Coffee101
The Beginners' Guide to Great Coffee at Home
Wondering where to start?
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After delicious coffee, wanting to explore different coffees or simply trying to avoid bad coffee? Coffee101 is here to help.
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Unsure of how to choose and brew the delicious coffee you want to drink at home?
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Bambozzled by online coffee advice, fancy gear, and endless coffee YouTubes?
​Written so that you can consistently enjoy wonderful coffee in your
own home, every day, Coffee101 is your beginner-focussed, no-nonsense
resource for brewing great coffee at home.
Coffee101 is for you if:
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You want to brew great coffee at home.
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You're new to coffee and want a friendly, guided starting point.
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You're getting overwhelmed by all the 'must-have gear', brewing methods, and opinions online.
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Already brewing at home but want your coffee to taste consistently better.
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Coffee101 gives you:
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A beginner- focused guide created specifically for home brewers.
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Clear priorities: what you actually need and what to do first.
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Step-by-step help to brew coffee you’re genuinely excited to drink.
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Your go-to essential coffee advice and information all in one place for people who want to brew great coffee at home.
Want to brew great home coffee?
​Start with following the links from one the FAQs below or read on
and look out for the Coffee101 &
Crucial Insights
Top Tips
FAQs
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1. What kind of coffee beans should I buy, and do origin and roast level really matter at home?
Yes, origins and roast levels do matter. There’s an incredible variety of beans offering a wealth of unique flavours to explore. Coffee101 can help you discover what's out there and find what you like most.
See here for what to consider when deciding what coffee to buy.
However, to truly appreciate those flavours, your coffee needs to be brewed well to allow to reach its full potential. Coffee101 is here to help you brew great coffee at home so all those wonderful flavours can be released, discovered, and appreciated.
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See here to find out about how to brew great coffee at home.
Top Tip: First focus on brewing well. Darker roast coffees are easier to brew and so it's worth fine tuning brewing skills on dark coffees before stepping out into the wonderful world of light roasts and all their fruity flavours.
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2. How fresh does my coffee need to be, and how should I store it to keep it tasting good for longer?
To make the best coffee choose beans which have a roasting date, (not a best before date) and then grind them yourself when they are somewhere between one week and two months old. Keeping the coffee air tight will slow down deterioration, but it'll never stop it.
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The best results require fresh coffee that is freshly ground because however well coffee is stored, ground coffee goes stale much faster than whole beans, and although good storage can slow how quickly coffee goes stale, go stale it surely will.
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Top Tip: Buy whole beans and grind them yourself. The benefits of grinding your own coffee can't be over emphasised - It's the key that unlocks great brewing.
Crucial Insight: A best before date on coffee isn't called the 'very best before date' for good reason!
Best before dates just mean the coffee is still safe to consume. It doesn’t necessarily mean it tastes as good as it should, let alone is anywhere near ‘best’ as best relates to the quality of coffee you can brew.
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3. What is the best brewing method for home? Cafetière, V60, Aeropress, Clever Dripper, espresso machine etc?
Which one should I start with? What basic equipment do I actually need to make good coffee at home?
There's lots to consider when choosing a brewing method. See here for the Coffee101 guide to choosing brewing methods.
On one level brewing coffee is very simple. You combine coffee and water, then separate the liquid from the solid coffee so you don't have bitter chewy bits as you drink. Everything else is detail. Even though those details can quickly become complicated you don't need complicated brewing methods to make great coffee.
Top Tip: Coffee101 recommends the Clever Dripper or an Aeropress as good ways to start. Both of which are relatively inexpensive, can make great coffee and the Aeropress can even make concentrated 'espresso-like' coffee 'shots' that can be turned into milk coffee drinks.
Crucial Insight: You don't need expensive equipment to make consistenly delicious coffee. Essentials skills with something like the Clever Dripper or an Aeropresswell can produce great coffee.
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Rather than focusing on coffee gear and always chasing the latest gadget, it’s worth learning how to make great coffee with something like an AeroPress or Clever Dripper. When you invest a bit of time in your skills; getting used to weighing, measuring, timing your brews, dialling in your grind, and especially noticing what you’re tasting so you can tweak things, you’ll get far better coffee than you would by just buying more equipment. Better still, those skills will not just enable you to brew great coffee now, they'll prove to be essential if you decide you’d like to dive into the wonderful world of espresso later.
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4. Why does my coffee taste weak, sour, or bitter, and how can I try to fix it?
Top Tip: Don't overlook the grinding. When your coffee's not right its very often because the grindings not right. See here for the Coffee101 guide to grinding coffee and why grinding is key.
See here for the Coffee101 brewing guides.