How to brew delicious coffee right in a cup
No cezve, coffee machine or V60 at home — and that’s fine. The simplest way to brew coffee is right in a cup, and it can still turn out really tasty. The main thing is to know a few simple rules.
What you will need
Everything is very simple: a cup, a kettle or electric kettle, a spoon and ground coffee. Best for this method is coffee ground specifically “for the cup” — a medium-coarse grind that doesn’t over-extract and doesn’t add extra bitterness.
Proportions worth remembering
1:15
In simple terms: 1–2 teaspoons of coffee per one cup (200 ml) of water. Prefer it stronger — add another half teaspoon, rather than leaving the coffee in the cup longer.
Step by step: how to brew
- Boil the water and let it sit for about 30 seconds — boiling water straight from the kettle is too hot and “scorches” the coffee, making it bitter.
- Put the coffee into the cup — guideline: 1–2 teaspoons per 200 ml.
- Pour the hot water over it and cover the cup with a saucer — this way the aroma won’t escape into the air.
- Let it steep for exactly 4 minutes. Longer — bitter, shorter — watery.
- Stir with a spoon and let it sit for another 30 seconds — the grounds will settle to the bottom.
- Carefully pour the coffee into another cup or strain it through a fine sieve, leaving the grounds behind.
Common mistakes
Boiling water straight from the kettle. Water that is too hot “burns” the coffee — extra bitterness appears instead of flavour.
Too fine a grind. Fine coffee steeps longer in the cup and produces a lot of sediment — better to use a grind specifically “for the cup”.
Leaving the coffee too long. After 4–5 minutes the taste starts to turn bitter — longer does not mean stronger.
Drinking it with the grounds. If you don’t let the grounds settle and don’t strain it — you’ll feel an unpleasant “gritty” sensation on the tongue.
Coffee doesn’t have to be complicated to be delicious. Fresh beans, the right grind and a little attention to timing — and a cup at home can be just as good as in a café.
