How to Make Coffee: 17 Best Coffee Brewing Methods (Ultimate Recipe Guide)
Most of us know at least one way to make coffee, right? But if you’re like me you want to know how to make coffee in lots of ways because each way brings out different flavor notes.
This post has you covered with 17 different ways to make coffee. Each is complete with recipes and how to videos. Which is the best way to make coffee? I’ll let you decide.
How to Make Coffee: 17 Ways
People from every country in the world make coffee in a myriad of ways. Trying local coffee is one way to enjoy a unique cultural experience.
But don’t worry if you can’t travel, you can make coffee at home and bring some of that culture (and deliciousness) into your life.
So with that in mind, we’ve created this beginner’s guide of 17 coffee-making methods (with instructions!)
This post is focused on different ways to make coffee and some of the great coffee gear you’ll need to brew it.
To read about all the different types of coffee, drinks, beans, and roasts… check out this guide.
And when it comes to keeping your coffee tasting it’s best don’t forget about how important it is to clean your coffee gear including the maker/machine.
Following this set of 17 ways to brew coffee, you’ll learn 7 tips for making great coffee.
Learn more about the Best Smart WiFi Coffee Makers
Let’s start with the most common way to make coffee, the drip coffee maker.
This may seem obvious to some, but if you’re just getting started in the coffee game and you’ve bought your first electric drip coffee maker you need to know how to use it.
1. Drip Coffee Maker
- Time to first sip: 4 to 10 minutes (depending on how many cups you’re making)
- Type of Coffee: Usually an average cup of coffee but depends on how you make it
- Coffee grind: Medium
- Gear required: Regular drip coffee maker, standard filters
- Difficulty: Easy
See the recipe: How to Make Great Drip Coffee
2. French Press Coffee Maker
- Time to first sip: Approximately 10 minutes
- Type of Coffee: Unique, delicate, aromatic, full of flavor
- Coffee grind: Coarse
- Gear required: French press, timer
- Difficulty: Easy to use but requires attention and customizing
See the recipe: How to Make French Press Coffee
3. Pour Over Coffee Maker
- Time to first sip: 3 to 5 minutes
- Type of Coffee: Clear, clean and light-bodied cup
- Coffee grind: Medium coarse
- Gear required: Pour over brewer, carafe, filters, gooseneck kettle
- Difficulty: Easy to do. Takes practice to get it just like you want it.
See the recipe: How to Make Pour Over Coffee
Expand your coffee vocabulary: 241 Flavorful Words to Describe Coffee
4. Chemex Coffee Maker
- Time to first sip: approximately 7 minutes
- Type of Coffee: Rich flavor
- Coffee grind: Fine to medium
- Gear required: Chemex, Chemex filters, kettle, stopwatch
- Difficulty: Easy to use but requires practice to get your coffee suited to your preference
See the recipe: How to Make Chemex Coffee
5. Cold Brew Maker
- Time to first sip: 12 to 24 hours
- Type of Coffee: Rich flavor and super smooth body
- Coffee grind: Coarse to Super Coarse
- Gear required: Cold brew maker, stirring spoon
- Difficulty: Easy, but requires patience
See the recipe: How to Make Cold Brew Coffee
How does cold brew compare to iced coffee? See the differences in this guide Cold Brew vs Iced Coffee: 6 Differences
6. Iced Coffee
- Time to first sip: Depends on the method you use, so from 2 minutes to 24 hours
- Type of Coffee: Cold, smooth, and refreshing drink with optional flavors
- Coffee grind: Depends on the brewing method you use
- Gear required: Thermal shock mug(s)
- Difficulty: As easy as the brewing method you choose
See the recipe: How to Make Iced Coffee and on TastyPlate
7. Coffee Percolator
- Time to first sip: Up to 10 minutes (depending on your taste preference)
- Type of Coffee: Strong (and sometimes bitter) cup
- Coffee grind: Coarse
- Gear required: Percolator coffee maker, maybe a paper filter
- Difficulty: Easy to do, but you’ll need to monitor it for the best results
See the recipe: How to Make Percolator Coffee
8. Espresso Machine
- Time to first sip: 3 to 15 minutes to heat up the espresso machine, 20 seconds to pull a shot
- Type of Coffee: Strong, sharp, rich in flavor with thick with crema
- Coffee grind: Fine and consistent
- Gear required: Espresso machine, tamping tool and a milk frothing jug (if you like lattes and cappuccinos)
- Difficulty: Easy with an automatic model, but a manual machine requires practice
See the recipe: How to Make Espresso Coffee
9. Moka Pot (Stovetop Espresso Maker)
- Time to first sip: Approximately 5 minutes
- Type of Coffee: Similar to espresso
- Coffee grind: Fine, but not as fine as an espresso grind
- Gear required: Stovetop espresso maker (moka pot), heat source (stove or burner)
- Difficulty: Easy. Requires undivided attention to remove from heat, and avoid over-extraction
See the recipe: How to Make Moka Pot Coffee
10. AeroPress Coffee Maker
- Time to first sip: About 60 seconds after heating your water
- Type of Coffee: Clean, clear, smooth, and rich
- Coffee grind: A coarse or fine grind can be used (depending on your preference).
