Before answering your query- “Can you brew coffee with milk?” let me address two of the core truths of human life. One, coffee is love. Two, no matter much effort you put into ordering a Starbucks coffee, a self-brewed coffee in the middle of the day will reboot you to your best self. Take my advice, learn how to brew a cup of coffee if you already don’t. Take five minutes of your time. Brew a pot of coffee; you deserve it.
The short answer is yes, you can brew coffee with milk with especially without a coffee machine. This may seem a little weird, but you can get a creamy, rich cup of milk coffee brewed. Don’t worry if you are new to this. If you follow the instructions, making a cup of milk-brewed coffee will be “a cup of tea” for you. Get it?
Let’s get to it.
Brewing Coffee with Milk
Usually, people brew coffee with hot water. You can to a level brew your coffee with hot milk if you want to. But let me tell you that it’s very unusual. Here’s a little warning, people might call you a weirdo if they watch you brewing coffee with milk.
Author Note: First of all, we all know that milk has sugar and calcium. So, what happens when we boil milk? It easily burns, leaves a sticky layer of residue on the pot. Also, for people who want their coffee to be strong, brewing with milk would be a mood killer.
Aside from all, you can brew coffee with milk, but you have to be careful. Use skimmed milk. This way, the sticky residue will be less than whole milk. Use a filter. You may have to give more time to cleaning the pots when brewing with milk rather than water. So, be prepared for that. Do all these seem a little troublesome to you? If yes, still, I would suggest you stick with me because a cup of milk brewed coffee is worth it.
Brew Coffee with Milk without a Coffee Machine
I’ll be honest with you. When I first attempted to brew my coffee with milk, I was a bit skeptical. I was almost sure it won’t work, and I’ll end up with some disgusting syrup in the name of coffee. But, once I made a cup of this for the first time, this became one of my all-time regulars.
Let’s imagine your coffee maker’s button is not working, or you don’t even have a coffee maker (this can happen; I’m not here to judge). Let’s go step by step in making a pour-over coffee. Using the following instructions, you can easily make coffee by brewing with milk.
Step one: Grind your coffee beans.
If you are only brewing a cup, take 22 grams of grounded coffee beans. Use roasted coffee beans. You can use a saucepan to roast the beans if you have limited resources.
Pro Tip: Grind the coffee beans using your spoon before pouring any hot liquid. The longer you do it, the more aromatic the air around your brewed coffee will get! And in case you have some coffee grounds left, store it in an air-tight container.
Try to use a brand with quality and aromatic coffee beans. If you are looking for nicely brewed coffee, the quality of coffee beans MATTERS. Just be warned, some smaller more hipster roasters usually use lighter roast coffee – which can be more acidic.
Top Tip: Peet’s Coffee Decaf House Blend and Kicking Horse Coffee are my personal favorite if you ask me.
Step 2: Heat up milk.
This one is the single most important step in brewing coffee with milk.
Take about 300 grams of milk. Heat it to 140 degrees. You can use a saucepan here, too, if you don’t have any pots. I would suggest you use a kettle to heat the milk.
Pro tip: Use dairy milk if possible. It would be better with skimmed milk. In any case, if you prefer soy or almond milk, you can use those too.
Step 3: Pre-moisture the filter.
Take a Chemex paper filter. Unfold it and make a cone shape out of it. It’s not rocket science; you can easily do it.
Set it on the top of Chemex. Use a little hot water or, in this case, a little hot milk to soak the paper thoroughly.
In this way, the heat will get sealed within the Chemex pot. Your coffee will not turn out to be cold. Also, it removes any paper taste from the filter. So, NEVER forget to do that.
Step 4: Start brewing
Place your grounded beans in the pre-moistened filter. Start pouring the hot milk slowly. You will see the coarseness of the grind is a little bit different. It gives you more control than the conventional method.
Take your time while pouring the milk. Do it slowly; this way, the brewing process will be better.
By this time, you should be able to smell the aromatic flavor of the coffee. But resist your temptation, my friend!
