Jump to:
- Coffee Brewing Equipment
- Coffee Beans
- Coffee Storage
- Coffee Temperature
- Automatic Drip Coffee Machines
- How to Grind Coffee
- French Press
- Automatic Drip Coffee Makers
- Drip Filter Coffee
- Brew Turbulence and Brewing Formula
- High-Yield Brewing
- European Coffee Preparation
- Cold Brewing
- K-Cup Coffee
- Buy Gourmet Coffee Beans
Coffee Brewing Equipment
Coffee brewing machines and brewing equipment come in many forms, models, and designs that have continued to evolve over time, particularly in regards to the specialty coffee /premium gourmet coffee industry which is always in search of a better cup of coffee and more convenience in producing it. The top ways to make coffee are:
- French Press
- Pour Over Coffee Maker
- Automatic Drip Coffee Maker
- Pod Coffee Maker
- Cold Brew Coffee
Coffee Beans
It all starts with the beans so purchase some fine Arabica coffee beans that have been grown and processed properly and then roasted just before they were shipped to you in a valve-sealed bag.
When looking for some milder flavour we recommend Southern American such as Brazil and Colombian beans. Some brighter (more pronounced) coffees come from places like Costa Rica and Guatemala. Heading east we get more earthy tones from Kenya and Ethiopia, which produce some of the highest quality Arabica beans in the world, along with Tanzania. For flavors that tend towards spice and hold a great dark roast, we recommend Sulawesi and Sumatra.
Then you will be ready to get started in learning how to make coffee, real coffee and the best coffee you ever tasted.
Coffee Storage
Always store the coffee in a cool, dark and dry place, and not in the freezer or refrigerator. This is essential to prevent the fine flavors and aromas of the freshly-roasted coffee from degrading due to exposure to light and air.
Ideally, you want to store your coffee in a 1-way valve seal container such as the Friis Coffee Vault. If you have opened the coffee bag already, the worst place is the freezer because the coffee beans will absorb moisture. Unopened coffee bags with a 1-way valve seal may be stored in the freezer, and this can actually extend the freshness.
Coffee Temperature
According to the SCAA, the optimal water temperature for coffee is 92 - 96C (197.6 - 204.8F) for 90% of the contact time.
In manual brewing method such as french presses and pour-overs, this can be achieved by bringing the water to a boil and letting sit for 3-5 minutes before adding it to the ground coffee.
Automatic Drip Coffee Machines
From automatic drip coffee makers to French Press coffee, there are many ways to brew a cup of coffee. An innovator is the Keurig coffee company, now a subsidiary of Green Mountain Roasters.
How to Grind Coffee
Many prefer to grind and brew their own whole bean coffees. The best choice among coffee grinders, in regards to preserving the coffee beans' flavors and aromas, is a conical burr grinder.
The worst type of grinder to use is a blade grinder because they generate too much eat and can actually re-roast the coffee beans. Only grind what you are going to use at the time because once the coffee has been ground it will lose its fine flavors and aromas very rapidly.
The most important point is to use the correct grind for your coffee maker.
Avoid using too fine of a grind because it can break up the coffee bean fibers to much as it can cause the aromatic oils of the coffee to be over-exposed to oxygen and result in a distinct bitterness. Grinding too coarse will result in underextracted coffee, as the water will pass through too quickly.
The most common coffee methods for filtering brewed coffee is using filter paper though a metal screen filter or even a cloth filter may also be used.
French Press
The best brewing method is often deemed to be the French Press, which allows coffee grinds to soak directly in hot water.
With no paper filter to remove the coffee's volatile oils, the French Press allows the coffee connoisseur to enjoy all of the best qualities of a premium gourmet coffee including its body, aroma, acidity, aftertaste, bitterness, and sweetness.
A good French Press has a stainless steel or gold mesh filter. Make sure your equipment is perfectly clean because old residues can impart a tainted taste to your perfect cup of coffee. It's also important that the glass be made of borosilicate - the same material as beakers in science labs - to deal with the heat without shattering. Glass is a poor choice.
