Five tips to make a better cup of coffee at home

Before I teach a group about coffee I generally ask them what they would like to learn. Some are interested in history, and others are interested in the science, while still more would like to learn more about how coffee is grown. One thing has always been of interest to every group I have ever taught.

People want to know how to brew a good cup of coffee at home

There are dozens of methods people use to brew coffee at home and within each method there is almost an infinite number of possibilities to how you will make a great cup. Making coffee is like being invited onto a playground, there are lots of places to play and lots of ways to play once you get there, but their are also rules and boundaries that will help you feel more at home and have a lot of fun.

The following are 5 tips I have found help people make coffee better no matter how they like to brew it.

Tip 1: Only Buy Enough Coffee For a Week or Two
Coffee only stays fresh for about 2 weeks after you buy it. If you only go through a half a pound in that amount of time only buy a half a pound. I generally only buy enough to last me one week since I know that I will have to wait a few days after the coffee is roasted for the beans to be at their prime brewing time (coffee releases gasses after it's roasted, giving it a few days to rest can help you get a better cup too.) The best way to get coffee is from a roaster (like us) that way you know you are getting it fresh!

vs

Tip 2: Get a Burr Grinder

If you want the best cup of coffee at home the first step i recommend it to buy a good burr grinder. Grinding your coffee before you brew it will help your coffee stay fresh longer then getting it pre-ground. Unlike a blade grinder, a burr grinder grinds coffee at a uniform grind, which means you will have a more even extraction and a better balanced cup of coffee.

 VS 

There are many on the market. I would personally recommend the Baratza Virtuoso Coffee Grinder - Baratza 585 the Baratza G 285 Maestro Conical Burr Grinder is also good and about half the price. If you really want to make a larger investment the Baratza 885 Vario Espresso Coffee Grinder can do a great job with drip as well as espresso. If you want a cheaper option or something that's good for travel check out the Hario MSS-1B Mini Mill Slim Coffee Grinder or the Hario Coffee Hand Grinder Skerton. Don't bother with cheap electric models like the Mr. Coffee BVMC-BMH23 they have cheap burrs that don't do a much better job then a blade grinder.




Tip 3: Store Your Coffee Somewhere Dark, Dry and at Room Temperature
Your coffee has enimies: light, oxogen, and moisture. This unholy-trinity of forces will breakdown your beans and give them an unpleasant flavor. The best way to avoid this is to store them in an airtight container away from sunlight. DO NOT store your coffee in the fridge. Since coffee absorbs the flavors around it you will find that your coffee with have flavors of last nights dinner in it, and you probably don't want that. I use a porcelain container with a rubber seal which I keep on my counter. Don't use the bag the coffee came in. Those bags generally are not air tight after you open them.
vs 






Tip 4: Use a Gram Scale
Weigh out how much coffee you are using and how much water you are using. Weight is much more accurate then volume when it comes to coffee. Instead of eyeballing your water or your coffee scoop get a gram scale and make sure you are using the right amount of coffee and the right amount of water. For every 1 gram of coffee I use I use 16-17 grams of water. This ratio works in almost every brewing method for a "drip" style of coffee. A gram scale is a great investment to make. I believe every kitchen should have one. I use mine for all my cooking.

vs 





Tip 5: Record What You Do
Keeping a coffee log is a great way to help you hone in on what you like and don't like. Buy a notebook and keep track of what you are doing with your coffee. Keep track of where the coffee is grown, where it's roasted, how it's processed, what kind of plants they used, and when you tried it. You can also keep a record of how fine you ground your coffee, how long the brew process took and what flavor notes you tasted when you drank the coffee. The more you record the more you will be able to see patterns in what you like, and the more you will be able to remember what you've had. Keeping a journal of your coffee can help make coffee more then something you drink, but something you treasure.

Coffee 101 cliff-notes edition

What is 3rd Wave Coffee

Here is a video I made to help explain the history of coffee in the United States in the 20th Century

Is Coffee Good For You?

This month there was BIG news in the coffee world. A recent study by Harvard School of Public Health indicates, among men drinking at least 6 cups per day, the adjusted risk for overall prostate cancer was 18% lower vs that in nondrinkers.

However before we start jumping up and down there are a few things to notice.

