Good morning starts with coffee and The LP café is teaching you how to nail your cup of coffee… at home!
Coffee addicts, we know you’re missing a top cup of barista brewed coffee! There are however a few simple steps to enjoying a top drop while on lockdown! Leila Simpson, one of the owners of The LP café, is revealing her top secrets to now enjoy a TOP cup of coffee that you can make at home!
You can find the coffee beans, records, and home brewing equipment available at www.thelpcafe.com.
Beans
Starting off the process with beans (rather than granules or even ready ground) will always give you a tastier cup. There are very few ingredients used (coffee and water- maybe milk if that’s how you like it) so making sure each component is of good quality is going to give you the best cup!
To really enjoy your coffee- know what you like! It seems very simple, but coffee comes with many different tasting notes. Different parts of the world will produce different coffees. Changes within soil, temperatures and altitudes are all flavour factors. Typically, coffee grown in Africa will produce fruity citric notes, whereas South America will produce a rich chocolatey drop.
Freshness
Where do you store your beans? Keep them out of the fridge, coffee beans are porous and will take on moisture and other odours. It is also very much a myth that coffee should be kept in the freezer. A cool dry place or container will do just fine!
Grind
We don’t all have coffee grinders at home, but freshly ground beans will always deliver the fullest most interesting coffee. Different home brewing methods will also have differing optimum grinds; if you are using a v60 pour over you will want a finer grind than for a french press.
Don’t be tempted to cut corners. As a ballpark use 2 level tablespoons for a 6-ounce cup. Using less coffee per cup or hotter water to extract more you will just end up with a bitter brew.
Water
The water you use will have an effect on the taste but is often overlooked. As mentioned before, only two ingredients go into a cup of coffee so try to use filtered water if you can. Spring (not mineral) water will also make a great cup!
Filters
If you are using filter papers avoid using ones that are just the cheapest, you don’t need to spend much but look out for ones that are oxygen bleached or dioxin free.
Heat
Beware of using water that is boiling hot. Before pouring water onto the coffee grounds wait for about 45 seconds to a minute after the kettle has popped.
Clean Equipment
It’s very important to keep your bits clean! Coffee will cause an oily build-up so give your equipment a rinse before use and a deep clean with vinegar or specific coffee cleaner every few weeks.
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Soundtrack
It’s no coincidence that the time it takes to enjoy your cup of coffee is the same as a side of an LP record. So… put on some music! There are many, many artists that LP cafe can recommend from Miles Davis, David Bowie or King Krule to Amy Winehouse, Anderson Paak or Beyonce; just as you’ve now chosen the perfect bean for your pallet, the choice is up to you.
There are lots of ways to brew a cracking cup at home, the french press, v60 pour-over, filter, and the mighty AeroPress. Leila has been using a stovetop Moka pot, which yields a nice strong cup – how she starts her lockdown days (with Mac DeMarco or The Lovely Eggs on the stereo).
The grind:
Fine but not powder, if you are grinding aim for midway between Filter and Espresso.
How much coffee:
Around 25g if you are using scales, around two tablespoons.
How long it should brew:
3-4 minutes
How to brew:
- Boil 300ml of water.
- (Grind the coffee beans.)
- Remove the filter-basket and pour the boiled water into the bottom chamber.
- Put the coffee in the basket, settle the grinds by tapping the base of the basket on the tabletop, don’t compress the coffee.
- Place the full filter basket back into the bottom chamber.
- Use a cloth to hold the bottom chamber (it will be hot!) while you screw on the top chamber.
- Put the Moka Pot on the stove.
- Watch the brew and remove from the heat when the coffee starts to change colour from dark brown to a lighter tan.
- Pour out straight away. Don’t leave it in the chamber.
- Enjoy!
You can find the coffee beans, records, and home brewing equipment available on LP café’s website at www.thelpcafe.com.
Good luck!
By The LP cafe – special thanks to Leila.