How to make better coffee – without spending a fortune

The Filter recently did its very first live reader Q&A, where you had the chance to serve up your deepest, darkest roasted questions about coffee. There were so many that we didn’t have time to answer them all on the day. I’ve enlisted the help of Ben Young over at Craft House Coffee in Sussex to put some of your more challenging questions to his team in the roastery.

Many of you just wanted to know how to make better coffee – and without spending big money. Several readers professed their love of the moka pot, wanting to know the optimal technique. “Start with boiling water and lower the temperature once coffee starts flowing,” advises Ben. “As soon as you see any signs of bubbling or spurting, take it off the heat and cool the base to stop the brewing process.”

The question of whether or not to compress the coffee puck in a moka pot has been known to destabilise relationships, but Ben puts the argument to rest: “Tamping creates a dense puck that makes it hard for water to get through. An espresso machine […] needs additional resistance, but [with] a Moka pot, no tamping is required.”

Water great question

An espresso is about 90% water, so it makes sense to get it right. Photograph: Sasha Muller/The Guardian

Other inquiries were more challenging, with one reader wanting a summary of all the different “types of beans, their flavour profile and how that changes with […] country and altitude”. Ben’s short answer: higher-altitude coffees are more complex; washed coffees tend to be clean, bright and acidic; and naturally processed coffees offer heavier mouthfeel and greater sweet intensity. If you want a longer answer, you may need to visit Craft House Coffee in Sussex.

Elsewhere, you wanted to know the crucial factors for brewing a perfect black coffee. The surprising answer is that your water may be holding you back. “Aside from the coffee, water quality is the most overlooked variable. In brewing, water acts as both an ingredient and a solvent. If your water is high in mineral content – as with 60% of the UK – you’ll struggle to bring out the more complex flavours. Filter coffee is approximately 98% water – and it’s 90% for espresso – so it’s a big deal. If you get the ratio of coffee to water right, with good coffee and appropriate water, you’re 95% of the way there! We like 1:15-18 depending on the coffee.” This means for 50g of coffee, you’d use between 15 and 18 times that weight of water, so between 750g and 900g.

We were less prepared for some of your more left-field questions: what might have happened to Tony and Sharon from the Gold Blend ads? Why can’t you have a big flat white? How much better than a mug of coffee is a cup of tea? Rest assured, we’ve put the Guardian’s best investigative reporters on the job. I’ve also been hard at work testing 12 of the laziest coffee machines around, the bean-to-cup, so you can read my recommendations in our new guide.

Soon it will be time to tilt the microphone back in your direction again. Which subjects do you most want to ask experts about at the Filter’s future Q&As? Let us know at [email protected].

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• Jess Cartner-Morley’s April style essentials: fancy brollies, Biscoff eggs and the perfect holiday dress

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• The nine best bean-to-cup coffee machines in the UK, tried and tested

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• ‘Rich, indulgent and full of flavour’: the best hot chocolate, tasted and rated

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