Why does coffee from a cafe taste better?

A lot of people experience this problem. However you make your coffee at home, it just doesn’t quite taste the same as it would in a coffee shop or cafe. How can you make your coffee taste that good?

We’d be lying if we said that it was always easy to create a coffee at home that tastes absolutely delicious. It especially depends on the sort of equipment you are using. People who have an awesome Rocket espresso machine may be able to make a coffee that tastes like it was made by a barista. If you’re still persevering with instant coffee then the chances are that your coffee isn’t going to be the envy of all of your friends.

So, what are some of the reasons why coffee from a cafe tends to taste better than when it is made at home? We’re delving into some of the reasons below.

Fresh Beans

The turnover of beans in a cafe or coffee shop tends to be very high, which means that you are likely to get fresh beans at all times. This can have a big impact on the aroma and flavour of the coffee you end up with.

If the beans are ground shortly before they are consumed it will usually have the greatest taste. If you’re preparing coffee at home, you might have pre-ground coffee or you might grind it in batches. This is fine, but it is not necessarily optimal.

Trained Baristas

There is no denying that the skill of the barista plays a part. Of course, when you get a product like the Rocket espresso machine, you’re going to have to learn some barista skills yourself, but you aren’t automatically going to be as good as someone who prepares these kinds of drinks for a living.

Trained baristas can also provide you with lots of different variations when it comes to flavour and let you choose between drinks, perfecting the subtle differences between drinks like a latte and a cappuccino.

Great Equipment

Coffee shops and cafes will invest in their equipment to make sure they are preparing delicious drinks at all times. This means the ideal extraction from their coffee machines, reliable milk frothing, and even the bean-to-cup coffee machines tend to be very good at creating a delicious beverage.

Not many of us have barista-level equipment at home, but fortunately, coffee equipment is becoming more mainstream and higher quality.

Quality Ingredients

Cafes and coffee shops will spend a lot of time and effort creating excellent drinks that they know people will enjoy.

Lots of cafes will pride themselves on their choice of coffee, and may even let you choose between different blends and types of coffee when you order a drink.

Cafes know that there are a lot of different options for people to go and get a nice cup of coffee now, and they need to keep up with these trends and create delicious drinks so that they don’t lose their custom elsewhere. This usually means they buy good quality and exciting coffee beans rather than whatever is on offer at the local supermarket.

The coffee beans are of course crucial, but the other ingredients are important too, which usually means milk. As well as cow milk a lot of cafes now provide vegan alternatives, and you can order specific barista-style drinks that use barista oat milks and similar.

Having the Drink Made For You

This sounds like it is made up, right? Actually, there is a scientific grounding to it. Food and drink that someone else prepares for you tastes better.

You’ve probably experienced this a lot. Perhaps this is why the food your mother makes for you always tastes so good.

Ambience

This sounds like a bit of a strange one, but the place where you consume your drink definitely plays a par, and cafes and coffee shops tend to put a lot of time into the ambience. The smell of all of those delicious pastries and amazing coffees helps to add to your experience.

Can Your Coffee At Home Ever Taste as Good?

Coffee from a cafe tends to taste a lot nicer, there are no two ways about it. This is especially true if you find somewhere that you know can make your favourite drink perfectly every time.

However, a lot of people don’t keep trying until they perfect their coffee at home. You can experiment with beans, and coffee equipment until you find something that is just as delicious as you will find in cafes.

It is with learning some of the skills that baristas have and understanding a few technical terms such as coffee extraction, which can help you to understand what is creating a delicious drink when you buy your coffee. This way, you’ll be able to mix it with the pro baristas and create much more delicious drinks.