No matter how you like your coffee, it’s essential to know the basics of making a great cup. Coffee is a drink with a rich history and complex flavors, but the basics are simple: the fresher the beans and ground coffee, the smoother and better it tastes.
The first step to making coffee is selecting your beans or grinds. Most experts recommend buying whole beans for grinding on demand because pre-ground coffee quickly loses its flavor. Additionally, experts recommend asking for specific varieties from roasters who have freshly roasted their beans; if available, ask your roaster which types may be better suited to whatever you are drinking now.
How to Grind Coffee at Home
The secret to a smooth-tasting cup of coffee is grinding the beans fresh just before use. Grinding your beans also results in a fresher, more robust flavor than pre-ground beans. Experts recommend using an electric blade grinder instead of a propeller grinder because propeller grinders generate heat, which affects the taste of the coffee. The optimal grind for brewing coffee is medium-fine; if you are unsure how to adjust your grinder for this, ask someone who is familiar with grinding coffee or read the instructions with your grinder.
How to Measure Coffee
What coffee you choose, how it is ground, and the strength of the brew are parts of coffee’s rich and complex history. However, these parameters are crucial to making a delicious cup of coffee. For each recipe on this site, follow these three easy steps for a great-tasting cup of coffee:
Choose your favorite type and brand of fresh-roasted whole-bean coffee. Grind it at home just before you’re ready to brew your coffee. Measure out the amount you’ll need for one serving and store the remaining beans in an airtight container for up to 3 days (in some cases longer) or freeze them for several months.
How to Brew Coffee of the Best Flavor
1. Start with clean equipment. Experts recommend using freshly washed equipment for every new pot of coffee: use fresh water, too.
2. Heat the water. Experts recommend heating the water between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit (91 and 96 Celsius). This is just below boiling but hot enough to drive off potentially bitter substances that would affect the taste of your coffee. Using boiling or scalding water can lead to a cup that tastes burnt or bitter because these substances are released into the cup as it is brewed through contact with boiling water. Avoid gas stoves or electric elements wherever possible.
3. Measure the amount of water you will need for each cup. Fill your coffee cup a third of the way with hot water, then add freshly ground coffee and stir it carefully with a spoon or plunger to ensure an even distribution of grinds throughout the water. This ensures that every cup tastes the same rather than different from the cup before. If you are using a French press, pour one and a half times the amount of coffee in each serving through the filter percolator to stop it from dripping onto your counter or table
4. Stir well before pouring into your cup. When you stir the coffee, you release the natural oils in the grounds that help flavor the coffee. The caffeine also extracts at all temperature levels, so boiling water could lead to bitter or burnt tastes compared to freshly brewed coffee.
5. Serve immediately. Because freshly brewed coffee is more concentrated than instant coffee and is much more perishable, experts recommend drinking it immediately upon brewing.
Grounded coffee vs. coffee beans
In the coffee lexicon, when one talks of coffee beans and ground coffee, one refers to different concepts. Coffee beans, like decaf coffee beans, are the seeds of tropical plants that grow on small evergreen trees. The beans are formed within the cherries that grow on these trees, and once they ripen, they fall to the ground to be harvested. Coffee beans can be further processed by being roasted. Roasting brings out flavors that are not present in raw coffee beans.
As its name suggests, ground coffee is brewed by grinding raw coffee beans into a fine powder before it is used in a piping hot beverage. However, this powder can then be used to brew various kinds of drinks, including espresso and cappuccino. When ground coffee is made into a drink, it loses its aromatic qualities due to oxidation and flavor. It has to be consumed quickly after it is brewed to prevent these changes from occurring.
The best way to store ground coffee for later use is to put them in airtight containers and keep them cool in a dry place. However, this storage method causes the coffee flavor to go stale over time, and the drink’s quality can suffer from this. If you need more time with your ground coffee before you decide whether or not you want to finish the whole bag, freezing can help extend its shelf life. This should be done before there are signs of oxidation or moisture on the bag of ground coffee or grinding area.
Conclusion
The only way to brew coffee is to grind it fresh for each cup that you drink. You can also pre-grind your coffee and store it in airtight containers in the freezer or any other cool, dry place. But do not store your ground coffee too long before drinking it; it loses its taste and flavor quickly because of the oils released when you grind it. Now that you have all the steps to a perfect brew, enjoy!