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Black coffee is often the coffee connoisseur’s beverage of choice. There’s certainly something a little sophisticated about sipping on a single shot of espresso or filtered café noir. Rich, distinguished, and deeply satisfying, it lets the complex coffee flavours sing without the weight of milk and other additives. But how to make black coffee for the best results? And what are the benefits?
In this blog, we bring to light all the best ways to make black coffee, including:
Before you can begin brewing up a storm, you need to have the basic ingredients and equipment to hand. First, choose your weapon of choice.
For high-tech brewing, an all-singing espresso machine is a popular piece of kit. There are lots of different options available depending on your coffee preferences, and you can adjust the settings to create every type of coffee imaginable. These barista-style machines will often put their nose to the grind, so you can simply add whole coffee beans for that freshly ground flavour. While some models can be expensive, espresso machines are often worth it for long-term brew enthusiasts.
If you love making coffee for your family and friends then a simple drip decanter could be a more affordable option. You’ll also need filters and ground coffee at the ready.
If you take your black coffee one cup at a time, an AeroPress is a nifty little tool for simple, streamlined brewing. You can even get a travel version for high-quality coffee on the go. Just add AeroPress filters and a scoop of your favourite ground coffee.
Finally, you can’t go wrong with a classic cafetière coffee maker. Also known as a French press, these beauties have been brewing coffee since the 1850s, and make for a quick and cost-effective way to brew a cup or two at once. You’ll just need quality ground coffee to get started.
Making black coffee with an espresso machine will often depend on the make and model of your machine. Don’t forget to read the instructions for your machine thoroughly and follow those first. Espresso machines are generally best for coffee pros who love to try lots of different coffee drinks and enjoy shop-quality coffee inside the home.
As a general guide, the following instructions refer to an all-singing, all-dancing barista-style beast, with an integrated grinding function. This means you’ll start with whole coffee beans.
Voila! You should be left with a dreamy, double espresso shot. For a weaker, longer coffee, you can simply add more hot water to turn your espresso into a black Americano.
Using a filter and drip decanter is generally simpler than using an espresso machine. Here’s how it usually goes down:
Simple yet strangely satisfying, this method is perfect for entertaining. Once the coffee is brewed you can simply place the decanter down for guests to help themselves.
Invented and patented by Alan Adler in 2005, the AeroPress is incredibly popular for drinking black coffee at home or on the go. Lightweight and portable, it’s also affordable and easy to use, and ideal when you just need a single cup of black coffee. There are actually multiple ways to brew with it, but we’ll stick to the standard method below:
Using a cafetière is a tried and tested method for making coffee, hailing from 19th century France. This classic piece of kit makes it easy to serve hot coffee when you have visitors, while you can also get smaller pots for a solo cup of joe. This black coffee recipe is especially suited to full-bodied blends with notes of chocolate and caramel, and you should start with coarsely ground coffee for the best results.
Did you know, a coffee a day actually could keep the doctor away? Drinking coffee has lots of health benefits, from antioxidants to fight free radicals to metabolism-boosting weight loss benefits. This is especially true when you take it black, so if that’s how you like it, get brewing!
Our speciality coffee blends are available in whole bean form or a variety of different grinds, so you can easily choose the brewing method to suit you.
