How do I make better coffee without buying anything?

Five free changes — water temperature, ratio, freshness, cleanliness and timing — that improve coffee more than most equipment.

Difficulty: beginner
Time: 10 min
Read: 2 min

Short answer

Let the kettle stand thirty seconds off the boil, use more coffee than feels right, clean your equipment properly, and drink it within twenty minutes of brewing. None of these cost anything and together they matter more than a new machine.

Most bad home coffee comes from a handful of free mistakes rather than from equipment. Fixing them costs nothing and usually produces a bigger improvement than the upgrade people are considering.

What you'll need

Your existing equipment

Step by step

Stop pouring water straight off the boil.Let it stand thirty seconds. Boiling water scalds coffee and produces bitterness. 92-96°C is the target.
Use more coffee.Most people under-dose substantially. Around 60g per litre — a heaped tablespoon per cup — is the standard starting point.
Clean everything properly.Coffee oils go rancid on every surface: the cafetière plunger, the machine basket, the grinder. This is the most-neglected and most transformative change.
Drink it within twenty minutes.Coffee held on a hot plate or on its grounds deteriorates fast. Fresh from brewing is a different drink.
Decant a cafetière as soon as it is plunged.Coffee left on the grounds keeps extracting and turns bitter within minutes. Pour it all out into a jug or cups.
Preheat the cup and the brewer.A cold vessel takes several degrees off immediately. Rinse both with hot water first.
Store beans properly.Airtight, cool, dark, away from the hob. Not in the fridge, where condensation and odours both cause problems.
Buy smaller quantities more often.Coffee is at its best within a few weeks of roasting. A small fresh bag beats a large stale one every time.

Tips

If you use pre-ground coffee, buy the smallest bag available. Ground coffee loses most of its aroma within about two weeks.
Filtered water helps in hard water areas, both for taste and for the equipment.
Weighing coffee once tells you what your usual spoon actually holds, and makes every future adjustment meaningful.

Common mistakes

Using water straight off the boil — It scalds the grounds and produces bitterness immediately. Thirty seconds of waiting is free.
Leaving coffee in the cafetière after plunging — Extraction continues and it turns bitter within minutes. Decant immediately.
Rinsing equipment rather than cleaning it — Coffee oils build up invisibly and go rancid, and they taint every subsequent cup.

Questions people ask

What is the biggest mistake people make with coffee at home?

Under-dosing and using boiling water, closely followed by not cleaning the equipment. All three are free to fix and together they matter more than most equipment upgrades.

Should I keep coffee in the fridge?

No. Condensation forms every time you take it out, and coffee absorbs food odours readily. Airtight at room temperature, away from heat and light, is better.