3 Steps to Brewing a Better Cup of Coffee

[MULTIZ321]

3 Steps to Brewing a Better Cup of Coffee - by Oliver Strand/ Food/ International New York Times/ The New York Times/ nytimes.com

"For many, making coffee is a morning routine you sleepwalk through, following a formula that somehow established itself as your preference: this much ground coffee, this much hot water and you’re ready to jump-start your day.

Yet the coffee landscape has changed radically in the last few years. The pros have rethought everything — roasts, brewing gear, brewing techniques — and it’s up to you to take advantage of it.

Some of what you will need to do may seem excessive or even neurotic. It’s hard to argue the point: It’s much easier to make bad coffee than good coffee. But once you get down the basics and pick up some decent equipment, you may find some pleasure in what should be a satisfying rite.

Here are three steps you can take to get to that place. You can proceed one at a time, or do them all at once..."

Danny Ghitis for The New York Times


Richard

 

[itradehilton]

Wow, so that's why my morning coffee tastes so good, a few years ago I got the listed grinder and coffee machine for Chritmas.

 

[Conan]

Burr grinder http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...r&qid=1456290200&ref_=sr_1_6&s=kitchen&sr=1-6 and gram scale http://www.amazon.com/American-Weig...d=1456290260&sr=1-2-spell&keywords=gran+scale for sure. (These are cheaper models than those named in the article.)

If one-cup-at-a-time meets your needs, the Aeropress does a great job.
http://www.amazon.com/AeroPress-Cof...UTF8&qid=1456290340&sr=8-5&keywords=aeropress

 

[Kal]

Starbuck$

Starbucks open a new, one of a kind, very high end Roastery in Seattle. They offer many unique beans for a price!

You can try some of this for $80 per pound -

 

[CO skier]

Everyone should experiment and choose the best method for brewing their perfect cup of coffee. Entertain advice from "experts", but don't take it as gospel.

It may cause coffee connoisseurs to roll on the floor and froth at the mouth, but my "best" coffee pours from a Hamilton Beach percolator fed with 18 ounces of spring water and eight scoops of freshly ground whole bean Kirkland Decaf, coupled with a teaspoon of granulated raw sugar and a generous dose of half&half per 6 ounce serving -- all heated together in the microwave for 20 seconds to just under the boiling point.

To each his own.

 

[stifler]

Very good tips. Thanks for posting this.

 

[Chrispee]

I can't imagine anybody weighing out their beans but then pouring through a bleached paper filter pictured in the "article". I'm in total agreement with CO skier, trial and error is the key! No need to be a coffee snob, whatever tastes good to you is the best cup of coffee.

 

[WinniWoman]

I am not a coffee drinker, but my husband's favorite is-----are you ready----Folgers Instant. LOL!

 

[TedWater]

Where would we all be without our morning coffee, ey?

I find it very interesting how incredibly personal this particular ritual is. Everyone has their own way of doing it and preferences when it comes to taste. Personally I like mine with lots of milk and 1 sugar

 

[riverdees05]

Thanks, have a burr grinder, but probably should consider a scale and a better coffee maker.

 

[RonB]

Aeropress + ss filter

I use an Aeropress plus the below stainless steel filter for the best coffee I've had. Weighing the coffee and using a dedicated pint canning jar marked for the correct amount of water does it for me ~ Ron

http://www.amazon.com/Filter-AeroPress-Ultra-Stainless-Coffee/dp/B00A1GVVMY/ref=pd_sim_79_8?ie=UTF8&dpID=41wMTNcpsEL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=1BEJJH5ZW5QPB21VJ83V

 

[Ironwood]

I've done all that in the past searching for a better cup of coffee. But you won't brew a good cup if you don't start with quality beans. I do keep ground coffee at home to make a quick few cups when on the go. Again you need quality Arabica coffee, not a Maxwell House blend of Arabica and Robusta. My two cents worth. Best bang for the buck... Costco's Kirkland ground tin.

 

[Passepartout]

Which is worse?

Coffee snobs, ex-smokers, Prius drivers? Try as I might, I just can't bring myself to performing the coffee making ritual first thing in the morning. I have to have some coffee first and that's that. I prepare it the night before.

Scouting a 'going out of business' sale a dozen years or so ago, I acquired this giant, red Jericho commercial coffee grinder. It towers over everything on my kitchen counter. Big honkin' hopper full of Costco 'Rain Forest Organic' beans, carefully timed opening the gate and ground directly into an unbleached Melita #4 cone filter.

That goes into the Capresso drip/pump espresso machine. 5 cups of filtered water in the reservoir go in next, to sit for 8 hours more-or-less for any unwanted tainting of chlorine from the municipal water to dissipate.

