How to Make the Best Coffee at Home By James Hoffmann: Book Review 

How to Make the Best Coffee at Home By James Hoffmann: Book Review 

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How to Make the Best Coffee at Home By James Hoffmann: Book Review 

How to Make the Best Coffee at Home By James Hoffmann: Book Review 

minimum dose size?

Jan 31, 2024 |

I use the Hario switch to brew my coffee and am trying to reduce my caffeine consumption. Hence I would like to brew smaller cups of coffee. I am currently using 10g of coffee with 160g of water. (1:16 Ratio) I am wondering if there is a minimum amount of coffee...

How to Make the Best Coffee at Home By James Hoffmann: Book Review 

James Hoffmann’s new book, How to Make the Best Coffee at Home, is finally out, and is the perfect guide for both professionals and amateurs.

BY TANYA NANETTI
SENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT

Photos by Tanya Nanetti

James Hoffmann is one of the most recognizable people in the world of specialty coffee. His YouTube channel is both informative and fun to watch. His first book, The World Atlas of Coffee, is often considered a bible of the specialty-coffee world. Hence the excitement over the release of his new book, How to Make the Best Coffee at Home. 

Just reading the introduction feels like playing an exciting new episode from James’ channel. You can easily imagine James welcoming you into it with his soothing voice.

“A cup of coffee can be many things: a jolt of caffeine, fuel for our work, a social lubricant, a necessity, or a luxury,” James begins. He adds that through his books he wants “to share the things that have helped me make better coffee.” 

And that’s definitely what James accomplishes with his new book, through six parts covering every possible aspect of brewing coffee at home. 

James Hoffmann’s new book covers everything from buying and storing beans to using an espresso machine.

Buying the Right Coffee

The “How to Buy Great Coffee” section is the perfect welcome for anyone just starting a love story with specialty coffee. It covers the basics of how to choose the right coffee to brew. Short chapters cover everything from freshness and storage to roast levels. Next is a precise explanation of what to expect when buying a coffee by reading its notes, which can be useful to help avoid buying a bag that is a total disappointment for your taste.

Essential Coffee Tools

The next section, “The Essentials for Great Coffee,” aims to narrow down the number of tools needed to brew great coffee: the right water, scale, grinder, kettle, and coffee storage canisters (along with your favorite brewer) are enough to get you started brewing that perfect coffee.  

Making iIt Right

“How to Taste Coffee,” the third part, shares some notions on the wonderful world of coffee tasting. He explains how to train your taste buds, how to compare flavors, and how to share notes. 

“How to Brew Great Coffee” is the main core of the book. After an introduction about grind size, extraction, and water temperature, this part focuses on how to make the best brews using different methods. He then covers the V60, AeroPress, Moka Pot, and many more. 

Inside the book. This section is on the AeroPress and has a lengthy explanation of how to use it. On the right side is a photo of an AeroPress sitting on top of a ceramic cup.
James goes through brewing techniques for several coffee brewers.

“Depending where in the world you grew up, cold coffee can either seem like a wonderful, refreshing, and uplifting salve for a hot day, or something inexplicable,” says James, and that’s what “Iced Coffee and Cold Brew” is about, giving a perspective on the different types of cold coffee drinks available out there. 

Espresso Perfection

Last but certainly not least comes “How to Make Great Espresso,” the final (and longest) chapter. Here James clarifies all the possible doubts regarding the world of espresso. Short chapters cover ratios and temperatures, how to buy an espresso machine, how to make an espresso, and how to steam milk. These are followed by an interesting explanation of the most common espresso-based drinks available on the market. 

The back cover explains the purpose of the book and lists some topics covered. The cover is navy blue with gold lettering and a white and white bar code on the bottom.
The back cover of How to Make the Best Coffee at Home.

Perhaps the coolest part of the book is that, in addition to explaining how to brew coffee correctly, it also teaches you how to become a more aware coffee consumer. All in all, How to Make the Best Coffee at Home is a book perfect for everyone involved in coffee, from the new coffee geek who wants to learn from scratch, to the barista pro who wants to know more and keep improving. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tanya Nanetti (she/her) is a specialty-coffee barista, a traveler, and a dreamer. When she’s not behind the coffee machine (or visiting some hidden corner of the world), she’s busy writing for Coffee Insurrection, a website about specialty coffee that she’s creating along with her boyfriend.

The post How to Make the Best Coffee at Home By James Hoffmann: Book Review  appeared first on Barista Magazine Online.

How to Make the Best Coffee at Home By James Hoffmann: Book Review 

Perfect Little Beans

Chinmey Hill Coffee uses specialty-grade beans with zero primary defects (such as black beans or sour beans) and less than five secondary defects (such as broken beans). This is important because primary defects will greatly affect the taste of the coffee. Having zero defects allows the coffee to be the most optimal flavor.

Window for Optimal Flavor

Chimney Hill Coffee ships our coffee the same day it was roasted, so you will receive it before it enters the window of optimal flavor.  This means you’ll never miss the opportunity to enjoy the coffee’s peak flavor.

Coffee Ratings

Coffee undergoes many scoring processes by professionals who achieved their Q Grader certification. Coffee is first graded when it’s green. If there are defects the coffee is determined to be “not-specialty grade”. For those coffees that pass green grading, they are sample roasted and cupped. (Cupping is the official term for critically tasting and scoring coffees. The official cupping form is standard worldwide, and where the 100-point scoring system comes from.) A coffee’s dry fragrance, wet aroma, flavor, aftertaste, body, acidity, balance, and overall impression are taken into consideration while uniformity issues and defects, will lower the overall score.

Specialty Coffee

Specialty coffee, coined by Erna Knutsen in 1974, refers to a coffee that receives a quality grading score of 80 percent or higher. While “premium” or “gourmet” seem like they’re synonymous with “specialty,” they simply are marketing terms with no defined standards. Specialty coffees are grown in specific and ideal micro-climates, and have distinctive and unique flavor profiles, with little to no defects.

Third-Wave Coffee

We’re currently in the third wave of coffee. The first wave of American coffee put pre-ground, vacuum-sealed cans in kitchens across America. The second wave started with the late ‘60s introduction of Peet’s coffee (by Alfred Peet) through the proliferation of Starbucks. The third wave of coffee focuses on origin transparency, nuanced flavors, and artisan roasting. The term “third wave” is synonymous with specialty coffee.

How to Make the Best Coffee at Home By James Hoffmann: Book Review 

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