What you create is unique by default. Using our Coffee Shop’s high-quality raw materials and the essential Home Barista “tools”, you can follow your own path for preparing your own coffee. That way, you subconsciously adopt a special everyday ritual, full of complex aromas and special flavors.

What could ruin this for you?

Like every fairytale has its hero and its villain, you also have to face coffee’s enemies. It might sound like a paradox, but even if you’ve used specialty coffee with an exceptional scent and incomparable taste profile, it’s the small details that make a difference and guarantee you a perfect result… or mishaps you’d like to avoid.

Let’s find out who they are!

Barista’s hacks

1. Choose the “right” water

Did you know that 99% of an espresso beverage is water? This is why you need to use the… right one. What’s that? Bottled or filtered water? Tap water may be the easy way out of this dilemma, but it certainly isn’t the best option, since the water has minerals, which negatively affect both the brewing and the taste of your coffee.2.Fresh grounded coffee for… “fresh” aromas

2. It’s a fact that from the moment coffee beans are ground, they lose some of their magical scent. From now on, make sure you only grind as much coffee as you’re going to drink in the moment. That way, you will assure peak aroma from the very first sip.

3. Be the bodyguard of your coffee

Coffee beans must be protected. It’s your job to execute this mission. The beans’ enemies? Oxygen, odors, humidity and light. At the same time, make sure the coffee beans are preserved at room temperature. Store them right and keep the flavors and aromas unspoiled.

Extra tip: Don’t buy more than a week’s coffee, so that every day you enjoy the fresh brew you love.

4. Turn the intensity on or off

Myth: If you increase or decrease the amount of coffee you use per cup, you’ll increase or decrease the intensity of your brew. Truth: If you want a stronger or lighter coffee, experiment with different blends and varieties.

Change habits, not coffee!

Apart from the general tips for a unique coffee experience, we have to take into account the distinct characteristics of each beverage. What makes filter coffee perfect? What do you have to look out for in an espresso? How can you make your ibrik coffee… even more traditional?

For those who use filter in their coffee and not… in life

Are you a slow drinker who enjoys the company and warmth of a good filter coffee? Do you close your eyes with every sip and surrender to the indulgence of your beverage? These tips are for you!

Filter coffee with paper scent

Filter coffee has a wide variety of aromas and flavors that suit it perfectly. “Paper” odor, however, is not one of them. To avoid it, you have to wet the paper filter with warm water to neutralize the smell and… you’re ready!

Grinding is easy if you know the way

Do you make your coffee with a paper or cloth filter, in a coffee machine with a metallic filter or in an AeroPress? Then you’ll have to know that every brewing method requires a different type of grind. Inform the barista at our coffee shop, what filter you use and he’ll… lead you to the right grinding method.

Be Home Barista = a unique result

How can you make something perfect, even more… perfect? By choosing devices that will give taste quality to your coffee and are capable of making the drip brewing an interactive process. Next time offer your guests a hot cup of coffee dripped from a V60 and you’ll be offering them an unforgettable experience.

Press to impress for filter and cappuccino

Do you have a piston or AeroPress? Apart from filter coffee, you can make foam for your hot or freddo cappuccino. It might sound weird but try pouring the milk at the halfway level of your AeroPress device and press the metallic filter up and down until you get a delicious foam.

Extra tip: Use hot or cold milk depending on the coffee you want to enjoy.

Espresso: Is it possible for your everyday coffee to become art?

Of course, art is portrayed in everyday things, in those we take for granted. One of them is our espresso and cappuccino cups.

A clean coffee machine is a happy coffee machine

Did you know that… if your coffee machine isn’t clean, the remaining oils will give your coffee a bitter taste? You have to wash it every day, plus use a special liquid for the salts.

Foamy foam? From us it’s a yes!

Thermometer and swirling. Two elements that can make your foam so delicious you’ll want to eat it with a spoon! While the milk is warming up, it becomes sweeter, but careful… If it stays too long, it gets burnt and it gives off a burning scent and a sour taste. You want a smooth but bubbly texture? Adjust the position of the nozzle, so that it creates an effective swirl.

The espresso dripping under the mic

A perfect espresso gives approximately 30 ml and it has to be dripped in 22’’ to 27’’. If the dripping is too “thin”, the espresso is bitter and the color of the cream too dark, your coffee beans need coarser grinding. If the drip is too fast, then the beans need finer grinding.

Traditional Italian… espresso

Reminder: If you use the traditional espresso coffee maker for the very first time, prepare 3 successive cups and let the third cup remain in the coffeemaker overnight, so that it imbues the metal with a lovely coffee scent. When you wash your espresso maker allow the separate components to dry separately in order to avoid humidity.

Yes, even ibrik coffee has its tricks

For a thick cream!

Step 1: Use a stirrer instead of a spoon.

Step 2: Use a coffee pot with a narrow “neck”.

Step 3: Pour the coffee from below and close to the cup for a “rich” cream.

How to not burn it, but simmer it.

The ultimate secret for a successful ibrik coffee? Keep the heat low so that it boils slowly, and it doesn’t get burnt.

Ibrik with caramel aroma?

How is this even possible? Add a little bit of flavored filter coffee in the ibrik coffee for an enhanced taste.

 Want to test these tips at home?

 Find all the coffee brewing equipment and coffee beans from all over the world at www.coffeeisland.co.uk, follow the tips above and become a home barista!

 Don’t forget…

Watch step-by-step how to perfect your own unique coffee in our YouTube channel!