9 Easy Ways to Improve Your Coffee Routine

Christina Stork
2025-11-11T09:00:09-08:00

You might have a finely honed coffee routine, but change is growth, right? Here are nine easy tweaks and enhancements that can take your brewing rituals up a notch.
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You might have a finely honed coffee routine, but change is growth, right? Here are nine easy tweaks and enhancements that can take your brewing rituals up a notch.

1. Start with a clean set-up

Coffee beans contain oil, and those oils can find their way into the crevices of your brewing equipment, along with fine particles from your grind. If you use a drip machine, follow the manufacturer’s instructions, and run a cleaning cycle (usually one with diluted white vinegar is recommended). But that also applies to any brew set-up. Soak water-safe parts in diluted vinegar OR a baking soda bath, then give a pass with a soft bristled brush to get dust, grounds, and oils out of ridges and corners. Rinse, dry, and you’re good to go.

2. Use fresh, cold, filtered water

Using fresh, cold, filtered water when you brew your coffee does make a difference. The water hardness level in tap water varies by region and can definitely affect the final flavors in your brew. You want to get pure, amazing coffee flavor in every sip.

3. Select premium, high quality coffee beans

Okay, well this one feels obvious to us, but we’re biased. And since you’re here, at Peet’s, reading this, you’re already there.

4. Store your coffee for freshness and flavor

If coffee isn't stored correctly, it will get stale, plain and simple. Oxygen, light, heat, and humidity take their toll on coffee beans, particularly once they’re ground. Fresh coffee is the best tasting coffee, so buy in smaller quantities and store in a dark, airlocked container in a cool place.

5. Play with brew styles

Coffee people can go deep nerding out on brewing styles. If you haven’t gone down this road yet, join us! Drip coffee fans: spend a few more minutes on a weekend and play with pour over. Moka pot masters: we can hear the French press calling your name.

6. Measure your ingredients

Ratios rule in dialing in your brew. We recommend two heaping tablespoons of whole beans for every six ounces of water. Or go deeper and invest in a gram scale to make sure your recipe is exact. If you want to go so far as to measure the temperature of your water, shoot for between 195°F and 205°F, otherwise wait about 30 seconds after taking the water off the boil.

7. Choose the right grind type

The more physical contact ground coffee has with water, the quicker it will extract. Grinding your coffee into different sizes from coarse to fine increases the surface area of the grounds that are exposed to water, and the time they’re in contact contributes to the brew quality and strength. Coarsely ground beans get a longer extraction time (we’re looking at you, French press and cold brew), finer grounds brew more quickly, as in a Chemex, pour over, or drip.

8. Explore add-ins

Coffee people love coffee in all its forms, and that includes flavors, sweeteners, and cream. Despite what coffee snobs say, coffee does not have to be served black to be amazing. If you are a cream but no sugar person, have you played with alt milks? We like switching up the sugar in our cups by using a flavored simple syrup, like cinnamon or cardamom. Just keep in mind, a little goes a long way. And start easy so you can still taste the incredible flavor of your favorite blend or origin.

9. Upgrade your gear

People who have 20 mugs but only use one know that you can take it with you, as long as your coffee gear has a good seal. Double walled travel gear can keep your pour over hot and your cold brew cold. Plus, you can take a little Peetnik pride with you, too.