Have you ever bought some Starbucks coffee to make at home? If so, chances are you’ve probably tasted your homemade Starbucks creations and asked yourself this question: Why does my coffee taste like something is missing?
In the article below, we take a deep dive into why the Starbucks that you make at home tends to taste so different compared to the Starbucks beverage that a barista makes for you in a store.
Why does Starbucks not taste as good when brewed at home?
First off, let’s consider the four fundamentals of brewing a good coffee: Grind, Proportion, Water, and Freshness.
In a Starbucks store, these four fundamentals are kept to the highest standards, ensuring that every cup of coffee that they serve is of the highest quality and taste. Additionally, all Starbucks baristas that make drinks and serve them to customers are trained extensively in the art of coffee-making and use industry-standard equipment to craft excellent quality drinks. This means that they have the knowledge and experience to know the difference between a good coffee beverage and a bad one.
When you’re making your Starbucks coffee at home, chances are, you won’t have the expensive equipment, knowledge, and experience, nor the kind of materials that your local Starbucks barista has on hand to create the tasty caramel macchiatos or mochas that you love. This is most probably why your homemade Starbucks creations don’t seem to match up to the ones you buy from the store!
How to brew tasty Starbucks coffee at home
You can use 4 methods to make great-tasting Starbucks coffee at home – they are the Pour-over method, the Coffee Press method, the Drip coffee method, and the Chemex method.
- Pour-over
The pour-over method is basically pouring hot water over the coffee grounds that you put into a paper coffee filter that is placed over the vessel that you are brewing your coffee into.
It results in a clean, fully developed flavor while adding depth and body to your coffee beverage.
- Coffee Press
The coffee press, also known as a French press, is a device that consists of a vessel to hold your brewed coffee ground and water mixture, and a plunger with a metal mesh filter attached to its base.
When you’ve poured hot water over your coffee grounds in the coffee press, you simply wait for it to brew, and then use the plunger to press down the metal mesh filter so all the used coffee grounds go to the bottom while the clear liquid coffee remains at the top – now all you need to do is serve it in a coffee cup.
The press method is the ultimate way to preserve your coffee’s full flavor and consistency, thanks to all of the oils that stay in the coffee that would otherwise get absorbed into paper filters used in other methods.
- Drip coffee
Drip coffee method is the simplest way to brew a delicious cup of coffee. A coffee brewer is automated, which means all you need to do is pour in the desired amount of coffee grounds, set your brewing program, and press a button to start the brewing process.
Note that you will need to take into consideration the coarseness of your grind, and ensure that you are using the right coarseness for the right program. Most modern machines however come with a grinder function that does the grinding for you – which saves you time and effort in creating the perfect cup of Starbucks coffee at home
- Chemex method
The Chemex is a trademarked hourglass-shaped vessel that is made of heat-resistant and high-quality glass, specifically designed to make the best quality coffee. It is basically a pot and a drip filter in one.
Chemex uses its own brand of paper filters that are lab-grade and filter out the most sediment (coffee grounds) as compared to any other method. This means that the coffee that you get from the Chemex method has the cleanest and smoothest taste, but is ultimately more expensive as this paper is more expensive than regular filter paper.
What affects the quality of the coffee?
Here are four fundamentals of coffee-making that affect the quality of coffee that you make.
Grind refers to the coarseness of the ground coffee coming out of the grinder that you use to brew your beverage. There are many brewing methods to make a cup of coffee, such as the french press, filter, and cold brew, among many others. Each brewing method requires a specific kind of grind – otherwise, you’ll end up with a bitter, weak, or overly strong brew.
Proportion is the ratio of water to ground coffee that you use to brew your drink. The general rule is 10ml of ground coffee to 180ml of water, though this may vary based on individual preference. However, over-extracted (too much coffee) and under-extracted (too much water) coffee simply taste undrinkable, so you probably won’t deviate too far from the abovementioned proportions.
Water refers to the quality of the water that you use. After all, coffee is 98 percent water, which basically means that the type, purity, and temperature of the water that you use plays a super important role in the overall taste of your beverage.
The freshness of your coffee grounds is the key to a great-tasting cup of joe. The two biggest factors that affect the freshness of your coffee grounds is the exposure to oxygen, and moisture. Once your coffee grounds are exposed to high levels of moisture and oxygen, it loses its flavor and freshness and starts to become stale. This is why coffee grounds are always kept in an airtight container at room temperature.
Starbucks: Instant vs Ground Coffee
You may have seen both Instant and Ground coffee versions when you’re purchasing your Starbucks coffee at home. Though they may look kind of similar, the differences between the two are pretty notable.
Instant Starbucks coffee is the quickest way to make your Starbucks coffee at home, simply because it is basically the same as commercial coffee powder, which dissolves in hot water once you brew it. You can make Instant coffee straight in your coffee cup without needing any extra equipment.
Ground Starbucks coffee is different, in the sense that it does not dissolve. Thus, it takes a longer time to make, and you now have the added step of filtering out your brewed coffee drink from the inedible coffee grounds that remain in your cup of coffee. To make a cup of coffee from coffee grounds, you’ll need some extra equipment like a coffee press, drip filter, Chemex, and such.
Other brands of coffee that are easy to make at home
One of the world’s most famous instant coffee brands – Nescafe, is probably a household staple in many homes because of how tasty it is and how easy it is to make. Simply pour hot water over the coffee granules, let it dissolve, and brew for a couple of seconds, and pour in any milk, creamer, sugar, or whatever you like into your cup of joe.
Another famous instant coffee brand is Cafe Altura, which is an organic instant coffee that is a blend of South American, African, and Asian coffee beans. These beans are rain-washed, sun-dried, and fire-roasted to produce a perfect taste and a silky, full-bodied mouthfeel. Some say this instant coffee tastes exactly like one made from a drip – which is a high accolade in itself for any instant coffee brand.
You can also check your local coffee roastery to check out their coffee grounds, beans, and instant coffee (if available) selections. Plus, the experienced and knowledgeable staff will be able to offer you advice and insight into making the perfect cup of coffee, no matter which method you choose to brew with.
