Top Tips for Brewing the Best Specialty Coffee at Home

Dubai, 11/07/2022

According to the United States' National Coffee Association and Specialty Coffee Association, close to 39% of coffee drinkers in the US have tried making their favorite specialty coffee at home and said it does not taste the same. While we do not have comparable research done in the United Arab Emirates, coffee trends seem to transcend borders. 

Getting the perfect coffee brew should not be challenging, but it can feel like an uphill battle if you do not have your local barista standing by your side to teach you their espresso magic. If you want to be the next best Arabica connoisseur, and spread "coffee culture love" to those lucky to sip on your creations, you need to ask yourself: what makes a great cup of specialty coffee?

It's simple. It starts with the beans. 

Use Quality Specialty Coffee Beans 

There are four primary types of coffee beans: Arabica, Robusta the two most common beans, and Liberica, and Excelsa, which are considered to be rarer species. These grow along the Equator, in countries like Brazil, Colombia, Honduras, and Peru in South America, Uganda, Congo, Yemen In Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, and Indonesia and India in Asia. 

Specialty coffee contains delicious and complex aromatic compounds in its roasted coffee beans. Immediately after roasting, these compounds begin escaping, meaning that the dissipating compounds take all the flavor as they leave the bean. This evaporation process is known as degassing, 

When we grind our coffee beans and store them aside for a few days, we are left with a stale taste because the larger surface area makes it easier for the compounds to escape. 

Some experts claim that within 8 days, you can expect a loss of 70% of the flavor! The key is to only use whole fresh coffee beans and grind them right before making a new brew. This way, you can enjoy the most flavorful cup of warmth and deliciousness while most of the aromatic compounds remain intact. 

Looking for quality coffee beans? Here's a selection to get you started.

The Right Ratios in your brew

The more coffee beans you add, the stronger the taste, unless you add too much water. So how much coffee should you use to avoid a watered-down beverage? The best solution is a ratio between the amount of coffee and the water. Depending on the brew method, this ratio will vary. Here's a great graphic by coffee affection with all the brewing methods out there.  

Filtered Water

It is no secret that nearly 98% of coffee brew is water. Therefore, the taste and quality of water play a significant role in how divine your specialty coffee tastes. If you use water with a strange odor, you can expect the foul taste and smell to jeopardize your coffee. It is best to use purified or bottled water filtered thoroughly. 

The purest water you can find, the better. Your excellent Arabica coffee does not need any minerality to breathe life into your morning taste buds.

Looking for pure water that is also great for the environment? Try these waters:

Coffee Culture in Dubai

The Dubai coffee culture scene has seen a boom in the last couple of years. This is all thanks to a surge of exciting coffee shops and cafes that serve an abundance of specialty coffee. But coffee was never foreign to the culture. 

Arabic coffee "Gahwa",  made in every Emirati household is served when receiving guests or at family gatherings and is the first thing served to visitors & tourists when they land at Dubai or Abu Dhabi Airports.

Arabic coffee is ingrained within the Arab tradition and culture. It brings people together from around the world to experience a divine taste unlike any other. Coffee cultivation originated in the Arabian Peninsula, and there is a proud sense of identity when it comes to coffee in the Middle East.

There are also famous UAE coffee sommeliers with traditional recipes passed down to generations. New, young coffee sommeliers are taking the mantle, and modernizing the space by bringing Western techniques and ideas and infusing them into the youth's local culture. 

Always Create the Perfect Blend

Now that you have taken your first steps in the journey of coffee brewing, it is important to note that this is a deep discipline, with a lot of complexity where people spend decades exploring coffee bean origins, geographic terroirs, and new roasting and brewing techniques. 

If this is something that speaks to you, then we recommend that you take a course at Cypher Academy.  

In addition to the courses it offers, Cypher Urban Roastery sources, supplies and roasts specialty premium coffee to service the growing needs and taste requirements of regional wholesale consumers and specialty coffee drinkers in the UAE. 

Enjoy your next cuppa! 

-Meelz Editorial Team-