Why Your Home Coffee Doesn’t Taste Like a Café’s (And How to Fix It)

Article written by Wisanu Soi-amporngul

Brewing coffee can be a headache sometimes, not just for us home brewers but even for pros who get lost down the coffee rabbit hole. With endless articles and videos promising the perfect cup, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.
Ever followed an online recipe only to end up with a disappointing brew? Or wondered why that amazing coffee from your local cafe brewed by the bearded barista tastes flat at home?

Don’t worry, we’re good at keeping it simple at Basic Barista, that's sort of what we do. This guide offers basic tweaks to troubleshoot your coffee and make it tastier, without the fancy skill or expensive tools.

What To Consider Before Brewing

Brewing coffee is a complex process that can easily turn into a disaster. Read through this article before you start making coffee to ensure consistency and improve how your coffee tastes. 
Small factors like grind size, dose, tamp pressure, and even the timing method you use can drastically impact your final cup.

Buy Good Quality, Well Roasted Coffee

It might sound obvious, but I’ve seen folks (myself included) waste time tweaking brews when the beans were the issue. Maybe it was a random “Ethiopian” coffee bought online, promising floral notes, or a gifted bag that just didn’t deliver. Start with fresh, quality coffee from a trusted local roaster—it’s half the battle.

As well as this, it's important to pay attention to the roast. Often you will see 'Filter Roast' and 'Espresso Roast' and sometime even 'Omni Roast'. Generally this just means that the coffee has been roasted to suit these brew methods. Follow the chart below to see which roast you should use for your brew method.

Make Sure Your Using Good Brew Water

I learned this the hard way. In 2010, as a young barista wannabe, I grabbed a bag from Market Lane to impress my girlfriend’s family in NSW. I brewed a pour-over, expecting oohs and aahs. Instead, it was dull, bulky, and tasteless. Their polite smiles couldn’t hide the disappointment.
Turns out, the tap water was awful, likely too hard. If you’re in a soft-water spot like Melbourne, tap’s fine. Otherwise, grab a carton of distilled water and invest in some water brewing minerals.

Got those covered?Great. Let’s assume you’ve got your coffee gear (grinder, dripper, filters, kettle, scale) whatever you like—and dive into fixing that cup.

Troubleshooting Your Brew

Here’s how to tackle three common issues when making coffee at home:

Fix Bitter Tasting Coffee

This usually means you’re grinding too fine. Start coarser than you think like sea salt and gradually go finer. Too fine grounds can cause “channeling,” where water flows unevenly, over-extracting some spots. Clogging’s another risk as fines block the filter. A poor grinder or worn blades can worsen this pour gently to keep things smooth.

Are You Sure It Isn't Your Grinder?

Even if you're using an expensive grinder if its old and has dull burrs, chances are you're grinding with an entire range of different grind sizes all at once. This is known as Grind Size Distribution and a lot of beginner brewers experience problems such as stalling and muddied tasting burrs because of this.

Fix Weak Tasting Coffee

Ratio’s the big player here. Too much water to coffee makes it weak, too little can under-extract. Aim for a moderate brew ratio, somewhere between 1:15-1:17 for pour over coffee or 1:2 for espresso to start with. Not sure what’s best? Check out our Online Coffee To Water Ratio Calculator.

Using The Right Temperature Water

A good rule: lower temps for darker roasts, higher for lighter ones. Dark roasts extract easily, so cooler water avoids harsh bitterness; lighter roasts need heat to pull out flavour.

Adjust One Variable At A Time

Tweaking everything at once can confuse you and stall your progress. As a beginner, start with a simple plan.
Pick a temperature, ratio, bloom time, and pour method. Focus on grind size and ratio first as they’re the heavy hitters. Change one thing, taste, repeat.

By tasting and comparing multiple coffees with just one variable changed you know with more certainty that the changed variable has made that impact in taste. This is known as 'dialling in' and it's how you can adjust and make your coffee taste as good as it can.

So, grab your gear, keep it simple, and brew with confidence. Your perfect cup’s closer than you think!

Still having issues with your coffee? Ask us in the comments below!