Your Guide to Easy At-Home Fancy Coffee
This guide to easy at-home fancy coffee was basically born out of the DIRE NEED for my coffee shop favorites during quarantine. Not only were we NOT frequenting our local shops anymore for work sessions, but we also wanted to find a way to decrease spending and prioritize our budget during this incredibly weird time. Lucky for us, we already had all the tools we needed for fancy coffee, we just finally had to bring them together, learn how to use them, and BOOM - fancy coffee was born.
You guys have been LOVING #javawithjess every morning, and I think it has to do with the comfort we find in repetition. Every morning (pretty much) you know you can come on my IG story and see a screenshot of my fancy foamy coffee and my favorite music, and the world is right. Heaven forbid I have to give up coffee - I’m not sure what I’ll do without that familiar routine!
I think I have more people following me for my coffee and frother recommendations than any other thing, and because of that I knew it was time for a tutorial on just HOW we get that perfect cup of coffee at home. I have to say Tim is totally the coffee snob in our home. When he met me, I was straight up drinking pre-ground, regular ol’ coffee maker off brand coffee and pouring tons of liquid pre-flavored creamer into it and would have happily continued on my merry way indefinitely like this. He introduced me to beans, and the different ways to make coffee, and now that I’ve been tasting GOOD coffee for the last almost 8 years, I don’t think I can ever go back.
You’ll frequently catch me asking him “did you do something different?” after a sip of coffee and he’s always pleasantly surprised when I can taste the difference between different beans or companies or methods! I’m definitely no expert, but I’ve come to the decision that if I’m going to continue to drink coffee, it’s not going to be $hi!!&. So, I’ve made you the complete guide to easy at-home fancy coffee, and trust me, if I can do it - anyone can!
Let’s start with some suggested equipment to get the ball rolling.
Equipment:
Chemex - We like the one with the wooden grip. Also the glass on Chemexes are DELICATE. Handle these beautiful coffee makers with the care and awe they deserve lol.
Chemex Filter - You can typically find these on Amazon, but they’re currently sold out. I’ve linked to another site for a better price here!
Food Scale - We just had to replace ours after 3+ years of daily use, and this one is super affordable!
Gooseneck Kettle - It does actually make a difference if you have a gooseneck or not! We’ve tried with other kettles and you just don’t get the power and precision that you need (especially during the center pour) without a gooseneck.
Filtered Water - Not a MUST, but I do think the taste of your water affects the taste of your coffee! So using filtered when possible is recommended! We use our Berkey to filter ours.
Coffee of choice - Totally up to you, but the fresher the beans, the better the coffee! Try and find a roasting date (most will be listed on the package) that’s as recent as possible, with a local roaster if at all possible. We love Third Coast Coffee out of Austin when we can find it here in our local stores!
Coffee Grinder (if needed) - I highly suggest buying whole beans and grinding them yourself. While it’s totally optional, it just another one of those things that affects the taste and freshness of the coffee. We hand grind ours with THIS grinder, but we’re saving up for this automatic grinder as our next purchase. You need a specific size of ground (medium-coarse) for Chemex or “pour over” style of coffee. If you prefer other types of coffee (French press, espresso machine, etc.) your ground will be different! Always always always look for what’s termed a BURR GRINDER - it allows you to adjust the size of the grind and gives you more control over the grind as well.
Ceramic Frother - This is totally an optional piece of equipment, but if you truly want Barista-like lattes, you’ll want to add this to your list! I outline below the ins and outs of how to use this bad boy!
Cream/milk of choice - More details on which milks froth best below!
Now let’s look at the actual steps to get that “WORLD’S BEST CUP OF COFFEE!” - Elf style.
Steps (for 2 large cups of coffee):
Fill up your gooseneck kettle almost to the top, and bring to a boil over high heat.
While your waiting for your water to boil, pull out your other equipment. Place your Chemex on the counter and place your Chemex filter in the top funnel. The natural filters will open up to have 3 sheets on one side, and 1 sheet on the other to create a “cup” for your coffee grounds. I like to put the side with 3 sheets on the spout side.
If you need to grind your coffee, do so now. You will need approximately 40 grams of coffee grounds for two large cups.
When the kettle reaches a boil, remove it from heat. Take the kettle and in a circular motion wet the filter in the Chemex. You want to try and wet it completely and then swish the hot water around in the Chemex bowl and then dump that water (not the filter) out. This step is two fold - it helps to remove the paper residue and taste from the filter so it doesn’t get in your coffee, and it warms up the Chemex bowl to receive the coffee.
