Over the past two years, I’ve gotten myself accustomed to the basic methods of brewing coffee at home in lieu of snagging a cup from the nearest fast-food joint or Starbucks, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Learning to brew at home is a gateway to a much greater world filled to the brim with the freshest coffee beans, and here's a list of reasons as to why you should be doing it.
- It Will Save You Money
Brewing coffee at home will always save you money compared to buying out in the exact same sense of eating out and cooking at home. It may be a hefty investment when getting the equipment, but buying new kitchenware is the exact same kind of investment.
For instance, an Melitta pack with paper filters will cost you between 35.000VND. A Melitta Milino blade grinder costs around 1.9 million VNĐ. After this upfront investment, you can pick up 1kg of beans at a nearby Cubes Vinbarista for 500. One cup of Melitta coffee uses around 15g, so your pack of fresh beans will last you for around 66 cups. Could imagine how much you would be spending on 66 cups from Starbucks?
- If It Doesn't Save You Time, It Will Take The Same Amount of Time
When I first started brewing at home, I was still unsure of the overall conveniences that home-brewing provided. I was also switching over from buying a cup at coffee shop or something like that. I started to notice that the amount of time I was using waiting in line, ordering my drink, and getting my drink, was roughly the same amount of time it took for me to make my own cup at home. So I wondered, “Why go out and order a cup of mediocre coffee when I can just brew a delicious cup at home for myself?"
- You Can Do It All In The Comfort Of Your Own Home
A simple and short point – nothing nearly as comforting as brewing a warm cup of coffee in the morning, maybe with your breakfast. All in a place as cozy as your own home.
- You Can Start Developing Your Palate For Coffee
I could write a separate article all about this one. However, what’s important here is to know that coffee, although predominantly bitter, can have a tremendous variety of different secondary and underlying tastes that depend on the harvest location, roast level, brewing method, and even water temperature, among many other things. Over time, you can tinker with certain steps in brewing your coffee, and freely experiment with the end result, and over time, find out the tastes and textures you prefer in your coffee.
- The Entire Process Is Honestly Loads Of Fun
Funny enough, as I got more into enjoying home-brewing, I started to enjoy the process of brewing my cup of joe as much as I enjoyed drinking it. In fact, I often find myself making extra cups of coffee in the morning just for the heck of it, due to how much fun I have from making a cup. Similarly to the process of cooking my meals, the process of brewing your own coffee really cements the feeling of having made something so good on your own.
Once you enter the realm of brewing coffee at home, you end up discovering an entirely different side of coffee that you may have never known had existed. Making your own cup will not only save you time and money, but it will teach you to familiarize yourself with manipulating the steps in brewing that ultimately affects the flavour outcome of your coffee.
If you end up choosing to hop on this caffeinated ride of wonder and adventure, I'll see you on the other side.
Kris Liu
(University of British Columbia)
