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coffee preparation: make your coffee the best coffee
Methods
The Most Important Step - Grinding
Your Coffee
The process of grinding coffee correctly is the most important single
step in any form of coffee preparation - and ideally, this will be done
just before brewing. If you don't have access to a grinder and
need to grind it at the store, we'll provide some suggestions at the
end of this section for how to get the best results.
A good coffee grinder will allow you to control the degree of
fineness of the ground coffee - effectively the particle size of the
grind. This is important because the fineness or coarseness of
the grind needs to match up with the brewing method used and the amount
of time this method exposes the particles of coffee to the hot water.
At the upper end of the spectrum, a very coarse grind is used for a
French Press, because here, the coffee sits in the water for 4-5
minutes, and a smaller particle size would cause the coffee to
overextract and bring bitter flavors into the cup. A medium
grind, used for drip methods, is used because the water sits in the
filter for a short time before passing through the bed of coffee into
the cup or pot. And, with espresso a fine (and uniform)
particle size is best because the pressurized water spends just 25-30
seconds in contact with the coffee.
To grind coffee at home with this degree of control, you'll need to
spend $100 or more on a decent burr grinder with machined steel
burrs. The "burr grinders" below this price point have stamped
burrs that dull very quickly, and they are not good long term
investments. Visit the CoffeeGeek consumer
reviews to see how others evaluate different grinders.
If you have a blade grinder at home, experiment with pulsing the
grinder in short bursts and then opening it to see the grind size - the
thing to avoid here is pulverizing the coffee, and this experiment will
help you tune your grind to the right degree of fineness for your
preferred brewing method.
If you pre-grind your coffee, remember that air is the enemy and that
your coffee will begin to stale as soon as it is ground. If the
ground coffee is repeatedly exposed to the air, it will get more and
more stale - and if it takes you a few weeks to drink that coffee, most
of the nice flavors will have left the building by the time you are
done. So, if you have to pregrind and the coffee will take some
time to brew, consider dividing the ground coffee into ziplock bags and
store these in the freezer until you are ready to brew.
Buying and Storing
The experience of preparing fresh coffee at home is the byproduct of
three important steps - a good purchase decision, the way you store
your coffee and the proper execution of the grinding/preparation
methods you use. We'll deal here with the first two.
When you buy coffee, it is hard to tell when the coffee was roasted
unless your roaster puts the roasting date on their package. Many
roasters use the crypic "Julian Calendar" (a sequential rendering of
the monthly date) to show the roast date, and these codes (June 1 is,
for example, "153") are more to help the grocer than to help you.
Since the roasting date is a very important determinant of coffee
freshness, we recommend you do business with small roasters (like
Freeport Coffee Roasting) who show the roast date on their
packages.
We and others use good quality laminate packaging with one-way valves
that permit coffee to be packaged just after roasting, but the further
your coffee is from the roast date, the faster it will stale after it
is opened.
A dirty little secret of the coffee industry is that coffee that is not
packaged in valve bags must be "staled" prior to packaging, or else the
bags will literally burst from the CO2 the coffee emits for several
days after roasting.
Buying coffee from bulk bins is a gamble - and unless the bins are in a
roaster's shop, you don't have a way of knowing anything about when the
coffee was roasted. Worst of all are stores using these that
don't turn over a lot of coffee - the air space in the bins helps the
coffee go stale quickly, and though this seems like a way to buy "Fresh
Coffee!", it too often isn't. Look for a good quality bag with a
valve and a roasted date.
From the store to your cup, the coffee is your reponsibility, and the
way you store the coffee has a lot to do with the quality of your cup.
We very strongly recommend buying the coffee in whole bean form and
then grinding only the amount you need just before brewing.
Grinding coffee at the store greatly hastens the staling process and any
air is exposed to the very heart of the beans. And buying
pre-ground coffee is just a bad idea.
If you will drink your (whole bean) coffee within a week, either keep
it in the bag (assuming it came in a good bag), close the bag in a way
that removes as much air as possible and seal it tightly. An
alternative is to store your coffee in a good-quality airtight
container (mason jars work great if kept in a dark place).
If it will take more than a week to drink your coffee, we suggest
freezing rather than keeping the coffee in the refrigerator. The
condensation properties of the fridge will flush your coffee with
moisture every time you open it, and the combination of moisture and
air will speed up the staling process. To freeze, use a good
quality freezer bag and place the bag deep in the freezer where the
temperature will stay consistent.
And did we mention using a good grinder? :)
French Press
For its simplicity, the French Press is a wonderful tool.
The brewing choice of many coffee professionals, a good press pot costs
under $30, and used properly (with a good grinder, of course) it
produces a clean, accurate brew at whatever strength you prefer.
