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How much money to we spend a week...or a year...buying coffee at specialty shops or cafes?  Why is “their” coffee so much better than “ours?”  It’s not as if we don’t spend a fortune on our beans—in fact, we probably buy better beans than they do. We consulted with the experts and here’s their advice:

Eight Steps To “Pro” Coffee

It’s not in the beans, but in just about everything else. Sure, good beans are important—no one disputes that—but all the other elements have to be in place, too.

1. Freshly-Ground Beans. Fresh-ground beans have aromatic oils—that’s why everyone loves the smell of fresh-ground coffee. When specialty coffee shops brew their coffee, if they don’t freshly grind the beans, they open vacuum-packed bags or cans and use the entire package at once. Ground coffee will begin to go stale within 24 hours after the beans are ground (or after a bag of vacuum-packed ground coffee is opened).

If you want the absolute freshest-tasting coffee, grind your own—it only takes a minute in a coffee grinder. Otherwise, have it fresh-ground for you—but purchase as small a supply as you can, and never more than a week’s worth.

2. A Coffee Grinder. Coffee purists advocate burr grinders because a burr grinding wheel delivers consistent, uniform grounds, cutting the beans consistently rather than crushing them as blade grinders do. This will have some impact on how the water comes into contact with the grounds, and thus has an effect on the taste of the coffee. (It’s not an issue, as is often reported, of the heat of the blade altering the flavor of the coffee.) Those who take their coffee seriously say they notice the difference as soon as they upgrade to a burr grinder. However, an October 2006 test by the Wall Street Journal, in which the reporter worked with a coffee roasting professional to test 5 new burr grinders versus an old blade model, found that while the coffee was ground more consistently by the burr models, no difference could be tasted in the brews versus the blade grinder! Thus, there seems to be no need to toss out your blade grinder, but if you’re in the market for something new, here are the story’s recommendations based on the machines tested:

• The best overall was KitchenAid Pro Line Grinder, $199.99. The best value was Solis Maestro Burr Grinder.
• Capresso Infinity Commercial Grade Conical Burr Grinder, at $89.95, ground well, but the lid was difficult to lift and there was a static charge in the grinds.
• Krupps Burr Coffee Mill, at $59.95, stalled on oilier beans and the coarse setting wasn't coarse enough. Cuisinart Automatic Burr Coffee Grinder was noisy, put static chage into the grinds, and was problematic with finer grinds.

Unfortunately, you really do get what you pay for in a burr grinder. You’ll also note that these are not tiny spice grinders—so they’re for people who really love their coffee.

• If you grind your own beans for a drip brewer or a press pot, select a medium-grind setting.
• Proper grinding is important because beans that are ground too coarsely yield coffee that tastes weak and bland. Too fine a grind can result in over-extraction and bitter-tasting coffee.
• Don’t grind your beans until you’re ready to brew the coffee. If you wake up at a certain time each morning and head for the coffee, the timing mechanism on the Capresso will grind your beans at exactly the moment you specify—a nice little time-saving luxury.

KitchenAid Pro Line Grinder. Low noise, 15 grind settings. Also in black and pearl. $199.99. Click here for more information or to purchase.	Solis Maestro Burr Grinder. Quiet, low-static, and assembled in America. $149.95. Click here for more information or to purchase.

 

3. Well-Stored Beans. Don’t buy more coffee—whether in bean form or ground—than you’ll use in a week’s period. Be sure to keep it in an airtight container that protects it from kitchen and refrigerator aromas, and contains the good coffee aromas. Store it in a cool, dark place. Direct light and heat will begin to cook the coffee oils, and will affect the flavor and aroma properties. A canister next the stove is not a good location!

You can refrigerate your beans or ground coffee in an airtight container, but never freeze them. Freezing coagulates the natural oils in the beans and crystallize the moisture inside them, which adversely affects the flavor and aroma qualities.

4. The Best Coffee Maker. There are volumes written on this topic, with many coffee lovers claiming the best coffee is brewed from a press pot. Others claim equally good coffee can be brewed from a standard coffee machine, but only with a gold filter basket (photo at right), which doesn’t impart a paper flavor or absorb the aromatic oils from the coffee beans. Some coffee producers recommend using a thermal brewer, which drips the coffee into an insulated carafe to keep it hot instead of using a glass carafe unit that sits on a hot plate. Sometimes we brew, using a gold coffee filter and dripping into a thermal brewer. Sometimes we use a French press. For espresso—read our article on how to make espresso—it is a different proposition entirely.

SwissGold Coffee Filter, KF-2 Universal Cone. Dishwasher-safe, this permanent, 23- carat gold-plated coffee filter means you never have to buy paper filters again. Paper filters also filter out coffee’s essences and even add a slight paper flavor of their own. This is the way to go. $15.99. Click here for more information or to purchase.

