Pu’er Coffee

 You bought beans with a great reputation — so why does your coffee taste off when you brew it at home? Don’t blame the beans first. Most likely the problem is in the brewing steps. Drip-bag coffee looks simple — just pour boiling water, right? There’s a lot more to it. Those drips that come out creamy and smooth with bright fruit or nutty notes weren’t made by chance. Here are four of the most common brewing mistakes, each with practical fixes. Follow them and your next drip-bag brew will taste noticeably better. Mistake 1: Judging water temperature by feel? Boiling water kills the flavor Pouring boiling water straight onto the grounds is a common habit. You might think hotter water brings out more flavor, but the result is often bitter, burnt-tasting coffee that feels harsh on the throat. That’s not the beans’ fault — the high temperature is extracting the “bad” compounds. There are two key groups of compounds in coffee grounds: one group contains the aromatic and fruity/aci...

 You grab a freshly brewed Americano from the barista, take a sip—and instantly regret it. The burning liquid scorches your lips and throat. Or maybe you dig into a cappuccino that’s gone cold, the milk foam turning funky and flat. Sound familiar? That moment when a perfectly good cup of coffee gets ruined by the wrong temperature? Most people don’t realize this: even if you’ve got top-quality beans, expert roasting, and precise extraction—if the temperature isn’t right, all that effort goes to waste. As veteran coffee drinkers like to say, “The beans and the technique set the ceiling, but the temperature decides whether you’ll ever taste the best of it.” Today, let’s break down the art of coffee temperature—so next time you sip a cup that feels “off,” you’ll know exactly what went wrong. When Temperature Betrays the Cup We’ve all been there. Someone orders an espresso that’s too hot to drink right away, but when they wait for it to cool, the crema collapses and most of the a...