A Simple Trick for Brewing Better Coffee at Home

Coffee has fueled my mornings for over 20 years. What started out as a habit to quickly caffeinate my tired college mind, has become a delightful daily ritual. I drink cold brew mostly, but enjoy a good pour-over from my local coffee spots when I feel like treating myself. It always tastes so much better when my barista makes it, but why?

What is it about those pour-overs, French presses, or brewed coffees at my favorite coffee shop? I found out that it wasn’t necessarily the beans or roast. Instead, it’s the temperature of the water that can make or break your next cup. Here’s why using water that is the optimal temperature (195 to 205 F) is the one little trick you need to know for brewing better coffee at home.

Some Coffee Backstory

I started drinking coffee in college, when late night cram sessions followed by early morning classes were a regular part of my schedule. As a broke college kid, I settled for diner coffee that tasted either like filthy water or burnt toast. It was typically disgusting, but it did its job of efficiently caffeinating my college experience. Fortunately, that time of sub-par coffee acceptance was brief. Once I got out into the “real world,” I figured out that good coffee is the only coffee worth drinking.

I started out with my dad’s drip coffee maker. It wasn’t anything special, but it allowed me to choose my own beans (which I ground myself) to create a decent cup of coffee. Once I moved to Chicago, I finally figured out why everyone went to coffee shops. Yes, the free WiFi was great, but the coffee was sublime.

I was mesmerized by the baristas making pour-over coffee. There was such precision in the process, from weighing the grounds to heating the water. It was something I wanted to know more about, so I took to the internet and watched YouTube’s vast collection of coffee videos until I felt secure. After much trial and error, I finally found a bean and process that worked for me. My coffee was good, but still not great. What was the problem?

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So What’s the Perfect Water Temperature for Coffee?

The one thing that I hadn’t been paying much attention to was water temperature. I’d focused so much on beans and grind, that I totally disregarded the water component. Turns out that was a big mistake, says Asher Markworth, General Manager at Heritage Bikes in Chicago, Illinois.

He says that in order to brew a great cup of coffee, your water temperature should stay between 195 to 205 F. That goes for all types of coffee, including drip, pour overs, French press and Aeropress. Markworth notes that most home brewers have a set temperature within that range, but if you want more control, consider an electric kettle that allows you to set the water temperature and use the pour-over method.

Why Does Water Temperature Matter?

If you’re looking to optimize your coffee experience, Markworth says focus on controlling the temperature of your water. Shooting for that 195 to 205 F temperature range ensures you’ll bring out the tasting notes intended for that specific coffee.

A temperature higher than that jump-starts the extraction, says Marworth, which leads to over-extraction and results in coffee that’s bitter and ashy. Water below that temperature is also a problem, leading to under-extraction, producing “a cup of coffee that is light in body (weak) and possibly tastes sour.”

Marworth says It’s a fine balance, but one that can be learned with practice. He recommends keeping notes on grind size, total brew time, and temperature and making adjustments as you go. But most importantly, he advises, have fun! “You know what you like and the more time you spend trying new things the more confident you will get with tasting the nuances of the coffee and finding the exact right cup for you!”