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Coffee Facts

Fundamentals of Freshness, Water, Grind, Proportion, and Equipment.

1. Freshness Start with fresh roasted coffee. Consumption closest to the roast date produces better flavor and aroma. Therefore only buy what you will drink within two weeks.

2. Water Use fresh water. Bottled or distilled water is always best.

3. Grind Use the correct grind. Too fine a grind will over-extract the coffee flavor thus making it bitter. Too coarse a grind: brown water and no flavor. The most common method is the Drip Method; most cone shaped paper filter type of brewers need a very-fine grind. Most flat bottom basket shaped paper filters need a fine grind. Metal or gold cone filters need a fine grind, because it is more porous than paper (and you don't want the soot in the bottom of the cup). Metal or gold flat bottom basket filters need a medium-fine grind, again more porous than paper. Espresso machines need extra-fine to very-fine depending on how much extraction one wants. The plunger-pot, Melior, press-pot or more commonly known as the French Press is also a favorite. This requires a coarse grind to get more contact area between the coffee and the water. This is the best way to drink coffee, it is known as the direct-contact method -- no filters here, just pure coffee flavor. It is also the easiest way to prepare coffee and to clean afterwards. We'll talk about grinders later.

4. Proportion Use the correct proportion. The industry standard is two rounded tablespoons of ground coffee for every six ounces of water. Everyone should start from this point, then make adjustments to your taste or the tastes of your fellow drinkers.

5. Equipment Use clean brewing equipment. Clean out your brewer once a month with a mix of vinegar and water. This will help clean out the accumulated oils that coat your equipment. Expired coffee taste is the taste that these oils leave.

Storing Your Coffee

Always buy fresh roasted coffee. There are very few roasters that can provide coffee beans roasted within two days. Whole bean coffee keeps the longest. Yet it only keeps for fourteen days in an air tight container. Ground coffee expires within three days, therefore grind as needed or as early as the night before your morning brew, which is also a good habit . It is a great routine to grind your morning coffee the night before and leave it in a sealed container. Never store your coffee in its original bag. Transfer your whole beans immediately into a ceramic or glass container with a rubber seal and preferably one that does not allow light through it. Enemies of storing coffee are air, light, heat and moisture. STOP freezing your beans! Never store your coffee in the freezer, especially the refrigerator as this develops moisture around the bean. You may store it in the freezer if you intend to keep the beans for over two weeks but no more than 45 days and ONLY if you intend to take it out of the freezer ONCE. Each time you take it out and let air into the bag, you have compromised the seal and the moisture will deteriorate the flavor.

Water Temperature

The perfect temperature for brewing coffee is water "just off boil" in technical terms approximately 195 degrees. Too hot and you burn the beans giving you a bitter taste, too cold and you won't extract any flavor or the oils off the bean. After the brewing process is complete, most equipment typically keeps the coffee served at 165 to 175 degrees. Coffee in a glass carafe stored on a warmer only lasts twenty minutes before taste is compromised. Coffee kept in an air-pot lasts up to an hour, so invest in an air-pot.

How to Make Espresso at Home

If you have a home espresso machine, great...use it! Don't keep it as kitchen furniture. Yes, it is easier to run down to the cafe and order up a latte and keeping equipment clean can also be a pain. But think of how you can impress your guests with your ability to make perfect foam and get perfect cream on top of your espresso. Steaming milk is an art in itself. Golden rule: Always start with cold milk. Also if you want to cheat a little, use non-fat milk it has more proteins added by the dairy therefore it foams easier, but there's nothing like heavy foam from extra rich milk. Why cold milk? 'Cause it's easier to foam and you can only foam milk ONCE before you scald off all the proteins that create the foam, but you can steam milk twice. More than twice and your milk will taste funny. Start by placing your steamer wand just below the milk line in the metal "bell" pitcher. After you have sufficient foam, plunge the wand to the bottom until you've reached the correct temperature of 165 degrees and shut down the steamer. Remember only 165 because the milk's temperature will still rise by as much as ten more degrees and beyond 175 you've burnt your milk and good-bye foam too! Don't guess, invest in a $5 thermometer it's easier. By the way, it is not necessary to rotate or bounce or do anything with the pitcher... that's just if your bored of holding it in the same place while it is heating up. If you have the right type of bell pitcher the milk agitates sufficiently from the pressure of the steam, so no need to look fancy. Pour your milk first in the container your serving in, then followed with the shot or shots of espresso, finally cap it with the foam. The dreaded Cream! That is the sign of freshness and correct extraction. A perfect shot of espresso is one ounce "pulled" at 20 seconds, that's it! Pulled just means, the moment you push that button to start the brew into your porta-filter basket (the metal handle that holds the ground espresso). The time is measured from the push of the button to the last drop of coffee pouring out of the basket. The window of acceptable espresso particularly if you will be using it with steamed milk is between 18 to 23 seconds. But if you are drinking a shot with no milk, it may as well be the best and that's 20 seconds. Also, whether it is a single shot or a double shot, your only switching your porta-filter basket from a one spout to the two spout so it is still 20 seconds. The Cream is the creamily sweet foam that settles on top of a shot that's just been pulled. After 20 seconds the cream's gone, in fact the shot is cold too by then. Ten seconds is the longest a shot should be left sitting until it is used, therefore steam your milk first then pull your shots last. If you don't have Cream, your grind may be wrong, you may have over/under extracted (too much or too little water has gone through) or you just have old coffee.