When you buy a press pot, get a good one made of glass (not plastic)
and with a metal filter (again, not plastic). We recommend the
well-established Bodum Chambord.
Note that the size ratings of French Press pots are based on four-ounce
cups, so the “8 Cup” model of the Chambord will yield more like three
of the larger cups most of us use.
To use, grind your coffee coarse, as the larger particles are exposed
to the water for a long time, and a finer grind will overextract the
coffee and clog the filter screen. Use 5-6 grams of coffee for
each “cup” of the rated capacity (and adjust to your preference).
Then, give the water about thirty seconds to cool after you boil it,
then pour over the grounds to completely saturate them.
Set your timer for four minutes. After about 20 seconds, stir the
coffee, and you will notice that the foamy “bloom” at the top of the
pot will shrink by a good amount. Add a bit more water to bring
the level up to about 3/4" below the top of the pot, and then push the
plunger down so that it is about half an inch below the top of the
liquid (this makes sure all the grounds are in contact with the
water).
When your timer goes off, slowly press the plunger all the way to the
bottom of the pot and serve. If you need to keep the coffee warm
for a while, decant it into a thermal carafe. And, leave the last
half-inch or so in the pot, as this will have picked up some sediment
you don’t want in your cup.
The common problems with French Presses (and the reason some people
have given up on them) include grinding too fine (as mentioned above),
plunging too soon (the coffee won’t extract enough and tastes weak) and
plunging too fast (a big mess).
Espresso
A sad irony of the wonder of espresso is that the word "espresso" and
its kin
(cappucino, latte, etc.) are the most misused terms in all of
coffee. "Real Latte!" screams the sign from the doughnut store
window. "Instant espresso" and "[insert romantic phrase] Instant
Capuccino" line the shelves of our stores. Electric "espresso
machines" are available for under $30 online and people ask for
"espresso beans" or "espresso roast" when they buy their coffee.
Lies, all lies.
Espresso coffee is the result of a brewing method in which hot water is
forced under high pressure through a tightly packed bed of
finely-ground coffee. Espresso blends (often mislabeled espresso
beans) are sets of coffees that, when combined, taste good when
extracted
by this method and that generate the distinctive "crema" for which
espresso is famous.
So, there are a lot of variables at play here - water temperature, a
good fresh, espresso blend, water quality, pressure, degree of grind
and the practiced hand of the barista tamping the coffee into the
portafilter with just the right amount of strength. There are
even more variables at play when steamed milk is introduced - the steam
pressure, the steaming technique, the quality of the milk and the
temperature of the milk, among others.
Did we scare you away yet? I hope not. We just want you to
know that, to produce a beverage that tastes reasonably like good
espresso, you'll need to invest some time and a little money. But
not a lot.
Other than starting with decent coffee, the most important element in
any coffee preparation method is the grind, and to ensure a good
consistent grind at any degree of fineness or coarseness, you need a
good grinder - one costing more than $100. Avoid the cheap "burr
grinders" priced well under $100 - these have stamped burrs that dull
very quickly, and for espresso, you won't get the nice, consistent
grind you need to resist the flow of hot, pressurized water and
therefore do a nice job extracting the coffee.
Once you get past the grinder, you have some decisions to make - and a
need to do some research. If you like the "set it and forget it"
approach, you'll want an automatic machine that grinds the coffee for
you, tamps it and produces shots of equal volume each time - and maybe
one that adds the feature of steaming the milk. And, at the other
end of the spectrum, you could invest near the amount you paid for your
first car in an all-manual, plumbed in, Italian made, chrome plated
beauty that requires you to learn the techniques of a barista to get
optimum results.
Is there a difference in the result? Absolutely. Is it an
easy question to answer? Nope - not at all.
If you are an espresso person (and we know some are and some aren't),
the best thing to do is to do some reading of the opinions and
experiences of other people just like you. We recommend starting with
the Home
Barista How To's section, which will give you a crash course in
everything you always wanted to know about espresso. Then, move on to
the CoffeeGeek
Consumer Reviews, all posted by regular people, and reading there
about what people have to say about grinders and espresso machines with
different levels of features, quality and cost. A hint for you
here is to look for the equipment with the highest number of reviews and
the reviews that go the farthest back in time - this gets you to the
time-tried machines that haven't changed much because they didn't need
to. Alongside each review, you'll find links to online vendors
that supply this gear - and, unless you live in a big city and are
fortunate enough to have a local supplier of good coffee equipment,
these are the best places to buy.
Enjoy.