Step 5: Complete brewing
Wait for all the milk to pass through the filter. This may take a while, so catch up with your correspondence at that time. Or, you can use a spoon to stir the coffee grounds placed on the filter gently. This way, any clumps will get broken, and the beans will be completely saturated.
After the brewing is finished, remove the filter, and Voila! You have got yourself a pot of instant coffee with milk instead of water. The entire thing will take only 5 minutes of your day!
Be a taste tester when you are making it. You will get a creamy cup of coffee. It looks good, aromatic, creamy, and rich. It’s a bit different, but I bet you’ll grow to love it. Don’t believe me? Just try!
Brew Coffee with Milk in a Coffee Machine
If you have a coffee maker, then you are golden. The whole process will become a lot easier. Let’s begin, ok?
Step 1: Grind your coffee beans.
Take around 14 grams or up to the amount you prefer. A small tip, you can grind your roasted beans using a blender also. Yeah! Life is easy!
My personal favorite one is Baratza Encore Conical Burr Coffee Grinder.
Step 2: Heat up milk.
Heating milk is tricky. Don’t use a microwave, that way you will burn it. Now, you can ask me, why can’t I just put the milk in the coffee maker to heat it? The answer is simple. The milk will burn at the high temperature of the machine.
As you can’t control the machine’s temperature, it would be easier if you heat the milk separately. I usually use a kettle to pre-heat my milk.
Step 3: Prepare for brewing.
Pour the pre-heat milk on the coffee machine. Place the filter in the machine. (Clean your filter thoroughly after using it to brew coffee with milk.) Place the roasted and ground coffee beans in the filter and plug in your machine.
You can check my always go to Hamilton Beach 2-Way Brewer Coffee Maker.
Step 4: Complete brewing.
Start your coffee maker. Customize your preferences like how much or for how long you’d like to brew if you have one of those new coffee makers. After the process is completed, pour yourself a cup of coffee.
Author Note: I, personally, don’t prefer brewing coffee with milk using a coffeemaker. It takes more time. You have to pre-heat the milk, so basically, what’s the use of a coffeemaker then?
So, can you brew coffee with milk using a coffeemaker? YES. Should you do it? Probably not – stick to brewing coffee with milk with the pour-over method.
What are the Best Ways to Brew Coffee?
I have been telling you ways to brew coffee using milk. This process requires paper filters. Using milk makes the cleaning process a little messy. You have to rub your pot to get over the sticky milk residuals. Milk also burns quickly, so be careful when hitting it up. If you try to make coffee in a pan with milk, you’ll most likely end up with a mess.
Although, brewing with milk adds a certain rich, creamy flavor to it. The aroma is excellent too, but this whole process takes more careful inspection and time. It is still best to brew coffee with water when you have less time. You can then add raw milk to it.
The milk brewed coffee is a little sweeter than usual as it absorbs the glucose from the milk. If you prefer your coffee to be on the strong side, you may not like it.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on coffee brewing
Can you drink ground coffee without filtering?
It’s entirely up to you. If you are in a rush, you can avoid filtering, but you will get the taste of grainy residue in your coffee. Why don’t you go and do a taste-test? Find out if you are okay with the taste.
Is milk with coffee bad for you?
Well. If you are on a weight loss journey, you may want to avoid milk in your coffee. Also, if you have allergies or are lactose intolerant, you can have soy or almond milk. Milk comes with a little fat, but I think a little milk in coffee won’t hurt anybody. The texture and taste milk provides to the coffee are worth it.
What is the healthiest way to brew coffee?
The healthiest way to brew a coffee is by using a filter. Scientists say this will reduce your chances of having heart attacks and other health issues. If you decide to brew coffee without a filter, don’t worry. It hasn’t shown to be that harmful to your health.
I hope you got a clear guideline on brewing coffee with milk. I would urge that you try making milk-brewed pour-over coffee whenever you get the chance. If you are like me, you will love it.
Stay caffeinated friends!