When I stumble to the kitchen (or DW, if she beats me to the punch) smash the red button and the coffee maker goes to work, producing it's (I really measured this) 197 degree water to flood over the grounds. Within 5 minutes, there are 5- or 6 big ol' mugs of fresh, flavorful brown elixir. Don't be messing it up with sugar, cream, milk, or (Heaven forbid) unknown, and unpronounceable powdered chemical whitener.

And THAT, girls and boys, is how coffee happens at my house.

Jim

 

[Elan]

I like a really good cup of coffee as much as anyone, but I don't want to take half an hour to make it. The best compromise, IMO, is to buy pre-ground beans and use a pour-over type dripper. But I can't even bring myself to do that (unless I'm camping). So we use pre-ground in a little (~24oz) KitchenAid auto-drip. Is it the best coffee I've ever had? No, but it's good and it's fast.

 

[ace2000]

My daily ritual consists of pulling up the lever on the Keurig machine, dropping one k-cup into the slot, push down the lever, and click start. Good enough for me!

Here you go... from a recent article.

How to make the perfect cup of coffee using SCIENCE

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...t-milk-brew-four-minutes-drink-white-cup.html

 

[bogey21]

Gosh. I bought a Mr Coffee almost 10 years ago for $29.99 or thereabouts. Still using it. I buy 24 oz size Kroger 100% Colombian for $4.99 when it is on sale ($5.99 otherwise). I do clean the coils in my Mr Coffee with vinegar every 4 or 5 weeks. Otherwise I am hands off. This has made me a happy 5 cup a day straight black coffee drinker for many years.

George

 

[WinniWoman]

When company comes I take out my good ol' electric percolator and use pre-ground Folgers coffee.


As for me- the tea drinker- Lipton all the way.

 

[MULTIZ321]

At Last, Space Brewer Lets Astronauts Make Real Coffee in a Cup- by Michelle Z. Donahue/ Space/ Popular Science/ popsci.com

"Of sacred morning routines, few stack up to the ritual of rolling out of bed and sipping that first sweet, sweet cup of steaming coffee. Unless you’re an astronaut on the International Space Station. One of the small yet significant personal sacrifices they make for space is: there's no steaming mug up there.

Technically, there is coffee on board the station, but it’s made by squeezing hot water into a pouch of custom blended, freeze-dried coffee, and sipped through a straw. It only barely clears the bar for being a comforting drink, and no savory coffee smell makes it through that bag, either.

But thanks to a new version of a specially designed cup sent to ISS last year, astronauts now have the ability to brew a fresh cup of coffee..."

Richard

 

[Passepartout]

That settles it. I'm not going.

 

[Luanne]

I have a burr grinder, and lately I've started using a single cup drip method. I was tired of my coffee maker taking so long, and also half of the water I was using seemed to disappear. Since I'm the only one who drinks coffee in the morning this method is perfect. Much easier clean up as well.

 

[TedWater]

It only barely clears the bar for being a comforting drink, and no savory coffee smell makes it through that bag, either.

The smell is one of the best parts. Hardly seems worth it without it.

 

[Elan]

As highlighted earlier, I'm far from a coffee snob, but I have read quite a bit about brewing the perfect cup of coffee. So many variables, including type of bean, type of roast, freshness of roast and grind, type of grind, quality/filtration of water, brew temperature and filtering, among others. One of these days, probably after I've retired and have too much time on my hands, I'm going to do some experimentation in attempt to determine which variables are the most significant.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Passepartout]

One of these days, probably after I've retired and have too much time on my hands, I'm going to do some experimentation in attempt to determine which variables are the most significant.

Paraphrasing from the linked article, if one is going to buy one piece of equipment that will make the most difference in their coffee, it should be a good quality burr grinder. Then get whole, roasted Arabica beans and grind them as soon as possible before brewing.

The essential oils that impart their scents/flavors into the hot water begin to break down and evaporate very quickly after grinding. (imo) Spoken by one with too much time on my hands.

Jim

 

[Luanne]

A couple of years ago dh and I went to a class on roasting your own coffee. According to the man who gave the class the only way to get a truly good cup of coffee is to roast the beans yourself. He also said that if you start roasting your own beans you won't want to drink coffee out any more. Since I enjoy having coffee out I decided I wouldn't start roasting my own. It was good though.

 

[Elan]

Paraphrasing from the linked article, if one is going to buy one piece of equipment that will make the most difference in their coffee, it should be a good quality burr grinder. Then get whole, roasted Arabica beans and grind them as soon as possible before brewing.

The essential oils that impart their scents/flavors into the hot water begin to break down and evaporate very quickly after grinding. (imo) Spoken by one with too much time on my hands.

Jim

From what I've read, the extraction temperature is as important as anything. Having said that, the are probably as many claims to what's the most critical aspect as there are articles on the subject. Regardless, even if I knew all of the secrets to a perfect cup, I'd still compromise between perfection and convenience.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk