. Freshness makes the biggest difference for the least effort.
Why does my home coffee taste bitter?
Common causes are leaving coffee on a hot plate, a dirty machine, using too much coffee or too fine a grind, and stale beans. Fix those first before buying new equipment; our guide to burnt vs over-extracted coffee helps you tell the causes apart.
Does water quality really affect coffee?
Yes. Coffee is mostly water, so off flavors such as chlorine carry into the cup. Filtered water that tastes good on its own is a simple upgrade.
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Thanks for your tips about how fresh coffee beans are really important and it shouldn’t be left in the freezer or left out. My wife and I have been thinking about drinking some better coffee to wake us up in the morning. We would really like to get some from a professional, so that it will test better.
It makes sense to get the beans in a really air-tight jar so that they aren’t exposed. My sister is trying to get more coffee for her house this fall. She needs to make sure she has quality coffee that will taste great for a long time.