You don’t want to make coffee with milk using a coffee maker. If you’re adding milk to your coffee maker instead of water, you will notice bacteria development in its carafe over time. This can end up destroying your coffee machine.

Milk contains a lot of stuff when you compare it with water. It comes with proteins, fats, and minerals like calcium.

When you use milk in your coffee machine, the risk of proteins breaking up and developing bacteria is pretty high. Thanks to the calcium in milk, you also might have to clean calcium deposits in the carafe now and then.

If you have a pretty good coffee machine at home and want to add the goodness of milk to your coffee, there is an easier way. Make coffee the usual way and simply add milk to your cup of coffee. Yep, it’s that simple.

The Process of Brewing Coffee with Milk

While brewing coffee with milk is brewing coffee with milk instead of water I have only done on a rare occasion and do not suggest doing frequently, some may find that they truly enjoy it and actually look forward to this style of a cup of coffee. One of my favorite ways to have this is as an evening drink, similar to hot chocolate.

Brewing coffee with milk is something that is worth a try at least once, although you might decide that you prefer to add it afterward. Still, there are a few simple steps that you should follow if you plan on brewing coffee with milk (instead of water). To try this out for yourself, just follow these simple steps.

Heating the Milk

Most experts agree that coffee is best brewed between the temperatures of 190 – 205 degrees Fahrenheit. Unfortunately, milk is prone to burning and curdling due to the sugars and fat within it. Still, these are desirable considering this is what reduces the acidity of your coffee and adds in the sweetness you might be looking for.

With that said, there are two main ways I suggest heating the milk to the correct temperature without the fear of boiling:

Similar to making hot chocolate, you can heat the milk by placing it in the microwave (I suggest using a pyrex) and removing and stirring every 20-40 seconds to prevent curdling. You can also heat it in a saucepan on low while stirring frequently.

With either of these options, you are going for a slow and steady increase in heat that will not disrupt or distort the contents of the milk (aka separate the different components). After all, you want your coffee to come out smooth and silky, not chunky. Even the thought of that would leave a distaste in your mouth.

Brewing the Coffee

While I have seen many people struggle to properly heat up the milk, actually brewing the coffee is what I find the most difficult in a milk-brew. Milk seems to cool down faster and steep slower than normal brews for my coffee. So, to find the right balance, consider using a french press.

Once the milk is heated to the appropriate temperature, then you can add it to the french press. The normal amount of time for coffee to steep in a french press is about 4 minutes. I suggest upping the amount of coffee grounds and doing slightly less if possible, as the milk will cool very fast.

Once this is finished you will be able to pour and enjoy almost immediately as the cooling will largely take place during the brewing. Because of the short life of the milk-brewed coffee compared to using water to brew it, it is best to make only as much as you will drink in one sitting since milk-brewed coffee will not last the same as water-brewed coffee.

How Much Coffee Grounds to Use

The amount of coffee grounds to use in a milk-brew is a very difficult thing to master. Milk is not the same as water, so you may not achieve your desired flavor by using the same amount of grounds as you would with a normal brew. You also have to keep in mind that different brands of milk, as well as different measured levels of fat will play a large role in how the brew turns out. Consequently, choosing and measuring how much coffee grounds to use can be a trial and error task.

Milk tends to remove a lot of the coffee flavor and bitterness from the drink. If you want that coffee flavor, it is best to use a dark or even espresso roast or to double up the normal amount of coffee grounds you usually use. Be cautious with this if you are sensitive to caffeine.

While this is ambiguous, I find it is best to use a darker roast, which helps bring out the coffee flavor and also has less caffeine (light roast coffee has more caffeine than dark roast). When you are using more grounds with a milk brew, you can opt for a dark brew so that adding more grounds will not be as much of an issue when doing this. Plus, then you will not have to worry about your coffee being overly strong in terms of caffeine, but it can still have a robust coffee flavor.