There's a number of different brands and models as well as sizes, ranging from 1-cup (30 mL) all the way up to 8.6 cup (1500 mL).
Automatic Drip Coffee Makers
Much more common in U.S. households than the French Press is an automatic drip coffee makers (autodrip coffee maker) that employs the filter-drip method of coffee brewing. Water is placed into the automatic drip machine which then heats the water and drains it onto a bed of roasted, ground coffee.
The water seeps through the coffee grounds, absorbing the coffee's flavor materials that give coffee its flavors and aromas. The coffee beverage then pass through a paper filter into a coffee pot.
Drip Filter Coffee
Drip filter coffee is also commonly made without a machine by simply pouring hot water over the roasted, ground coffee that is placed in a filter. The Filter Drip method is also called the Drip Filter Method, Drip Brewing, and Drip Coffee.
Brew Turbulence and Brewing Formula
The agitation of coffee grounds within the coffee bed during coffee brewing is known as the brew turbulence and is created by the rate of the water flow during brewing as well as the water's spray pattern and the configuration of the brew basket on the brewing equipment.
The ratio of water to coffee used to create the optimal coffee beverage strength from a particular type of coffee brewing equipment is known as the brewing formula.
High-Yield Brewing
A brewing method which utilizes a high level of extraction to remove between 22 percent and 25 percent of all of the roasted, ground coffee's soluble materials is known as high-yield brewing.
European Coffee Preparation
The hand-preparation of coffee beans for brewing is known as European Preparation. This involves meticulously removing, by hand, any foreign matter (e.g., pebbles, twigs) as well as any imperfect or defective coffee beans.
Cold Brewing
See: Cold Brew Coffee
The Cold Water brewing method involves soaking the ground coffee in a relatively small amount of cold water for about fifteen hours, then using a filter to separate the grounds from the beverage using the drip method.
The Cold Water method produces strong, concentrated coffee, which is often stored for ready use, and may be mixed with hot water when desired. The resulting brew tends to be a low acid coffee and have a light body and while some say the coffee has a bland flavor, others describe it as a very pleasing, delicate taste.
Also see: The Top Ten Coffees in the World
K-Cup Coffee
Keurig created the K-Cup® for brewing various beverages including coffee (the coffee K-Cup), and it is now also referred to as K Cup Coffee, K Cups Coffee, K Coffee Cups, K-Cups Coffee, Coffee K Cups, Coffee KCups, and K Cups for coffee.
A K-Cup is a pre-packaged plastic container of coffee, tea or hot chocolate, and the K-Cup is designed for use with a Keurig single-cup brewing system that brews the beverage in less than one minute without any preparation or clean up required.
Anatomy of a K-Cup
The coffee K-Cup has a coffee filter inside, and ground coffee beans are sealed into the K-Cup plastic container with a tin foil lid. The coffee K-Cup is placed into the Keurig brewer which then brews the coffee by puncturing the foil lid as well as the bottom of the K-Cup and forcing hot water through the cup, and then the beverage flows into a mug.
Hundreds of options are offered in Keurig K-Cups including numerous flavors and blends of coffee as well as Fair Trade coffee, organic coffee, flavored coffee, and coffees from Ethiopia, Sumatra, Kenya, Brazil, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Guatemala.
K-Cup Coffee Brewers
Keurig sells both home and commercial models of brewers. Some commercial models are plumbed-in and also automatically remove used K-Cups into a disposal receptacle.
Keurig sells five household models of K-Cup brewers: the Mini, Platinum, Special Edition, Elite, and Breville (made by Breville). There are also seven commercial models including the DeskPro, OfficePro, B140, B150, B155, B200, B3000SE.
Keurig also offers an environmentally-friendly re-usable filter called the My K-Cup which allows users to provide their own ground coffee.
Buy Gourmet Coffee Beans
- ✔️ Fresh roasted to order
- ✔️ 100% high qualtiy Arabica coffee
- ✔️ Custom grind (or whole bean)
- ✔️ 1-way valve, laminate bag (for freshness)
- ✔️ Bulk discounts
Coffee cube
The temperature of the best Coffee should be between 195 F (91 c) and 205 F.
