Nothing can be worse than a weak tasting cup of specialty coffee, and sometimes you cannot get the taste of what you expect from your favourite brew, so you will have to find ways on how to fix weak coffee.
Actually, you can fix your cup of weak coffee in several ways.
But before fixing your coffee you must know the reasons why it was weak so that you can fix it more appropriately.
In this article, we will give you information to help not only fix weak coffee, but to discover why you may have weak coffee and how to prevent it, so we can help you save time and money.
Quick peek at how to fix weak coffee
- Correct water temperatures
- Use the right coffee to water ratios
- Perfect Brew/Steep time
- Correcting coffee grind size
- Choosing level of coffee bean roast
- Use Fresh coffee beans
Table of Contents
How To Fix Weak Coffee
If you have brewed coffee for your family and friends but find it is tasting too weak as you take its first sip, then it can be a very frustrating situation for you.
In this condition, you can follow the tips provided below so you can fix weak coffee instead of wasting it and having to brew another pot of coffee.
These tips will help you to enjoy your coffee which otherwise may have been undrinkable for you.
Add Instant Coffee
Not the most common method, but has been proven to work for some, you can improve the taste of your weak coffee by adding a dash of instant coffee if you have some in your vicinity.
Brew The Coffee Grounds Again
Another easy way to add more flavour to your weak coffee is to brew some grounds of the same coffee again with your weak coffee instead of water.
Instead of Serving Hot, Serve Iced Coffee
This method works well when you have guests waiting for coffee. Instead of serving weak hot coffee you can fix it easily by changing it into ice-cold coffee.
You can add some cubes of ice to your extremely weak coffee to serve a delicious batch of cold iced coffee.
Add Flavour Enhancing Elements To Your Coffee
When you have to serve coffee to your family and friends but the taste of your coffee is very weak then you can instantly fix it by dressing up the coffee with certain elements that can enhance its taste.
You can add some cream, sweetener, cocoa, milk, caramel, vanilla, or cinnamon to give a divine taste to your simple looking weak coffee.
In order to divert the attention of your guests from the weak taste of your coffee, you can also add various types of coffee based drinks or a tray of condiments with your weak coffee.
Why Does My Coffee Taste Weak?
If you drink a cup of coffee with a proper taste, aroma and strength, then you will be likely to drink it again and again.
So you must know how to fix weak coffee so that you can provide a tasty and strong coffee for yourself, your family and/or friends.
So while fixing a weak coffee, you should first of all know the reason or reasons that made your coffee weak in the first place.
This will then help you on how to prevent making weak coffee in the future.
Some of the common reasons are briefly described below to help you fix and prevent making weak coffee
Not Using Fresh Coffee Beans
Although coffee does not go off as such, coffee does become stale which will affect the flavour and strength of your coffee.
This is due to not using your coffee beans within the recommended time frame as well the possibility of incorrect packaging and/or storage.
Therefore, be sure you know how to keep your coffee beans fresh after opening, otherwise, you may be setting yourself up with a weak and dull tasting coffee.
“For every 24 hours you leave coffee exposed to air at room temperature, it loses 10% of its shelf life. That’s a ton of flavor loss. Even if it’s stored properly, the constant release of gases and oxidation of the coffee oils will affect the taste”
roasty.com
The temperature of the water was not right
Sometimes your coffee can be weak because you have not used hot water at the right temperature while brewing the ground coffee granules.
To extract the flavour from the ground coffee it is important that the water is heated to the right temperature. It should neither be too hot nor below the required temperature.
If it is too hot then the taste of your coffee can be bitter, acidic, and unpleasant. If it is below the right temperature then it will be weak.
So the temperature of your water should be around 190-200 degrees to get a properly brewed cup of coffee.
You can use a thermometer in your kitchen to know the correct temperature of the water used in your coffee, or a kettle with an inbuilt thermometer.
Incorrect ratio of coffee grounds and water
Another reason behind the weak taste of your coffee can be the use of less than the required quantity of ground coffee as compared to the quantity of water.
The excess amount of water will dilute the flavour and taste of the coffee granules.
It can also be possible due to the use of an improper type of coffee maker as all types of coffee makers cannot make coffee with similar flavour and strength.
For instance, the water used by an automatic drip type coffee maker may not be equal to the water used by a French press coffee maker.
So if you like to drink a cup of strong coffee, then either you should follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer of the coffee maker, or follow a trial and error method to find the right amount of water while brewing your coffee to suit your preferences.
Therefore, to make a strong cup of coffee you will have to adjust the ratio of coffee grounds and hot water.
Cycle to brew coffee was very short
Another common reason to get a cup of weak and tasteless coffee can be not providing enough time for the coffee grounds to brew properly.