 

Capresso Coffee Team. A burr grinder and a coffeemaker in one from this top brand innovator in coffee. Programmable, so you literally can wake up and smell the coffee. $199.00. Click here for more information or to purchase.	Bunn NHB-W Professional 10-Cup Coffeemaker. A home model from the coffee professionals merges Bunn’s long-standing commercial quality brewing unit with a kitchen design. Makes 10 cups of exceptional coffee in less than 3 minutes. $99.95. Click here for more information or to purchase.

If you’d prefer a press pot, see the directions below.

5. The Right Proportions. The next trick is to get the proportions right: two tablespoons of ground beans per “cup” if water. Note that in the coffeepot business, a cup is not 8 ounces. The portions are based on a 6-ounce cup, the size of old-fashioned tea cups. The amount of liquid to fill it (and allow for milk) is 4.4 ounces. Thus, a ten cup coffee maker will yield just 40 to 44 ounces of coffee—not exactly ten of today’s larger mugs.

6. Drink Coffee Fresh. Brewed coffee is a fragile beverage—because of the tannins, it doesn’t take to heat contact and re-heating the way other beverages do. When a glass pot sits on the warming plate, the coffee continues to heat. In 15 to 20 minutes, any pot of coffee on a hotplate is scorched or “burnt,” with a bitter taste. If you haven’t finished the contents before the 15-minute point, take it off the heat and turn it into iced coffee. Or, brew your coffee into a thermos that doesn’t require a hot plate like these two, which will keep your coffee warm and tasty for hours:

Braun KF600 Impressions 10-Cup Thermal Coffeemaker. Brushed Stainless Steel 10-cup coffee maker with double-wall, stainless-steel thermal carafe with pause-and-serve function. $52.75. Click here for more information or to purchase.	Capresso 441.05 MT-500 Plus 10-Cup Coffeemaker with Metallic Alloy Body and Stainless Thermal Carafe. A higher-end model with a timer and other features. Brews up to 10 cups in just 8 minutes. $144.00. Click here for more information or to purchase.

If you use a thermal carafe unit, before brewing, warm the carafe by filling it with hot water for a few minutes. We heat two mugs of water in the microwave (the mugs we’ll use for the coffee after it’s brewed) and use that water to warm the carafe.

7. Scrub The Pot.  The coffee pot needs more than a quick rinse: the oil and mineral residue are invisible but they build up and can make coffee taste bitter and stale. Take a scrubbie and scrub the pot clean with soap, then rinse it thoroughly. Some people hesitate to add soap because they fear it will leave a soapy taste in their coffee. A double or triple rinse should quell all fears.

8. Clean The Water Tank. Follow the manufacturer’s directions and clean the machine monthly, or as indicated, to remove lime, scale and mineral deposit build-up from the water tank. Oil build-up turns rancid, causing bitter tasting coffee. Mineral build-up slows brewing time and lowers water temperature. If you make coffee daily, a weekly cleaning and descaler solution should be used to keep your coffee tasting as good as it does at top coffee shops. Even if you use bottled or filtered water, you should descale at least every few months. FOLLOW THE 8 STEPS and you’ll taste your coffee and say, “This is delicious!” It’s not a lot to do for the perfect cup of coffee.   The Press Pot: Preparing French Press Coffee

Cleancaf Cleaner & Descaler. Use weekly to remove or prevent oil residue and mineral build-up. $3.99. Click here for more information or to purchase.

Some people think the perfect cup of coffee can only come from a French press. The ground coffee is put into the pot, and the water added on top of it. This method can be used to make just one cup or 12—the press units come in every size. Try it to see if it works for you. The beautiful press pots also look lovely on the table.

1. Pull the plunger unit straight up and out of the pot.
2. Boil the water before you grind the coffee. Then it will be at the perfect temperature when you are ready to pour it in.
3. Grind your coffee with a medium grind, and scoop one heaping tablespoon (7g, or one coffee measure) of coffee into the pot per 6 ounces of water. (You can adjust these to your personal preference depending on how strong you like your coffee.)
4. Add the almost-boiling water to the pot, rotating the pot to saturate the grounds evenly. Fill with water, usually to the handle-level.
5. Stir the coffee a few times quickly to increase the contact with the grounds (and the extraction). We use a chopstick rather than a spoon because of its length, and lack of metal contact. The goal is to get a “crema” to form at the top.
6. Affix the plunger unit to keep the coffee warm, and let steep for 2-3 minutes for a small  pot, 4 minutes for a larger pot. Then press the plunger through the water slowly, using slight pressure. Using too much force can cause the hot coffee to shoot out from the spout of the pot.
7. When pouring, hold on to the lid for security. Then, enjoy your coffee! Be sure to scrub the pot after each use to remove the oils that adhere to the glass.

Bodum Eileen 8-Cup Coffee Press. Functional and fashionable, the Art Deco Eileen design is one of our favorite pieces of “kitchen art.” $54.00. Click here for more information or to purchase.	Frieling Stainless-Steel 35-Ounce French Press. This handsome, carafe-style pot is made of double-wall 18/10 stainless-steel. $50.95. Click here for more information or to purchase.

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