Mrtechnical
re: metric maYhem
so if you work with metric to english conversions all the time you should at least remember the basic conversion formula. if not that then get a decent conversion app on your phone. so what kind of coffee machine do you have and why is this super critical information not available to you in any other format except searching the web? have another strong cuppa joe buzzkill!!
User
re: Grammar Police
You forgot a "?" after your first sentence.
Trex
re: Too much Coffee
Understand your pain but you should cut back on the caffine and mountain dew....just a tad.
User
re: guys... the metric system is
guys... the metric system is not the decimal system. Everyone uses the decimal system, it's just the base 10 system. Metric on the other hand is a measuring system that brings our units in line with our numerals, for ease of mathing. I'm an american, and I use the metric system, and I teach it to my children, because it's simply easier.
User
re: bad idea putting anything
bad idea putting anything plastic into a very hot cup of liquid will result in potentially harmful chemicals being extracted from the plastic cube. They should only be used with room temperature liquids.
User
re: Go and get a Kilogram
Go and get a Kilogram ( http://lmgtfy.com/?q=kg+to+lb+conversion )of decent Italian roast coffee, dont boil it and then you can chill out and not let the Worlds most widely used Temperature scale and its use stress you out so much 🙂
Namaste
User
re: While it is true that there
While it is true that there is an unequal heat loss, due to convection, the warmer coffee tends to always be above the colder coffee. (Water experiences decreasing density as it freezes, but above ~4°C (~39.2°F) it stops gaining density as it gets warmer, and becomes lighter as it gets warmer.
So, while the heat loss is focused on the top, the colder water then sinks below the the surface, resulting in the hottest water always being at the top.
Tarl
re: Lame
And why are you bringing up the decimal system? Americans use decimals like 99.9% of the time! Do you even understand what the decimal system is, in contrast to the metric system? The former is a 10 based numeric system, the latter is a system of measurements. One does not necessarily require the other. The English system of measures of course employs the decimal system. So while you're throwing down allegations of all types of profane studity for those who fail to do some research, remember that you are soundly in that same group of people!
User Too
re: Proud of it, sure is
Why not take the time to learn to spell and capitalize correctly. By the way, I'm not sure that Americans will ever adopt the universal decimal system. We were supposed to do it a long time ago and lo and behold, we still use are old, antiquated system of measurments.
User
re: proud of it.
for your information decimal and centigrade will be the american standard in a few years. if you were still alive what would you say then? even now, all measurements in science, medicine, electronics, engineering, etc. etc. are in your so called unamerican systems. look on the next box of fruit loops or bag of potato chips you buy. you are soon to be extinct, like the dinosaur. and good riddance. Oh, and there is no way you write any thing technical unless it is the shade tree mechanic section of your local hick town paper where your favorite response to questions about problems on newer vehicles is "we don't work on no cars with stinkin' computers in them". plus, if you do these conversions on a daily basis then you would not have had to go anywhere to convert Celsius,. You could have done it off the top of you head, or at least worked it out in a couple seconds with a pencil and paper. you must take most people that can read and think even a little for idiots. technical writer my ass. P.S. for your information the author did convert C to F. right there in the text right after the centigrade temp. maybe you didn't know that F stood for fahrenheit mr. technical writer.
DocTonyNYC
re: Grow up and stop acting like a victim
First, the conversion is there--maybe you wanted it not to be there because someone pissed in your Cheerios this morning and you were looking to lash out at someone. Evidently, though, you need a basic reading lesson.
I'm sorry, but there is nothing more off-putting than a US citizen acting like you are a victim of some vast conspiracy. Guess what, most of the world reads things on the web with only inches, miles, teaspoons, etc. I challenge you to look at virtually any recipe online. Where is your anger then?
Yes, I am a US citizen, too, but I'm embarrassed when flatulent jerks like you feel the need to defend the rest of us.
Grow up.
Daniel
re: RE: Massive Metric Mahem
I'm not sure I can follow your comment here. The post reads "92 - 96C (197.6 - 204.8F)" and has read that way since at least 2006 (last edit time) and I believe going back to the origin of that answer.
