Why doesent my home made coffee taste as good as the ones I buy? What is their secret?

Question

Is it the coffee maker or what can it be?

Answer 1

It's the heat at which the coffee is brewed at.

Edit: The tase is a little closer if you fresh ground the beans right before you brew it, Store the coffee in the fridge in airtight container and make absolute sure your machine is clean!!! You can use vingear to clean it, just make sure you rinse real good. You'll know if you don't!

Answer 2

10 Commandments of Quality Coffee

1 - Buy quality whole beans

2 - When buying bulk loose beans, do so from small containers with high traffic, ensuring fresher beans

3 - When buying prepackaged beans, ensure foil packaging with a one way plastic valve, the valve can be small and hidden so check carefully. Coffee beans release gas, lack of a valve means the package will swell or is stale.

4 - True to purchase coffee frequently, so buy in smaller quantities more frequently if possible. A month's supply at a time or so. Unopened foil bags with valves should keep 2-3 months though.

5 - Store your coffee at room temperature, not in the fridge or freezer. Store in an airtight container and out of direct light.

6 - Grind the coffee as close to brewing as possible

7 - Use at least +2T for every 6oz of water. Using less will over saturate the beans making a bitter cup, using more is wasteful. If you wish for a weaker cup, dilute with water after brewing.

8 - Use high quality, cool water... but not distilled, it is too chemically clean to really pull the flavors out of the coffee. But coffee, like vodka and most other drinks demands good water, filtered at least.

9 - Gold mesh filter alows more subtle flavors to show through, I use this for pure coffee and I use a standard mesh or paper for blends as blends are typically engineered specifically to cover up undesirable subtlety.

10 - Seek a brewer that uses a thermal carafe instead of sitting on a heating element, which can give the coffee a burnt, bitter taste.

Happy brewing!

Answer 3

One can absolutely have food and drink at home that is as good or surpasses that obtained in places of business.

My mom's coffee is done in a machine, drip style (into a coffeepot). It's not as good as what I have, which is drip by the cup. She opens a large can, purchased from a major grocery store, of some long-time popular brand. I used to buy beans from the coffee shop to grind at home, but currently am using TRADER JOE'S house blend. Mine has always been superior, hands down. Grinding your own helps tremendously. Even JOE's I grind at the store, and keep in a little sealed vat at home for weeks (I drink little at home, then espresso from the shops).
After you clean your unit w/hot soapy water, put a solution of vinegar and water (I'm guessing a third vinegar, maybe less) in the unit and run that through, nothing else, no grounds of course. Vinegar will remove all kinds of stuff from previous grounds or hard water (with it's nasty residues). Then run clear water through it so you know that thing is pristine again. One last thing, invest in filtered water (like the pitcher you put tap water into the top of, and it dribbles down, filling the pitcher) to use for the coffee. Many folks swear that's the difference for them.
Don't give up, find the way to treat yourself right. Your morning wake-up will enter a new dimension. Best wishes for your determined success.

Answer 4

They use filtered water, clean and sanitize their pots, makers, filters daily - if not more, have pre measured coffee and water, and fresher coffee.

I've worked in coffee shops and houses before, and I've given up on getting the same quality from home. I make a really good cup of coffee - I think I do, but it's not the same as Starbucks, or the like. It's also not costing me $5.00 for a cup of coffee though.

Answer 5

it could be the coffee maker (coffee shops are supposed to clean their equipment every day per health codes), but more likely its is because the coffees made at shops are made from beans that are ground fresh. try purchasing a coffee grinder (you can get an electric one for around $20) and whole bean coffee, and grind your own. pre-ground coffee that you purchase in the store has more open surface area to allow the oxidation and evaporation of the essential oils that give coffee its taste.

Answer 6

It could be the coffee maker, or maybe it's the coffee itself that you're buying? I make coffee at home and also buy coffee and it's all good. Maybe it's the strength of the coffee that you're making - it could be too weak?

Answer 7

Play arround with the amount of teaspoons of coffee power to get the concentration just the way you like and make sure that the water you use is not boiling hot, but close to boiling. Use warm, frothed milk. You get a wide variety of coffee beans with different tastes, try them all. Use freshly ground beans.

Answer 8

You will never be able to buy a steak, bean, coffee, milk, or any other edible item that is as good as a restaurant. It is set up that way to give you a reason to go to coffee shops, and restaurants and other dinning places. If you could buy as good of a cut of meat...or as good of a cup of coffee as at that store. Would you go back there??? Probably not. You would stay home and enjoy it. that's why with like meats for example....when you go to a grocery store..you buy "Choice" cut...and at a restaurant..you buy "Prime" cut.

Answer 9

I do not start my day without a steaming cup of coffee,made daily & untiringly by me,i think it tastes great but i dont make the mistake of comparing it with the commerciaal outlets.I'ts their business to make it good,and they are in the business for that purpose & that alone.Food ,beverages,confectionary are all in a class by themselves made by experts in that field, with equipment to match their efforts so don't bend over backwards in a bid to compete with them .Just enjoy the stuff you make.

Answer 10

It might be the the amount of time you are grinding your beans. I usually grind mine about seven seconds, so that they are coarse.

My coffee is organic and I only buy enough beans to last about 2 weeks. I drink it black and it tastes soooooo good.

Just experiment with how coarse you are grinding them.