About two-thirds of US adults start their morning with a fresh cup of coffee. With that level of ubiquity, you might think we all have the whole coffee thing down to a science. According to one expert, that is not the case.

Mastering the art of brewing requires dedication, experimentation and attention to detail — if you’re using a percolatorFrench press, pour, espresso machine or cold brew setup.

I spoke with Sarina Prabasi, founder of Buunni roasterya micro-roastery with three café locations in northern Manhattan, to learn about common mistakes people make when brewing coffee at home. As a micro-roaster and a board member of Specialty Coffee AssociationPrabasi shares valuable guidance on small tweaks that can dramatically improve the quality of your coffee.

Below are seven common coffee brewing mistakes that we often make without realizing it. These expert tips will help elevate your morning coffee from simply functional to truly delightful.

1. Wash your coffee maker regularly

De-soap for your coffee and pour into immersion brewer sounds like dubious advice. In fact, your coffee maker doesn’t need a scrub every time you use it. Even a small amount of residue from scented dishwashing soap will leave you with a sudsy, subpar pot of coffee.

“It really stays there; it can spoil the taste, and so, usually, a good wash with very hot water is enough for black coffee,” said Prabasi. The oils from the seeds can build up over time, so an unscented dish soap can be used for the occasional deep clean. However, a simple wash with hot water is sufficient for daily use. Save yourself time and avoid any unwanted “soap scum” notes that might distract from your one source notes. Sidama naturally grilled.

2. Buy more coffee than you can brew fresh

Buying in bulk saves time and money at the grocery store but has frustrating consequences for coffee drinkers. Buying smaller quantities of beans can help avoid drinking stale, flat coffee, especially for average drinkers and households with one or two people. Probasi tells us you can tell the coffee has gone bad because it “tastes like a shadow of itself.”

The roaster recommends checking out the coffee label for a grilled date within a month, preferably within two weeks. (Remember, the “best by” date is different and not an indicator of freshness.) If you don’t like to grind at home, the roast date should be on the fresher side.

But you don’t have to worry about the flavor diminishing like a time bomb in your cupboard. “Every day post-roast doesn’t mean the freshness goes away, but after two weeks, I’d say it starts to wear off,” Prabasi says. Save the coffee in an airtight container but avoid a humid fridge with lots of odors that can stick to the beans.

3. Adjust more than one thing at a time

You can find tutorials online that recommend brewers, scales, tampers, water filters, grinders and various techniques to make the perfect cup. Experimentation is the key to creating your favorite brew but only if you start with the basics. “So just adjust the water in the beginning,” said Prabasi.

If you don’t have one kitchen scalethe roaster told us the rule of thumb is to start with two tablespoons of ground coffee per cup of water. The finer the grind, the stronger the flavor of your coffee, so you should adjust the ground-to-water ratio accordingly. If that seems weak or too strong, then adjust by adding more or less coffee at the same grind level.

Beyond the basics, you can be creative. “If your coffee is too sour, you might want a dark roast,” says Prabasi. Is the coffee too bitter? You can adjust the type of roast by purchasing a lower level, such as dark to medium or medium to light. “If you get a coffee from East Africa, maybe try one from South America, you know, like moving (it) around,” he said. Changing one element at a time ensures that you know which step is affecting the outcome for better or worse.

4. Use water straight from the tap

Filling your coffee pot with tap water will produce less pleasant flavors. Filtered water, for most of us, makes a big difference in the final taste of your coffee. Tap water is often full of products that can be easily filtered in a home water filtration system.

Almost all the water you get from the tap in the US is disinfected with low levels of chlorine. The EPA reports that one in five people consumes chloraminea backup disinfectant made of chlorine and ammonia, to kill harmful viruses and bacteria such as salmonella. These chemicals make sure we don’t get sick but can change the taste and smell of tap water. Chloramines are also known to strip lead and copper from pipes, products that can affect even the most carefully prepared coffee.

5. Forgetting to stop and smell the coffee

The smell can be a dead giveaway that your coffee has gone bad. Prabasi explains that you should immediately open a bag of beans or ground coffee and smell the aroma of roasted coffee. Aroma is an important indicator of taste. No aroma means a serious lack of taste.

Prabasi said stale coffee can taste muddy or flat and lack any of the complex tasting notes that a bag might list on its label. “So I think in the coffee profession, most of what we do is taste coffee,” he said. “From the farm to the coffee shop, every step of the way the coffee is tasted or brewed, in our local language.”

Old coffee is unlikely to make you sick, so there’s no need to throw it away. You may, however, want to switch from getting your coffee black. Making iced coffee is a simple way to cover up the lack of tasting notes. Using an immersion brewer also allows you to steep the grounds longer to add a little aftertaste to the coffee.

6. Ignoring the organic label

The many brands of coffee at the grocery store can feel overwhelming. To help sift through the masses, Prabasi explained that the organic coffee label is a sign of quality that is important for coffee.

“If you can, then I think for coffee and tea, organic is important because coffee and tea plants, especially from large farms, tend to be over-sprayed,” Prabasi said. Pesticides are sprayed right on the coffee cherries, and coffee isn’t like an apple you can wash or a banana you peel before eating. The tea leaves go through a similar process where whatever is left of the leaves goes into your mug.

The coffeehouse owner made it clear that he doesn’t believe that coffee has to be expensive to be considered “good.” Good coffee is made for different budgets. “I think the care that goes into it and some reflection of the care that goes into getting it, grilling it or just serving it, I’ll look for those things,” Prabasi said. The organic label is a helpful place to start.

7. Always take your coffee ‘to go’

Even if you don’t think of coffee as a means to an end, most of us treat coffee as simple fuel. taking coffee in a travel mug because commuting is not a problem at all. Prabasi instead invites coffee drinkers to take advantage of any time and ability to savor a cup of coffee. In contrast to the grab-and-go culture of the US, drinking coffee in Ethiopia is an opportunity to slow down and connect with the people you care about. “And I want to say — like, I’ve lived in Ethiopia for eight years — I’ve never heard anybody say, ‘I’m going to get a coffee,'” Prabasi said. “Always, ‘Let’s have coffee. Shall we have coffee?'”

Even spending an extra 10 minutes drinking your brew at a cafe instead of asking for a to-go cup can turn the tide on a rough morning. “I think there’s a lot of ritual around coffee and how it’s enjoyed,” Prabasi said. Taking the time to create your own ritual, whether at home or at a local shop, will help you enjoy all that coffee has to offer beyond its caffeine.

For more coffee intel, here how to read coffee labels and the best travel mugs of 2026, tested by CNET.