Farook Farenheit
re: Massive Metric Mahem
Since we live in a multicultural land with many languages and at least two mathematical systems can't you bother yourself enough to do the math for the millions of morons who can't and won't?? Simply wasting the time of the author wouldn't be a big deal but when you are ignorant enough to state a temperature in only one measurement then you immediately waste the time of millions of Americans who have been raised with their own standard and are now forced to convert the term.
Yup, I just queried the web to find out the optimal temperature for keeping coffee hot and now I'm tasked with converting centigrade to farenheit so I can figure out what temperature you are stating.
Well, I don't do it so I don't read any further into your article because down deep I'm convinced you don't want any Americans reading your stuff.
So, now I've lost interest in how hot coffee should be and I'm wasting more time letting you know just how dissapointed I am in your article.
If you haven't guessed it, I write electronic technical materials and I am one of those who must deal with both systems daily at work and I must make those conversions daily and write my document with both so others can read it without having to do those conversions.
Keep writing, maybe I'll finish your next article.
Thanks
Peter
re: flame tamers
The thing in the well stocked kitchen store is called a Flame Tamer. We use it for coffee as well as keeping anything hot on the stove without burning.
Daniel
re: RE: Thanks for the clarification.
Not really if I had to guess just slightly below boiling. I have limited experience with Moka pots but a vacuum pot works on a similar but not identical principal and the water that hits the beans is just a few degrees off of boiling when it gets pushed up to the grounds in a vacuum pot. Wlevation will also affect the temperature since water boils at a lower temperature with higher altitude. My guess would be that a Moka pot or a vacuum pot will be as close as you get to the ideal temperature in regular coffee. Most drip coffee makers use water far below the ideal temperature. The only consistent exception to this that I am aware of is the Technivorm which does not use a pump and uses water pressure to force the hot water into the filter basket.
Bialetti
re: Thanks for the clarification.
Thanks for the clarification. But do you know what temperature the water that does get pushed through the grounds is?
Daniel
re: RE: Bialetti temperature
In a moka pot the steam pushes hot water through the grounds. You are not actually making coffee with the steam.
I should also clarify that while a moka pot makes perfectly good coffee it is not espresso. Espresso by definition of coffee made with high pressure. Espresso requires a minimum of about 9 bars of pressure. A moka pot is more in the 1-1.5 bar range. If you look at your moka pot there should be a pressure release valve that will pop long before anything approaching 9 bars. The pot just is not designed for that pressure and without the pressure release valve could actually explode.
Bialetti
re: Bialetti temperature
I have a question about espresso making temperature. If the ideal brewing temperature is 92 to 96 C, then why does espresso (or in my case I actually use a stove top Bialetti pot) taste good? In making espresso you are pushing steam through coffee grounds and iisn't steam at a temperature over 100C?
Kimberly
re: Love coffee but can't take the heat
I am SO glad to read your post, because I have the same problem. Everyone who knows me is aware that I love coffee, so they are flabbergasted when they see me put an ice cube into my coffee cup before I serve myself. (You can use filtered water for ice cubes just as you can for coffee.) If the coffee was made strong with this in mind, the ice doesn't dilute it too much.
Another solution is to use "cubies" - reusable pillows of liquid that you freeze. I bought mine in the camping department, near the ice chests. You put them into your beverage and they don't dilute it. But since they're made of plastic, you may notice their flavor. When I use these at home, here's what I do to minimize that risk: I put several cubies into a large cup like I would do if I were about to have a glass of iced tea. I pour my coffee into the cup right over the cubies, which cool the coffee as it passes over them. Then, I immediately remove the cubies with a spoon, wash and dry them, and return them to the freezer for the next time. Sometimes I add a little more coffee to bring the temperature up a notch. Now my coffee is ready to drink - not too hot, and black, just the way I like it. If I am especially lazy, I just pour a cup of coffee and drop a couple of cubies into it; but then I do notice a plastic taste, so it's not as good a solution.
