The best cup of coffee varies by individual. Many people strive for coffee perfection, looking for the perfect coffee taste coming from a light, medium or dark roast. Some prefer to drink their coffee black while others enjoy their coffee with cream, milk, sugar, and other flavors.
It’s important to understand the origins of your coffee and how coffee preparation & brewing contribute to the final coffee drink.
A Little Background:
Unroasted coffee beans, are the seeds of berries from the Coffea plant. Coffee plants/beans are native to Africa, originating in the Ethiopia and Sudan region, The two most commonly grown beans are the Arabica beans, genrerally considered to be the more sophisticated bean, and the Robusta beans, which is the stronger, heartier version. The coffee that we know is a brewed drink prepared from the roasted coffee bean.
From Bean to Drink:
After coffee beans are ripe, the berries are processed, and dried. These dried coffee seeds (beans) are roasted to varying degrees, to achieve a desired flavor. The roasted beans are then ground, with a varying level of fineness to produce a coffee grind that is brewed in a coffee maker that produces the final coffee beverage.
What is Coffee Grinding?
Coffee grinding involves the process of grinding down whole coffee beans. To prepare the coffee for brewing. The fineness of the grind will affect the outcome and taste of the brewed coffee.
In general, beans that are finely ground are not optimal for coffees that require a long brewing cycle. But a coarsely ground coffee would be the best choice for this. So it is important to understand what type of process you are using. It would be a shame to have a grind that is too coarse–the result could be a very weak coffee.
There are four methods of grinding coffee for brewing:
- Burr-grinding
- Chopping
- Pounding
- Roller Grinding
From Unroasted Bean to Cup:
- Green Coffee beans must be roasted
- These roasted coffee beans must then be ground into a more granular consistency (ground cofee)
- The ground coffee must then be brewed with hot water for a certain amount of time
- Then the coffee drink is ready!
For the Best Coffee Tasting experience, we recommend:
– For every six ounces of brewed coffee: use two table spoons ( 1 coffee scoop or a tad more) of ground coffee
– For each 10 oz. ( a typical thermal cup size) of brewed coffee use 2 coffee scoops
– Filtered water is preferable to tap water
– Coffee should brewed for immediate consumption (hint: don’t let it sit around in a pot all day!)
Coffee Storage:
The ideal coffe storage solution is generally in a well sealed ceramic, glass, or metal container. Despite popular belief, it is not best to store your coffee in the freezer!
See more about the full coffee process at Wikipedia
