Have you ever tasted a cup of coffee that just wasn’t quite right? Perhaps it was too sour, not strong enough, or maybe it had a papery taste that shouldn’t have been there. As easy as it seems to scoop in grounds and push a button, there are a plethora of things that can go wrong while brewing your morning cup. Today, we’ll teach you how to pick out problems and solve them.
Sour vs. Bitter Coffee
Sour and bitter-tasting coffees can be unpleasant to drink, and it’s not the beans’ fault. Before you troubleshoot this one, you’ll want to identify whether your coffee is sour or bitter, as these two tastes are caused by different problems. If you look at a tongue map, you’ll notice sour tastes are picked up stronger on the right and left sides of your tongue near the front, while bitter flavors are sensed near the back by your throat.
Sour coffee is the result of underextraction, which means not enough particles were pulled from the beans during your brew. This is a very simple fix. You can either use hotter (and more) water, brew your coffee for a longer time if you’re using a french press, use fewer coffee grounds, or try grinding your coffee a little finer.
Bitter coffee, on the other hand, is caused by overextraction. This means that the coffee has been in contact with the water for too long a time. To fix this issue, reduce your brew time, use slightly cooler (or less) water, or simply try a coarser grind.
Burnt coffee
If your coffee tastes burnt, there are a couple issues that might be at play. If you buy whole bean and grind your coffee at home, the first place to look is your coffee grinder. If your grinder has a single blade that spins around, this is likely the culprit of the burnt taste. The way that the blade quickly chops the coffee into bits is not only inconsistent, but it also heats up the beans and can burn them. While we recommend buying your coffee as whole bean and grinding it yourself at home, it’s better to buy a consistently burr-ground coffee than burn whole beans.
If you use pre-ground coffee and it tastes burnt, the water may be the issue. Too-hot water will scald the beans and can add a burnt flavor as well. Simply try using cooler water in this case.
Metallic coffee
Metallic coffee is often entirely unrelated to the coffee itself. Instead, this issue arises when tap water containing chlorine, metals, and other contaminants is used. If you’re able to filter your water before brewing, this should solve most of the problem. Otherwise, you may want to brew using spring water purchased from the store.
Plasticky coffee
Did you just purchase a new coffeemaker? If so, be sure to run a few cycles with just water and lemon juice – no beans. When new coffeemakers come out of the box, the new plastic may add flavor to anything brewed immediately. This issue can also arise as plastic in older machines begins to break down, or simply when the machine isn’t cleaned. To clean your coffee machine, read its instructions, or just use water and lemon juice for 2-3 cycles. Be sure to run one final cycle with only water to rid the machine of a lemony taste!
Go forth and caffeinate!
Now that you know most the causes of off-tasting coffee, you’ll be able to fix any problem that you, your friends, or your family may notice with that morning cup. First, you’ll need some beans to brew, though! We’ve linked to some of our favorites below.