To ensure a great tasting cup every time, follow the tips listed below.
Storing Your Coffee Store your beans in an airtight container and grind them just
prior to brewing. If you must store your beans for longer than a week, we suggest
storing them in an airtight container in a dark cupboard.
Freshness Stale coffee is bitter and the flavor is flat at best and rancid at worst.
Staleness comes from exposure to air over a period of time.
Grinding Grinding is critical. Ground too coarse and you get weak coffee. Ground
too fine and you get bitter coffee. The blade grinders that are sold in most stores do
an adequate job. We suggest grinding for 10 to 12 seconds, and adjust that time to
your taste. Proper grind is the key step in making coffee, so do it carefully.
Brewing To get the best tasting drink, you should start with a ratio of two
tablespoons of ground coffee per 6 ounces of water and adjust to your taste.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you prefer your coffee weaker, it will taste better if you make
it full strength, then dilute it with hot water or milk.
Use the best possible water available. Tap water should be free of any strange
flavors, odors or textures. If it is not, then use filtered or bottled water. Avoid distilled
or softened water since some minerals are essential to coffee flavor. Tap water
should be cold and allowed to run for a few seconds to aerate it before it goes into a
maker or water kettle.
Water should be heated to just below boiling (200 degrees F.). For drip brewers, the
brew cycle should be completed in 4-6 minutes. Other good methods are the
"French Press" and "Vacuum pot" which brew in about 4 minutes. Avoid percolators
and electric pots with brew cycles that take longer than 6 minutes. These will over-
extract the coffee and cause bitterness.
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