Most coffee users, perhaps including yourself, consider their daily brew to be rather great. Yet, if you stick to these eleven guidelines, you should be able to boost the quality significantly.
1. Invest in Good Coffee Beans
When it was roasted is a major factor in determining how fresh a cup of madawaska coffee is. Whether it in the gravity bins (particularly bad!) or in a bag, these beans have a reputation for being old and stale. How long the beans have been sitting in the bins or bags is a mystery. The roasting date of your coffee is important, so it’s best to get it from a local independent coffee shop or artisan coffee roaster. Only in this method can you be sure you’re getting freshly roasted, high-end coffee beans. Because of the stakes involved, only the highest grade, freshly roasted coffee will do.
2. Store Properly
Put the beans in a Tupperware or Glad Ware container, or any other airtight container. More opaque containers are preferable for blocking UV rays. Storing coffee in a glass jar on the sink’s counter exposes the beans to too much light, which can make the brewed coffee taste flat or stale.
Keep out of the fridge and freezer. Store them in a pantry or other cool, dry, dark location using an airtight container. Because coffee is so permeable, scents tend to linger in refrigerators. Whether it is powdered or whole bean, it will absorb scents like a sponge. Freezers can lead to freezer burn and the cracking and loss of flavorful oils used in seasonings. The flavor comes from these oils. When coffee is stored in the freezer, the surface condensation is permanently frozen.
Coffee beans should be stored in a cool, dry, dark place to prevent them from going stale and extend the life of your coffee.
3. make sure to grind right before using.
The coffee grind makes a difference. It’s important to grind your coffee correctly for the brewing method you’ll be using. Fine for espresso, but too coarse for a French press or single serving. Most auto-drip coffee machines require a grind that is somewhat finer than coarse, so that it feels like coarse bread crumbs when rubbed between your fingers. Espresso grounds should have a texture between that of sugar and powdered sugar. Burr grinders have less friction than standard blade grinders, so your coffee is less likely to be burnt during the grinding process.
Coffee is very absorbent, both of smells and of air (oxygen). Coffee ruined by oxygen has a terrible aftertaste. Coffee loses flavor and quality the longer it sits in the grinder after being ground.
4. Measure properly
Carefully weigh your coffee beans before putting them through a grinder. A ratio of about.75 ounces (22 grams) of coffee beans to 8 ounces (240 milliliters) of cold water yields a nice, well-balanced cup of coffee. This is a decent baseline from which to adjust for personal preference.
5. Clean, Temperature-Controlled Water
Water from the tap (preferably filtered) or a good spring is ideal. Do not use water that has been distilled, flavored, or has a strong taste or smell. That will ruin the flavor of your coffee. When ready to brew, the water temperature should be between 195 and 205 degrees. The oils and caramelized sugars within the coffee bean will be optimally extracted at this temperature. Neither the temperature nor the reliability of the heating elements in most home brewers makes this easy to achieve. A quality home coffee brewer will set you back around $200, but it will be money well spent. To get the most out of your coffee, experiment with different brewing techniques like the French press and the siphon. It’s incredible how different it tastes. Find out more about each technique by doing a search on Google.
6. Make a Cup or Two of Tea
Do not make the mistake of letting your brewed coffee hang around waiting. Especially, avoid leaving it alone on the hot plate. You can prepare coffee successfully in this fashion. Bitterness will develop by being kept at a constant temperature. If you need to brew more than one cup but won’t be drinking it all right once, invest in an airpot or other airtight hot container. You should still consume it within an hour or two, but it will provide some breathing room.
7. Cool Down
If you let your coffee cool to about 170 degrees (for black coffee), you won’t just be able to enjoy it without worrying about burning your mouth, but you’ll also be able to taste all of the nuances that make coffee so special, like the brightness, the chocolaty notes, the citrus notes, and the spices. Geek out, it’s all there! Don’t bother with #7 and #8 if you like to sweeten and creamer your coffee.
8. Have it straight up
The purist coffee nerd in me is speaking up. Before entering the coffee industry many years ago, I routinely topped my coffee with milk and sugar. Bad coffee is to blame for cream and sugar becoming the standard, not coffee itself. Your grandfather probably drank bitter coffee, but that wasn’t your taste. The canned goods from the supermarket, probably. Ick! That’s the traditional, low-quality brew that uses Robusta beans. Arabica coffee beans are the gold standard these days, and they may be purchased from specialty roasters and cafes. If the beans are correctly blended and roasted, black coffee should not taste harsh. It may take some getting used to, but sweeteners and cream are ruining your coffee for you.
9. Don’t drink stale brewed coffee.
Although related to point #6, this merits its own entry. After one hour, brewed coffee stored in an airpot or other airtight container will go stale. Letting brewed coffee cook itself in a container is not an option because it reduces the coffee’s shelf life.
10. Discard Any Unused Coffee Beans
Well, let me explain! This refers to the coffee that has been sitting around for more than two weeks. After being roasted, coffee beans only last for about 21 days. Personally, as a self-proclaimed “coffee nerd,” I like to consume mine within ten days. Your coffee will have a much higher quality and better flavor if you use it within 21 days of the day it was roasted. You’re probably wondering, “When exactly were my Seattle’s Best or Newman’s Own coffee beans roasted?” The answer can be found in the first option.
11. Do It Over and Again
What else can we say? I guarantee that your coffee will taste better if you follow these instructions.