Automatic Drip
In the early 1970s, the introduction of the automatic drip coffeemaker
rescued American consumers from the bitter, overcooked brew coming from
their stovetop and electric percolators. Drip coffee gave most people
their first taste of properly prepared coffee, and this method remains
the most popular way of preparing coffee in the U.S.
In its simplest form, drip brewing can be as easy as making a cone from
a paper towel and using it as an ersatz filter in a common funnel – and
at the other end of the spectrum are the fancy, temperature-controlled
Technivorum and the traditional diner brewers with the big glass
pots.
Drip coffee is all about convenience. Timers allow harried
homeowners
a way to load the basket the night before and have freshly-prepared
coffee waiting in the wee hours when they wake up the next day.
The
large capacity allows a lot of coffee to be made quickly and
easily.
And, the built-in burner will keep whatever is in the pot warm for
hours.
But, this convenience comes at a price. Coffee that sits out all
night
goes stale – and we all know just how bad coffee can smell or taste
when it is abandoned to sit out all day on a hot burner. Read on,
and
we’ll help you out of this problem.
Grinding: If your grinder has settings, pick one in the middle and then
adjust the grind to suit your taste; finer for a stronger brew and more
coarse if the coffee is too strong. If you grind at the store,
you’ll
find a setting for drip brewing – and sometimes, they may give you
options for a conical or flat bottom filter shape. The hard part
of
grinding comes if you have a blade grinder. We recommend you
pulse the
grinder and pay attention to the size of the grind rather than holding
down the power and letting it fly (this results in nothing but powder
and an over-extracted, bitter brew).
Use: The basic operating instructions are those that came with
your
machine, but we offer a few tips for getting the best results.
First,
use good filtered or spring water if you can – many municipal water
supplies are treated with chlorine, and this taste can permeate your
coffee. Next (though this may slow you up in the morning), add the
coffee to basket right before you brew, and if you can’t grind it
fresh, store your coffee in a tightly sealed bag in the freezer until
you are ready to use it. And finally, remove the coffee from the
burner right when you finish brewing – the heat causes chemical changes
in the coffee that make it more and more bitter as the day goes
on. Store the coffee in a thermal carafe to keep it warm if you
have someone getting up after you who likes good coffee.
Cleaning: For an easy and inexpensive way to clean your drip
brewer,
make a solution of two parts water and one part white vinegar and
run
a brewing cycle with it (sans coffee, of course). After the
mixture
runs through the machine, turn the brewer off and let the vinegar/water
mix sit in the pot for an hour to help soak off any staining in the
pot. Then, wash the pot with soap and hot water and run two
cycles of
plain water through the brewer to rinse the vinegar away.
Moka Pot (aka Stovetop Espresso Maker)
The moka pot (often called a stovetop espresso maker) is a great
brewing method for those who like their coffee strong and rich.
The coffee is not really espresso in the truest sense, but if you need
an inexpensive way of producing a thick and concentrated cup, this may
be for you.
For $30-$40, you can buy a beautiful, classically designed stainless
steel moka pot that will look great on your stove and that gets more
beautiful with age. We recommend that you avoid the low cost aluminum
models, as these leave a distinctly metallic flavor in your cup.
Note that moka pots are sold with capacities listed as as two, four and
six cup, but these refer to Italian demitasse cups,
not the large mugs favored by Americans.
We suggest that, at the time you buy your moka pot, also get a couple
of the gaskets that help seal the chambers together. If you use
your pot every day, you’ll want to replace these about once a year, and
they can be hard to find.
Grinding: Use a fine grind, but don’t go as fine as you would
with espresso, as you may clog the holes in the filter basket and
develop sediment in the cup.
Use: As always, you’ll want to start with good water – filtered,
from a spring or bottled.
Begin by filling the lower chamber with water up to just below the
brass pressure relief valve.
Then, drop in the filter basket, fill with your fine ground coffee and
then level the grounds with your finger or a knife. DON’T tamp
the grounds as you would in an espresso machine. The coffee will
expand as the steam passes through it, and too many grounds will
prevent the steam from moving through them.
Attach the top chamber, making sure that the threads turn smoothly.
Place the pot on your stove and turn the heat to medium high. Too
much heat for this method results in a bitter brew!
After about five minutes, you’ll hear a wonderful gurgling sound that
signifies you’re your coffee is done. Remove the pot from the
burner (especially important with electric stoves) and serve right away.
Cleaning: One problem we’ve always had is brewing the moka pot
just before running off to work – leaving the tightly compacted grounds
sitting there all day. As soon as the pot cools, separate the
parts and clean the grounds off the underside of the top chamber.
Remove the gasket and filter screen every few uses, and if you have
especially hard water, you can use vinegar to remove any deposits.
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