Merito Releases Guide to Brewing Single Origin Coffee at Home

Auckland-based coffee roaster Merito has released a guide to brewing single origin coffee at home. The guide—which you can read right here—aims to educate domestic coffee drinkers on a few of the more minute details of elevating home coffee consumption.

Choosing singles

Merito has a number of single-origin coffees available. Single-origin coffee is distinguished from blends by the beans used. As the names suggest, a single-origin is a coffee sourced from one particular place, usually a specific farm, or processing station. A blend is made up of many different origins. For example, a blend may include coffee from Brazil, India, and Africa, all together, acting to balance each other out.

The difference between these two types of roast—blends and singles—is more or less the same sort of distinction you see in something like whiskey. Blends tend to be used as mixers in cocktails, and singles are drank neat, or by themselves. In coffee, blends are often used for espresso with milk, and singles are brewed and drank black.

Choosing a single-origin comes down to your tastes; some are fruity, some are malty, etc! A seasoned roaster like Merito can help you decide if you’re just starting out.

Buy small quantities

The next thing you can do to improve your home cup of coffee is to buy smaller quantities. This is more important for singles than for blends. By buying less coffee, you run less risk of it getting too old before you can finish it. Small quantities allow you to have more fresh coffee overall.

Storage

Storage is an easy way to improve your coffee quality. Avoiding heat, moisture and light is important, as all of these will speed up aging. Find a cool, dark, dry place to store your coffee in your kitchen, and avoid the fridge; the condensation can damage the coffee very quickly.

Grinding

Grinding your coffee fresh is probably the single best thing you can do to improve quality at home. Once coffee is ground, it has a bout 15 minutes to be brewed before it will lose most of the aromatics and flavour. Investing in a good grinder for home is a must for the serious coffee lover.

If you want to know more about brewing coffee at home, including tips for picking the best coffee for you, visit https://merito.co.nz/ to find out more.