Next, place your Chemex back on the kitchen scale and then add your ground coffee to the filter. Zero out the scale.
Take your kettle and add 80 grams of hot water to the coffee grounds, trying to completely coat the grounds with that 80 grams. Take your phone and set a timer for 1.5 minutes. Allow the coffee to “bloom” during this time undisturbed. “Blooming” the grounds helps them get saturated, and expand, releasing carbon dioxide trapped from the roasting process. Fun fact: it’s said the roasting date, the more active bloom you’ll get! You’ll tend to see a lot more bubbles during this process. If a coffee doesn’t bloom actively, it’s more than likely an older roast and might affect the taste and flavor of the coffee.
After the 1.5 minutes of blooming is up, you’re going to take your kettle and pour water in a circular motion starting in the center. Spiral out toward the edge of the grounds, before spiraling back toward the middle, then you’re going to hold a steady stream of hot water down the middle of the grounds until your scale reaches 600 grams (this will be 520 additional grams to the 80 you’ve already poured in the bloom process). This is what’s called a “center pour”. There are many different methods and ways to do your pour, but this is what works well for us!
Once you’ve reached 600 grams, allow all of the hot water to drain down into the Chemex bowl (it’s the coffee now because it’s run through the grounds). Once it’s stopped draining, squeeze the filter to get any last drops and toss it and the grounds in the trash. What’s left in your Chemex bowl is your coffee.
From here, you can make two large cups of black coffee OR you can follow my extra steps below to get an even FANCIER coffee.
Optional Steps:
If you are really missing or looking for a way to replace your fancy coffee shop lattes at home I have one final step that can make your fancy coffee shop dreams come true! ENTER THE HOME FROTHER. This is not a handheld frother (those are good in a pinch) but a home frother that makes BARISTA like foam for your fancy coffee needs. However, not all frothers are created equal. In my research, what I found is that most home frothers are coated with a questionable non-stick coating that has been known to have ingredients that are harmful to human health. While I desperately want/need my fancy coffee, what I don’t want is a side of chemicals with it! So one of my good friends Cassie recommended literally the ONLY ceramic coated frother I could find on Amazon to me, and THANK GOD it is both a safer option AND works really really REALLY well!
I also love this frother because it has both a hot and cold foam option for hot coffee and cold brew lovers alike! It’s easy to clean, and mine has worked well for over 6 months now. I recently had someone who purchased the frother based off my recommendations reach out to let me know hers stopped working after one use - she said she reached out to the company who made it, and they sent her a new one quickly and she wanted to let me know that it was a good experience all around (especially now that she has one that froths beautifully!).
What milks froth best?
I get this question a lot, and I have to say not all milks froth equally. Regardless of what type of froth device you’re using you may have to play around with what type of milks will work best for you in terms of frothing. Oftentimes the ability to froth has to do with the fat content, the presence of any thickening agents, the temperature of the milk and so much more - you may kiss some frogs on your search for the perfect milk to froth for you, but don’t give up! When you find it, it’s magic!
Half & Half - gives me the most barista like froth that I’ve seen so far.
Heavy Cream - gives a decent froth, but not as light, and won’t grow in size as much as half and half. I believe that a high fat content can weight down the foam.
Nutpods - This will also give a decent froth, however it works best if the milk is COLD before going into the frother.
Canned Coconut Milk - this has been hit or miss for me. I believe the high fat content of some coconut milks can make it really hard for them to froth. If you were going to use a coconut milk, I’d look for one that is a “barista” blend, that might work a bit better for this purpose.
Almond/Nut Milks - again, these have been hit or miss for me in terms of frothing ability. Your best bet would be to find a “barista” blend in the refrigerated section that seems to do better with frothing.
Once you find your milk, it’s as simple as pouring it in, and pressing the button. The frother does all the work in less than a minute and then you can pour your foam onto of your coffee, and add in your sweetener and topics of choice! It’s really that simple!
I hope this tutorial helps you figure with how to make your own at-home fancy coffee without ever having to leave the comfort of your own kitchen! While some of the cost upfront to get going might be new, I’ve found we save SO MUCH money in our home without frequenting our local coffee shops quite so much (though we still make it a point to support local whenever we can!). If you could use a video to help break it down, I hope the video below helps you visualize the steps!