Unless you’re an expert coffee brewer yourself, brewing a cup of coffee at home will typically not taste as good as one from your favourite coffee shop. While homemade coffee can still be great, it’s rare not to wonder why coffee from coffee shops are on a whole different level.

As a coffee lover, you’re probably on a quest to find the secret coffee-making formula so that you can brew a cup of your favourite beverage at the comfort of your home. What if there’s no formula and that your coffee doesn’t taste as good because you’re making some common mistakes?

Here are some of the things you need to avoid when brewing your own coffee:

It’s likely that you’ve been pouring your coffee into a cup at room temperature, or worse, cold! However, baristas have a trick to keep the hot temperature of freshly brewed coffee for longer. Pre-warming your cup will allow you to enjoy your coffee at the perfect temperature, making every sip soothing to the taste. Some coffee makers have a warming tray but you can always just pour some warm water into the cup a couple of minutes before to warm it up.

You should avoid brewing coffee using coffee beans that are older than four or five weeks as these are beans that have passed their prime and always be sure to grind fresh - Coffee beans lose their natural flavour and essence over time, so while they are still completely safe to use, they won’t give you the best flavour. Brewing old beans will result in a more bland and sometimes dull-tasting coffee.

If you want to make the best-tasting coffee, you should use beans that are freshly roasted, which you can check on the label. If you can’t identify the roast date, you can check the freshness of the coffee beans by grinding a few samples and smelling them.

Because coffee equipment is used mainly for brewing coffee, many people tend to overlook that they still need to clean and maintain these tools. Some people think that it’s fine not to clean their equipment right away because they’re brewing the same type of coffee. However, the oils and grease from the previously brewed coffee can stick onto the equipment, especially your coffee maker. These oils will be present in your next batch of coffee, which can make the coffee taste a more bitter than usual.

Most people wonder why their coffee tastes different each time and, most of the time, this isn’t caused by the quality of their coffee but rather the ratio that they’re setting. As much as possible, always brew your coffee with the water-to-coffee ratio that you prefer consistently to keep the flavour just the way you like it. In general, you should put two tablespoons of coffee for every six ounces of water, but this can be adjusted to suit your taste better or depending on the variety of coffee. Just remember that ratio so that you can recreate it every time you’re brewing your coffee.

While it’s extremely difficult to replicate the skills of an experienced barista in a coffee shop, avoiding the common mistakes above can enhance your coffee experience. Likewise, you should get the best and the finest roasts to ensure a rich, flavourful, and an overall soothing coffee drinking experience.

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