You should allow enough time to steep coffee granules.
“Steeped coffee brings out the different flavors of coffee, allowing one to experience all their characteristics”
coffeesesh.com
You can make your cup of coffee stronger by allowing the coffee grounds to steep for a longer time.
Using coffee grounds of the wrong size to brew
Another reason for getting weak coffee is that you do not know that coffee grounds of different sizes are used to make coffee by using different types of coffee makers.
When you are using a coffee maker then the size of your coffee grounds should be similar to the size recommended for it, whether you buy pre-ground coffee beans, or grind them yourself.
So to get a cup of strong coffee you should use the coffee grounds of proper size as required by your coffee-making process.
If you are not aware in this regard then you should follow the instructions of the coffee bean grinders so that you can use it to get the right size of coffee granules.
Not choosing the correct coffee bean roast level
Some people do not recognise that the coffee beans you are using for a particular brewing method can be one of the most common reasons that your coffee is coming up with a weak taste.
If you have just started to make your own specialty coffees, then you may not know the fact that you have to choose the right type of coffee from various types of coffee beans available in the market.
Basically, coffee beans and/or grounds are available in three main types. These include;
- Light roasted
- Medium roasted
- Dark roasted
These coffee bean roast levels can produce different types of flavours, just as you would find in wines and the different grapes used.
The flavours you may get in coffee may include spicy, floral, nutty, jammy, buttery, and chocolate, etc. Moreover, coffee granules can also be distinguished on their finish including the smooth and sharp finish.
You can choose the taste, size, and finish of coffee grounds depending upon the method you are using to prepare it.
Commonly dry, semi-dry, and wet processes are used to make coffee. You can choose from these procedures based on the climatic conditions of the place where you are brewing it.
Beginners can develop their taste for a particular type of coffee by using different types of coffee and tasting them.
It can be fun to taste different coffee types and to experience the wide taste and aromas that are available in coffee.
What Can You Do With Weak Coffee?
If you have made a weak coffee, and would rather not drink it, or attempt to try and fix it, then the following eco-friendly options are ways to help you avoid wasting your coffee.
Bake or Cook With Your Weak Coffee
If you are unable to fix your weak coffee by using any of the methods discussed above, even then you should not get frustrated and waste it.
You can use your weak coffee instead of liquids used for baking or cooking rubs, marinades, brownies, coffee cake, dressing for salad, and frosting.
It can give an additional flavour to your preparation.
Make Ice Cubes Out Of Your Weak Coffee
If you do not want to serve iced coffee to your guests even then you can fix weak coffee just by freezing it to make ice cubes.
You can use these cubes instead of the cubes of plain water to give a rich flavour to the fresh cold coffee you are going to serve to your guests.
You can also use these ice cubes to give a twist while blending a chilled coffee shake or coffee smoothie.
Serve Your Plants
If neither you want to drink the weak coffee nor you have time to fix it by making some creative changes, even then you should still not waste it.
Coffee is acidic by nature and some of the plants need acidic soil for their proper growth.
So you can serve your weak coffee to the plants like azaleas, orchids, oak trees, magnolia, bushes of blueberries, rhododendrons, certain herbs, and various other hedges and ferns, as they will relish it.
How To Fix Coffee F.A.Q’s
A: No, as caffeine will not evaporate, so it’s not going to become weaker once you have brewed coffee.
If anything, you will get a very small amount of evaporation of the water as coffee sits, so the overall concentration of caffeine will increase over time very slightly.
A: If your coffee tastes weak or sour, your drink may be under extracted. The bad taste comes from the acids in the bean dissolving early in the brew process.
Large coffee grounds can cause this unappealing flavour since they have more surface area and don’t dissolve enough during your brew.
A: Generally, strong coffee is created during the brewing process, not During the coffee roast. Therefore, the person behind the coffee pot has the final say in whether the coffee will be strong or weak.
A: Adding milk to coffee does not reduce the caffeine content as such. But adding milk certainly changes the flavour of coffee, and therefore, coffee that has milk added has a less strong coffee flavour.
Conclusion: How to fix weak coffee
So, if you love specialty coffee but have prepared it very weak, then you can still fix weak coffee easily by using your creative skills and presence of mind.
Even if you know how to brew specialty coffee properly.
Remember, even if you do not have the time to fix your weak coffee, there are still many eco-friendly ways to use it without the coffee going to waste.
Hopefully this article has helped you next time you have to fix a weak coffee, and ultimately will prevent it from happening again, so you can save money and improve your specialty coffee journey.
If you liked this article, read more like this by checking out our Specialty Coffee Beginners Guides
