A Good Cup of Joe

No, I am not growing coffee in my backyard, nor did I receive any in my CSA box. But I wish I had.

Nothing makes me feel like sitting down with a hot cup of coffee like the onset of cool weather. A good cup of coffee can sometimes be difficult to find or make. Here are some important tips for making a really good cup of Joe.

To make really good coffee you must pay special attention to the following: freshness, grinding, brewing and flavoring.

Freshness:
* if you can afford it, buy your beans directly from coffee retailers. It will be fresher then beans that may have been sitting on the grocery shelves for an unknown amount of time.
*buy whole beans and grind them with each pot you brew
* store coffee beans in a cool, dark, air tight container. Storing your beans in the refrigerator or freezer is discouraged as the beans may take on the flavors of other foods in your refrigerator and freezer.

Grinding:
The grind of the coffee is very important to the taste and aroma of the brewed drink.
First of all, the coarseness of the grind will determine how fast the water passes through during brewing. The finer the grind, the more time it takes the water to be forced through the grounds. Think of water flowing through a layer of sand as opposed to rocks.

This brew cycle time makes can make drastic differences in the taste of your coffee. It’s just like cooking and the brew cycle is the baking. You wouldn’t under or over cook a cake and expect it to taste the same.

Grinding tips:
* grind the beans to the consistency of granulated sugar for drip brewed coffee. This is considered a medium grind.
*If you are shopping for a grinder, buy one that uses conical, or flat grinding burrs. The blade type grinders are extremely inconsistent and generate so much heat that they literally burn the beans.
*Grind a little bit of fresh coffee and then discard. This will hopefully get any old, stale coffee you could not reach after cleaning.

Brewing Tips:
* use cold, fresh water, not filtered water. The water softeners will fail to release the coffee oils.
* do not leave the coffee sitting on the burner for longer than 30 minutes, as the coffee will burn and take on a burnt flavor. If it takes you longer than 30 minutes to drink the coffee, pour it into a thermal container. A given amount of coffee only contains so much of the flavorful and aromatic oils. After those oils have all been extracted, the water will extract acids and other bitter tasting elements. This is called over-extraction
*If you think that black coffee tastes bitter, or you just like weaker coffee. Make the coffee full strength (2 level tablespoons per 6 ounces of water or 2.5 - 3 level tablespoons per 8 ounces) and mix hot water into the strong coffee. The result will be a smoother coffee without the bitterness. Try it, you may not need cream and sugar anymore!
*Wait until the entire pot has brewed before pouring a cup. This will ensure that the water has flowed over all of the beans giving the pot an even consistant flavor throughtout the entire pot of coffee.
* buy a coffee pot with a cone shaped filter instead of a round shaped. Cone shaped filters allow for a more even water flow over the beans.

Flavoring:
* if you enjoy flavored coffee buy flavored syrups and not flavored coffee beans. Grinding flavored beans will contaminate your bean grinder, making it impossible to clean and distasting all other beans you grind in that machine.
* pour flavor syrups into your pot or cup of coffee before adding milk or sugar. The hot coffee will help the syrup dissolve and will amplify the taste and aroma of the syrup.

Bonus Tip:
If you enjoy iced coffee, you must try this tip! Instead of putting ice cubes in your coffee, brew a fresh pot of coffee, let cool to about room temperature and then pour the coffee into some ice trays. Freeze, and now you have frozen coffee cubes! Now, when the cubes melt, your coffee will not become weaker and weaker.