I'd love to read anyone's solutions to this problem - and I won't apologize for having a sensitive mouth. It's served me well all my life, so I should treat it well in return. 🙂
Daniel
re: RE: Serving Temperature
I have mixed feelings on this. The good is that you are going to burn the coffee a little less. The bad is that you are essentially serving cold coffee. At some point someone is going to add milk to the coffee. This knocks the warmest coffee down to immediately drinkable so will probably knock what you are suggesting down to cold. I also think but can't prove that there is an unequal loss of heat in a cup of coffee where the coffee cools from the top therefore you have warm coffee longer where as if you start off will cool drinkable coffee you may have cold coffee before you hit the bottom but like I said that is just a theory. The milk/creamer is my big worry.
User
re: Serving Temperature
Brewing coffee at 197.6 - 204.8F (which I can do at home) certainly produces the best results for me. However, a liquid at that temperature burns my tongue something fierce. I work at a cafe with pretty low-grade equipment; we use a large drip coffee pot and the coffee comes out at around 185F. I recognize that this is too low but our management won't do anything about that. That being said, 185F is too hot, even for me, a heavy coffee drinker, to enjoy. I think I can figure out how to adjust the temperature of the warmer (a hot plate) that maintains the temperature after brewing is complete.
Would letting coffee cool to a certain temperature and then keeping it there before serving affect taste? I was thinking that somewhere around 155 - 160F would be a good temperature to serve at--immediately drinkable, I think, while still hot enough for it to be at least warm until it is finished.
Daniel
re: re: coffee too burnt
That's a good idea. I had never thought of that. If you prefer something you can get at a well stocked kitchen store look for a stove element diffuser (not sure if that is the exact name). I use one for my vacuum pot on the stove and it works well.
Daniel
re: RE:Hold temp.
This may work for your tastes but you are also trapping most of the oils that give coffee a coffee flavor.
HarVy
re: Hold temp.
If one uses Two(2) filters (paper) you will have no "burn" at the 2 hr. mark. I use one mesh & one paper filter.
It's not the heat so much but the sediment that burns.
User
re: coffee too burnt
The older coffee makers burn the brew as noted. One method [seen at a surplus electronics store] is to find and locate a 'muffin fan' safety cover/screen. Clip off the side spokes, leaving only a wire structure that looks like concentric circles and to be set on top of the elemen. The glass pot sits on top of that screen and provides some buffering to lower the temperature to a more reasonable level. Looks goofy at first, but the coffee wont burn right away.
Obscura
re: There is an interesting
There is an interesting discussion regarding flat & ramped brewing temperatures on commercial espresso machines...
The author discusses how starting a lower temperature of 92C and finishing at 88C and can produce "smoother, richer and more chocolaty" espresso. He suggests that the high flat brew temperature of commercial espresso machines (even high end machines) within the 92-96C range are "too hot and too stable".
Jitterbug
re: RE
The coffee is most likely being burnt. That and too hot brewing will turn the coffee bitter. Too cool will leave it weak and acidic. The flavor will start to deteriorate after about 45 no matter what. If you keep it in a thermal container (thermos, insulated carafe) it will stand a better chance of lasting than a hotplate. I use a French Press with RO filtered water @ 190 deg (just when bubbles start to rise should be close if you don't have a thermometer) for 5-6 minutes before separating the grounds. Then pour into a thermal cup. Can't do much better than that for good flavor. Even Maxwell House tastes good if it is brewed right. Most auto drip units won't do well brewing and then burn the bejezzes out of it. Look into a Bodum Santos unit if you want automatic brewing at its best. Comparable results to a press but I still prefer a $15 press any day.
Cheers
MikeC
re: I have a related question,
I have a related question, and can not seem to find the answer online:
What is the ideal hold temperature for coffee, if such a thing exists? I suspect that the electric hotplate warmer on our office coffee maker is running too hot. 15-20 minutes after brewing the coffee tastes burnt.
I have begun to leave the warmer off and simply microwave tepid coffee, which seems to have made this a non-issue, but my science background won't let it rest. I would like to know the ideal hold temp, and if possible what specific chemical degradations are causing such a strong burnt flavor.
Cheers!
~Mike