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How to Brew the Healthiest Cup of Coffee

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Opt for Espresso

The main benefit of grinding the beans yourself is controlling how finely you grind them. And that does affect the number of health-promoting compounds in your cup. When it comes to brewing, the goal is to extract the most polyphenols from the beans, and the finer the grind, the more polyphenols you’ll get. This means that espresso, which requires a very finely ground bean, is one of the healthiest choices. 

Try the Pour-Over Method

If the flavor of espresso is too strong, you can use a pour-over method, which also uses a fairly fine grind. Pour-over coffee involves an inexpensive device (Arnot recommends the Kalita Wave Pour Over, $29) and a filter, which can have cardiovascular benefits.

In examining the data on more than 46,300 people over a 20-year span, researchers found that people who drank filtered coffee had lower rates of death from cardiovascular disease than both unfiltered coffee drinkers and non-coffee-drinkers. This could be because coffee brewed without a filter contains as much as 30 times more cholesterol-raising compounds than filtered coffee. 

Keep Water Temperature Just Below Boiling

The last component in brewing the healthiest cup of coffee is the water temperature. Ideally, it should be just below boiling (between 195 to 205 degrees F) for optimal extraction, says Chris Clark, the founder of Brew Coffee at Home.

If it’s colder, you’ll have under-extracted coffee (you won’t get all those key nutrients), while if it’s too hot, the flavor will taste burned. Don’t have a thermometer? Wait 30 seconds after the water boils to pour, and the temperature should be perfect.

Limit Cold Brew

Fans of cold brew may be wondering if this means they’re not getting as many health benefits per cup. “With cold brew, you’re trading temperature for time,” says Arnot. In cold brewing, coffee grounds typically get soaked at room temperature for 24 hours, leading to a slower extraction process. Arnot’s research has found that a cup of cold brew has 80 percent of the healthy compounds of traditionally brewed coffee, which is less but still pretty good.

And as a bonus, cold brew’s slower extraction process tends to temper the acidity and bitterness of the brew, which means you may not need to add as much milk, cream, or sugar to enjoy it. Cold brew also lasts longer, because the compounds that contribute to a stale flavor develop more slowly in cool temperatures, Arnot says.

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