#1 You are buying coffee beans that are too old
Possibly the biggest reason why your coffee is bitter is because the coffee beans are old.
The beans have been roasted and sat on a shelf for too long, causing the beans to oxidize over time and eventually get bitter.
This is commonly found when grocery stores aren't able to move coffee product as quickly as they need to be.
The result is a coffee that is not only bitter, but flat in taste and flavor.
You can tell if the coffee is old by the bitterness, but also look for a roast date on the packaging. Most coffee companies elect not to add a roast date, but some do.
How old is too old for coffee? The ideal freshness of the coffee beans is between a few days to a month after the coffee has been roasted. After a month, the coffee starts to lose some key flavor notes that would give it unique character.
The best way to ensure your coffee is fresh, as a consumer, is to purchase coffee from small specialty coffee roasters.
Coffee roasters like Happily Coffee roast the coffee beans once you place an order, and ship it out quickly to ensure the ultimate freshness.
#2 You are buying coffee beans that are over roasted
Depending on the person you ask, dark roast coffee can mean several different things. To some, a dark roast is more of a medium roast. To others, a medium roast is more of a dark roast.
However, one entity seems to agree on what a dark roast is. That entity is commercial coffee. Most coffee companies elect to roast their coffee dark, and I mean dark.
The reason why they do this is because dark roasts tend to come out more consistently than lighter roasts.
This allows companies to distribute their coffee widespread, without risking consistency issues.
Additionally, companies roast to a dark level to hide any imperfections from the coffee bean itself.
For a light roast, it's easy to point out spots on a coffee bean that don't seem right. For a dark roast, it's much more difficult.
Past the coffee roasting stage known as second crack, the coffee's bitterness overwhelms any flavor the coffee once had. That is why over roasted coffee is bitter.
Did you know: Many coffee drinkers drink dark roasts because they think it has more caffeine. This is actually not the case. In fact, the lighter the roast, the more caffeine. So, if you're tired of drinking overly bitter coffee, try switching to a medium or even a light, but make sure to buy from specialty coffee roasters, not the grocery store for an accurate representation of roast level.
#3 Your brewing ratio is wrong
As much as we want to think we are amazing baristas in our own kitchen, sometimes it is the result of our brewing that makes coffee bitter.
Coffee's bitterness can be amplified when using a higher than usual coffee-to-water ratio.
A coffee-to-water ratio is just the ratio between the amount of ground coffee (g) to the amount of water (mL) we use to brew a cup of coffee.
Depending on your coffee machine, this ratio varies greatly. So, be sure to do a quick Google search, "what coffee to water ratio to use" for your specific machine before brewing.
It might be worth investing in a cheap food scale to accurately measure the amount of coffee.
That way you not only produce a better cup of coffee, but also look good while doing it!
#4 You are buying commercial grade coffee beans
We briefly touched on it before, but commercial grade coffee beans are very different than specialty coffee beans.
You see, the farms that produce the coffee beans have their raw coffee beans graded by experts on an official rubric.
The most important factor is the number of visible imperfections on the beans per specified amount of coffee beans.
If there are little to no imperfections, the coffee is graded as specialty coffee.
What is specialty coffee? Specialty coffee is the highest grade of coffee, and includes the fewest number of imperfections. It's also the case that specialty coffee is hand-picked from the coffee plant, to only pick ripe, viable coffee.
In terms of bitterness, small imperfections can certainly add up in the roasting process. Even as little as a few coffee beans can significantly alter the flavor profile of the coffee.
It's important to check whether your coffee is specialty grade. Unfortunately, most coffee found in grocery store will not specify whether its specialty grade.
You can, however, be certain that all of Happily Coffee's selections are specialty grade coffee, and have it roasted fresh for you.
Bonus Tip
There's a lot to look for when buying coffee, and can seem overwhelming. But, with these 4 reasons why your coffee is bitter, you can now make an educated effort to make a better cup of coffee every morning.
You can take the guesswork out of the process entirely with our unique specialty coffee selections here.
Let us know: How do you like your coffee at home? Are you a dark roast drinker or a light roast drinker?