If you consider yourself a true coffee lover, your home is probably well-equip with everything from a French press to a bean grinder. But just because you have all the equipment of a coffee house dream doesn’t mean you’re using it as well as you could be! We all know that the perfect cup of coffee truly comes from the coffee grounds, but how do we get those perfect grounds for that perfect cup of java? Buy them from the store? Purchase an expensive Burr grinder? No and no. Your ideal cup of coffee can be found in a regular blade grinder, but only if you use this little trick. Watch the video below to see how you can use this simple method to get the most delicious coffee possible.

Making the perfect pot of coffee is a tricky business, mostly because there are so many variables in making it. The temperature of the water, how fine the grounds are, and how long the grounds come into contact with water all play a huge part in how your coffee tastes.

The biggest trick is this: for perfect coffee, don’t use store-bought beans.

We may have just lost some of you (understandably, store-bought grounds are convenient and can offer some pretty decent coffee), and that’s okay! But for those of you in search of the best java possible, purchasing whole beans and creating your own homemade grounds is the best way to go.

Pre-ground coffee tends to lose its rich, delicious flavor pretty quickly. But grinding whole beans yourself preserves all that amazing flavor for much longer.

It might seem like grinding whole beans is an unnecessary amount of work, but we’re here to tell you that it’s not as painful as you might be imagining. Not with a handy coffee grinder.

Coffee grinders come in two general varieties: blade grinders and Burr grinders.

Burr grinders tend to produce the best grounds, because they only allow a few beans at a time to go through the grinder. This produces pure, perfectly done grounds. However, Burr grinders tend to be very expensive.

On the other hand, blade grinders tend to be much more affordable and a little less reliable. The issue being that if you just let the grinder run and do its work on the beans, it will grind them too finely. Beans that are TOO fine tend to get caught many coffee filters and release a bitter taste into your coffee…and nobody wants that.

So what’s the best, cheapest way to get perfect coffee grounds? Use a regular, cheap blade grinder, but grind your beans in pulses instead of just letting your machine go to town. Between pulses, keep track of your grounds so you can stop when they’re evenly chopped.

This method is also helpful so you can dictate the consistency of the beans for your specific coffee maker. For instance, a medium-coarse grind works best for a French press, but you’ll need much finer grounds if you’re brewing espresso.

What do you think of this simple grinding trick? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.