- Gear required: Aeropress kit, kettle, and optional coffee grinder
- Difficulty: Super easy
See the recipe: How to Make AeroPress Coffee
11. Coffee Sock
- Time to first sip: 3 minutes
- Type of Coffee: Rich, flavorful, bold body with natural coffee oils present
- Coffee grind: Whatever suits you, but extra fine is often suggested
- Gear required: Coffee sock filter and optional coffee scale, burr grinder, wooden spoon
- Difficulty: Super easy
See the recipe: How to Make Coffee Sock Coffee
12. Vacuum Pot
- Time to first sip: About 10 minutes
- Type of Coffee: Super-pure and full of flavor
- Coffee grind: Medium coarse
- Gear required: Vacuum pot, stopwatch, flame
- Difficulty: Requires undivided attention and practice
See the recipe: How to Make Vacuum Pot Coffee
13. Bripe Coffee Brew
- Time to first sip: 3 minutes
- Type of Coffee: Smooth, rich brew similar to that of French press
- Coffee grind: Whatever suits you. The built-in filter has settings for three sizes.
- Gear required: The Bripe Coffee Brew Kit, filtered water, ground coffee
- Difficulty: Easy and simple
See the recipe: How to Make Bripe Coffee
14. Turkish Coffee Pot (Cezve)
- Time to first sip: 3 to 4 minutes
- Type of Coffee: Thick, strong and aromatic black coffee
- Coffee grind: Powdery fine
- Gear required: Turkish coffee pot (cezve), Turkish grinder, thermometer
- Difficulty: Easy after practicing a few times
See the recipe: How to Make Turkish Coffee
15. Cowboy Coffee
- Time to first sip: From 2 to 3 minutes
- Type of Coffee: Strong and aromatic black coffee
- Coffee grind: Medium to coarse
- Gear required: Coffee pot
- Difficulty: Easy
See the recipe: Our full guide and this 4-step recipe.
16. Coffee Infuser
- Time to first sip: From 3 to 4 minutes
- Type of Coffee: Depends on steeping time
- Coffee grind: Medium to coarse
- Gear required: An infuser
- Difficulty: Easy
Coffee Infuser Tips: Use an infuser with the smallest perforations you can find. This will help you avoid getting grounds in your cup. Using an infuser to make coffee is like making loose-leaf tea. It’s really easy.
17. Instant Coffee
- Time to first sip: 1 to 3 minutes
- Type of Coffee: Weaker than fresh ground coffee
- Coffee grind: Freeze-dried instant coffee is recommended
- Gear required: Instant coffee, mug, and kettle
- Difficulty: Fast and easy
See the recipe: How to Make Instant Coffee
Ready to start making coffee at home? Follow these 7 Tips and learn How to Make the Best Coffee at Home
Surprise the coffee lover in your life with one of these sweet coffee gifts.
If you like your coffee sweet but want an alternative to sugar you’ll find this post interesting.
Your Turn
We hope this beginner’s coffee guide has helped you learn more about how to make coffee.
Are you familiar with these methods? Is there a method that we left out? Let us know about it in the comments below.
How many of the methods on this list have you tried? Which ones are your favorite? Do you think you’ll try one that you haven’t tried yet? We would love to hear your thoughts, please join us in the comments!
Ya missed the Vietnamese coffee maker. Made with condensed milk and ice.
Wow! Who new there were so many different ways to make coffee. Good job!