Acidity, Flavor and Body,

Ever refer to a cup of coffee as "strong". Well, for most people that's the best description they have for a more acidic or a smoky flavored coffee. The industry professionals rarely use the term strong. Acidity is the sharpness in a cup of java, relative terms to describe acidity is mellow, soft, flat, dead, delicate, bland, and rough. Flavor is the combination of the aroma and the taste that the coffee impresses in the mouth. Terms relating to flavor are nutty, creamily, earthy, spicy, fruity, smoky, musty, rich, grassy, chocolaty, neutral, sweet and turpeny. Body is the "mouth-feel" in terms of weight and texture. These terms are best described as syrupy, harsh, lifeless, thin, heavy, medium, muddy, and of course full.

Caffeine

There is about as much caffeine in a 12 ounce cup of French Roast Arabica Specialty Coffee as there is in a 10 ounce cup commercial grade DECAF! from MJB, Folgers, Hills Brothers, Chase and Sandborn or the typical grocery coffee. You also get more caffeine from a cup of regular coffee than you would from a shot of espresso, even a double shot! Rationale, one or even two ounces versus a regular eight ounce cup.

Varietals, Style, Roasts and Blends

Varietals is the term used for the coffee that comes from a geographical region. A Sumatra, Kenya, Costa Rica or a Java are varietals. As in wine...soil, climate and cultivation methods affect the taste of your coffee. Some generalizations are formed due to these inherent variables in every region. Typically, coffee from South America is medium bodied and mild in acidity. Central American coffee has good acidity, a medium body and full aroma. Costa Rican coffee is the stand-out here in Central America, it is perhaps the best to blend with any other coffees. The only North American coffee produced in commercial quantities comes from Hawaii and it is a favorite of many coffee drinkers but its best description is buttery which is a rare example, it is mostly "earthy." African coffees are more often winey, well balanced in acidity and medium to full bodied. The Pacific coffees are a varietal, unblended and pure, perfectly balanced "coffee" taste sometimes sweet, sometimes spicy, low in acidity and full bodied. Styles: a French Roast, Italian Roast, Vienna, or even the ever popular Espresso "bean" are NOT beans! There is no Espresso plant nor is there an espresso bean. These are styles of roast. Espresso is a blend of beans roasted in an espresso style so are the blend of beans in the French or Italian. The typical roasts are: Light - which also consists of Cinnamon or Half City roasts. Medium - which are Full City, American, Regular or Breakfast. Dark - Continental, New Orleans, Vienna, most Starbucks roasts. Darkest - are French, Italian, Espresso, a lot of Pete's. Blends are just that.

Choosing the Right Coffee

The discriminating Specialty Single Origin Coffee drinker marketed by The Coffee Bean Warehouse brings (the masses) up to another level...that of a connoisseur. Coffee should be "experienced," not drank as a habit.

Just as wine has no single flavor compound that gives rise to a winelike taste, there is no integral "coffee flavor." Certain coffees have two to three times more aromatic oils than others, so why do we limit our experiences to just one style of roast or one varietal?

Grinders

For you non-purists. Never ever grind your pristine whole beans of any variety in the same grinder that you use for flavored coffees! If you must buy flavored coffee, buy them ground. They are in order: Turkish , extra-fine, very-fine, fine, medium-fine, medium, medium-coarse and coarse. These are standard grind settings calibrated at most Specialty Coffee Retailers. For the home, invest in an electric grinder ($20). A coarse is about 5-8 seconds, medium is 10-12 seconds, and fine is 15-18. Cone filters: start with 25 seconds and if the coffee is too bitter or "strong" bring it down to 20 seconds. Espresso machines: start with 30 seconds and check your "pull" time.