After selecting the best beans, the next step is to grind them. Coffee aficionados say you get the best flavor when you grind just before brewing, because otherwise the contact with the air causes oxidation that degrades flavor over time. But, preground coffee isn’t any less healthy for you. Please note that no single brew method has been definitively proven best for long‑term health.
Opt for Espresso
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.
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.
If you’re making cold brew yourself, you can control how strong it is, but be aware that many commercially available products are cold brew concentrates, intended to be diluted with water or milk. If you don’t dilute these, you could be consuming more caffeine than you realize.
If You Want to Stay Cool, Opt for Iced Coffee
Of course, if you want to cool off without losing any of the polyphenols in your cup, you can try iced coffee, which is made by serving traditionally brewed coffee (typically very strong coffee to counter the diluting effect of the ice) over ice.
In the flash brewing method, concentrated hot coffee is poured directly into ice. Because most of the extraction occurs in the first few pours of hot water, these methods tend to retain most of their healthy compounds, but are still cool and refreshing on a hot day.