Make Strong Coffee

Coffee consumers often request a strong cup, but this term has several meanings. Some people want the highest caffeine content, even if it means a brew that tastes of bitter and nothing else. In the coffee expert world, it might just mean there are more grounds used per cup, or that the flavor is particularly rich. But you don't need to compromise: you can make coffee with a delicious, bold taste without having to burn it to death or skimp on caffeine.

Steps

Choosing Strong Beans

1. Choose a variety. Robusta beans have a bolder taste and up to twice the caffeine of arabica, but most are bitter and less appealing. If you're not a coffee snob and want a more powerful morning kick, you can probably find an acceptable blend with up to 15% robusta. If you prefer a brighter taste, stick to 100% arabica.
   • Opinion is divided among Make-an-Espresso-(Espresso-Machine-Coffee) fans, but many do prefer a significant amount of robusta.
2. Decide on a roast level. Despite popular myths, roasting barely affects caffeine content, except for a small decrease after an extremely dark roast. Most people still consider a dark roast "strong" because of its bold, bitter taste. Medium or light roasts won't punch you in the teeth, but they'll keep you just as alert.
   • Keep in mind that it's much easier for a roaster to ruin the flavor with a fully dark roast. Medium-dark roasts (including Vienna and Full-City roasts) also make a strong brew, but tend to have more complex flavor overtones as well.
3. Buy fresh, whole beans. Recently roasted beans have a much more powerful, enjoyable flavor. Try to use all your coffee within one or two weeks to maintain a bold experience.
   • This has no effect on caffeine levels.
   • To keep the beans fresh, store in an airtight container away from light, at room temperature. Try a ceramic container with a metal and rubber latch.

Strengthening Your Brew

1. Grind fresh and fine. To keep the flavor strong, grind only when you're about to brew. The finer you grind the coffee, the faster the flavor extraction, since the water comes into contact with more surface area. If your coffee is too weak for your tastes, grind to a slightly finer consistency next time.
   • If you make the grind too fine, you'll extract overpowering bitter flavors. Typically, a medium grind (beach sand consistency) works well for drip brewing, and a coarse grind (kosher salt) is best for a French press or other long extraction method.
   • The finer the grind, the more likely you are to end up with grounds at the bottom of your cup. You can swirl these in, sip at the end for a strong kick, or just leave the last few drops.
2. Increase the coffee to water ratio. A typical strong cup of coffee uses 1 unit of coffee for 16 units of water, measured by weight. For a single serving, this means 11 grams (0.38 ounces) coffee for 180 mL water (6 fluid ounces or ¾ cup). If this is still too weak, you can increase the amount of coffee next time.
   • As a rough measurement, use a 30 mL (2 tbsp) scoop of coffee grounds for 180 mL (6 ounces) water. Volume measurements are less accurate, so you may not get a consistent strength each time.
   • The extreme fringe of strong coffee fans uses a ratio of 2.5 to 6, but most people will find this much too overpowering and caffeinated.
   • 1 milliliter of water weighs 1 gram, so you can measure the water with a metric measuring cup without changing the math.
3. Raise water temperature. Hotter water extracts flavors more quickly. Most brewing methods assume you are using water between 195º and 205ºF (91–96ºC). An infrared thermometer is the best way to check water temperature, but you can get away with trial and error. Water cools quickly in most kettles, reaching perfect temperature within 10–30 seconds after boiling.
   • Do not raise temperature about 205ºF (96ºC), or you will burn the coffee and lose flavor.
   • If you're more than 4,000 feet (1200 meters) above sea level, pour the water as soon as it boils.
4. Brew for the right length of time. There's a sweet spot where most of the flavor has dissolved into the water, but the unpleasant flavor compounds are still locked in the grounds. This can take a little experimentation to find. Aim for 2–4 minutes of contact if using a French press, and 5 minutes if using a pour over (drip) system. Lengthening this will lead to a stronger flavor, but it's easy to overshoot and end up flat and bitter.
   • For more detail, read our articles on Make-Coffee-With-a-Coffee-Press, Make-Pour-Over-Coffee, or Use-a-Coffee-Maker.
5. Drink right away. Coffee loses flavor fast, especially at high temperatures. To keep it tasting strong instead of flat, drink right after brewing. If you need to keep it longer, hold it in an insulated container at 185ºF (85ºC).
6. Check your system for even extraction. If you're using a coffee maker or a pour over method, make sure the water falls in an even stream and wets all grounds evenly. In any system, you can try mixing the grounds so there are no hard-packed areas that disrupt water flow.
7. Try a specialized brewing method. If none of these tips solve your problem, try a different brewing method. Here are a few options for the strong coffee lover:
   • Use-an-AeroPress-Coffee-and-Espresso-Maker makes coffee on the strong side, as a French press does, but is much faster to use.
   • Make-Turkish-Coffee is made with fine grounds left in the cup, making the strongest coffee you can have short of Make-an-Espresso-(Espresso-Machine-Coffee).
   • Cold-Brew-Coffee creates a strong cup without some of the unpleasant flavors from over-extraction. This can take 24 hours.

Tips

• Beans increase in volume and decrease in mass as they roast. Each bean still has the same amount of caffeine, but there are very minor differences in the number of beans per serving. If you measure by volume, the scoop of light roast has a couple more beans (and a tiny bit more caffeine). If you measure by weight, the dark roast has more. This may explain how the roasting caffeine myths got started, but this tiny effect is dwarfed by other factors.

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Sources and Citations

See also

• Grind Coffee at Home
• Make Sugar Bark
• Make Ethiopian Coffee (Buna)
• Make Coffee With a Coffee Press
• Clean a Coffee Maker
• Make Instant Coffee
• Make Better Office Coffee
• Make Refreshing Cold Coffee
• Make Coffee on a Stove
• Make Cuban Coffee

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