Everyone who enjoys coffee may not know the simple rules to follow to ensure a good cup of coffee. Maybe their parents didn’t teach them or they have never watched a cooking show. No judgment, that why we are breaking it down to the basics so everyone who wants to know how to make a better cup of coffee, can.
1. Clean Your Coffee Pot or whatever contraption you use to brew. This includes an espresso machine, a french press or even a pot and colander.
2. Water Quality is important. If you’re using tap water let it run for a few seconds before filling he pot and always use cold water. If you can use fresh cold filtered water this would be ideal, not distilled. Using filtered water can help if your coffee is tasting sulfurous, metallic or anything of that nature.
3. Buy Freshly Roasted Beans. This is when bulk purchases are not your friend, ideally you should purchase fresh beans every 1-2 weeks for optimal taste. Also buying quality coffee beans will have a huge impact on how that cup of coffee comes out. Try using 100% Arabica beans that are micro-roasted, such as The Sasquatch Coffee Company uses.
4. Coffee Filters matter as well,if your coffee machine requires a paper filter use the brown or gold paper filers, and rinse them off with some cold water before using to get rid of any loose fibers. The white filters are bleached and those chemicals are unnecessary in your daily cup of coffee.
WhatsCookingAmerica.net has a great guide for how coarse to grind your coffee beans and how much coffee to use. Look these over below to help ensure you are making the best cup of coffee you can with what you got.
Grinding Coffee Beans – Always grind your beans as close to the brew time as possible. Coffee deteriorates quickly after grinding and you should grind only the amount you are going to use at one time. If your coffee is too strong, try adjusting the grind of the coffee coarser rather than using less coffee.
Coarse Grind: 5 to 10 seconds – used for percolators and the cold water brewing method. This is the least popular grind used today.
Medium Grind: 10 seconds – used for electric drip/manual drip and French press methods. Should be about the size of medium coarse sea salt. The drip method is the most popular in the United States.
Fine Grind: 15 seconds – used for vacuum and Neapolitan flip methods. Vacuum method equipment is not easy to locate in the United States.
Extra Fine Grind: 25 to 30 seconds – used for espresso machines.
Amount of Coffee – Using the right ratio of ground coffee to water is one of the most important things you can do to ensure a good cup of coffee. Use enough coffee, and don’t use too much or too little! If the below measurements sound like a lot, then you have probably been making less than full strength coffee. Make sure to spread the grounds evenly in the coffee filter so full brewing is achieved.
Professional coffee tasters use: exactly two (2) tablespoons (7 to 9 grams or 2 scoop of a standard coffee measure) of ground coffee beans for each six (6) ounces of water.S
For 4 cups (6 ounces each) of coffee, measure out 8 generous tablespoons (30 to 35 grams) of fresh ground coffee beans.
SRC: Find more information about coffee from WhatsCookingAmerica at: whatscookingamerica.net/CoffeeJava.htm