1. The number of cups that people were drinking. Folks were drinking 6 cups of coffee a day. This is TWICE the average consumption of coffee that most Americans have.
2. This study shows health benefits are only for MEN. There another study that states that coffee can have an increase in the risk of breast cancer among WOMEN who drink more the 4 cups a day (although other studies have indicated that coffee consumption has no effect)
3. This study is not definitive. "It is premature to recommend that men increase coffee intake to reduce advanced prostate cancer risk based on this single study," Dr. Wilson and colleagues conclude. "In addition, the effects of coffee consumption on other aspects of health must be considered in making consumption recommendations," they add. "However, our findings are potentially important, given the lack of identified modifiable risk factors for advanced prostate cancer."

So is there any reason to drink coffee from a purely "better health" point of view?

Yes!

• Recent studies seem to indicate coffee drinkers are less likely to have type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and dementia. 
• There are also antioxidants in coffee which can make you healthier! In fact according to a study by Dr. Joe Vinsonm,"Americans get more of their antioxidants from coffee than any other dietary source. Nothing else comes close."
• The tannins in coffee may reduce the cariogenic potential of other foods. Pretty niffty huh?

Are there anythings that can harm your health as a result of coffee?

Yes!

• Coffee can damage the lining of the gastrointestinal organs, causing gastritis and ulcers.
• Coffee contains cholesterol (this can be reduced if you use paper rather then metal filters)
• Coffee also interferes with the absorption of supplemental iron so it should not be drunken often if you are anemic.

All in all coffee is a pretty healthy drink, but it does have risks too. Before you go out and start drinking 6 cups a day to prevent cancer you should make sure you've considered what that could do to your body!

Watch the USBC LIVE: RIGHT NOW!

Hey everyone, if you want to have some fun today the US Barista Competition is going on!

Watch the competition with some live commentary from me and others from around the country!

 It's a great time! ALSO we want to wish our roaster Jonathan Jarrow great success... He is competing as the Regional Champion from the Mid-West in the brewers cup!

Schedule for Today 

(times may be off by a half hour or so... this is Central Time)

Jacque   
  DesMarais    12:48   

Park   
  Brannen    1:07   

Joe   
  Marrocco    1:26   

Ryan   
  Willbur    1:45   

Sam   
  Purvis    2:04   
 

Sarah   
  Dooley    2:23   
  

Lorenzo   
  Perkins    2:42   

Jared   
  Truby    3:01   

  Ryan   
  Knapp    3:20   

 Ian  
  Levine    3:39  

Nikolas   
  Krankl    3:58   

Devin   
  Chapman    4:17   

Chandler   
  Rentz    4:36   

Pete   
  Licata    4:55 

Find Your Grind

Live From Rancho Ebenezer

A fence we are building for  Rancho Ebenezer

Grown at an elevation of 5,000 - 5,500 ft., our Honduran coffee is grown on the slopes of the San Matias mountains. The farm began with donated saplings to sustain Ranch Ebenezer, a home for orphans and disadvantaged children. In 2001, the home was built to give the children an escape from the city. Coffee represents a second chance at life and also a huge part of their country’s culture.

Tim, Liz, and I are here on a mission to help the farm get better quality coffee, and work alongside the outreach to the children here.We brought with us a great team of people from Chicago who wanted to learn and work with us while we are up here. It's been a lot of fun getting to know everyone.

Me: sorting through Green Coffee

I'm writing you today from the top of a mountain. Hiking up these mountains is a WORKOUT... the air is thin and I feel soooo out of shape, but it's good. The temperature is great it's not hot or cold. It's T-Shirt weather while the sun is up, and sweater weather at night. It's beautiful and so nice to be away from the sound of traffic. The farm has banana trees and orange tree but the main non coffee fruit that is grown is Blackberries. They make tea and jam here from the black berries.

At lunch Tim and I met with an employee of the Government who works to help farmers. We submitted some coffee from the farm into the Cup of Excellence competition (which is a really big coffee competition). I spent last night going through green coffee trying to find the best beans for the submission.

The scenery here is pretty nice. We are on a mountain and pretty secluded. We look out on misty mountain forest all around us. We are in the dry season but everything is still pretty green and wet. It's humid here. Because of the humidity here it takes a long time for the coffee beans to dry to a stable level (around 10% moisture content). We are working to create basically a little green house to dry the beans in. This will help the beans dry much faster and help the farm be more efficient. When I'm not working on the drying station I have been building a fence. The fence is a boundary marker, and a fire breaker.