| Big Bend Coffee Roasters | 100% Fair Trade and Organic Coffee | Marfa, Texas | (toll-free) 866 731 1811 | info@bigbendcoffee.com |
Great coffee starts with freshly roasted beans!
Coffee is at its very best within a week of roasting—after that, its aroma and acidity
become muted. Within a month, no matter the quality of the beans, the floral, fruity,
and other delicate notes are reduced permanently. Demand freshness! Over 90%
of the coffee sold in this country is stale. Don’t be afraid to ask when the coffee
was roasted.
Storing
Buy whole beans and put them in an airtight container. Store at room temperature
and use within a week or two. If you really need to try to extend the life of the coffee
up to two months, seal the beans tightly in a small canning jar and freeze.
Grinding
whole beans right before brewing greatly improves the finished cup. Once ground,
coffee can become stale within hours. The right grind size depends on how you
are going to brew. The longer the contact time between grounds and water, the
coarser the grind can be, and vice versa. Thus, an espresso shot (which brews in
15-20 seconds) requires a very find grind, while a French press (which steeps for
around 4 minutes) works best with a coarse grind. About 25 seconds in a blade
grinder usually works well for a cone filter.
Water
Water is 98% of the cup. The taste of coffee is directly related to the quality of the
water used to brew it. If tap water contains “off-tastes” or odors, a carbon taste-and-
odor filter (i.e., Brita) should do the trick. Some hardness is desired—so avoid
using distilled or softened water. The ideal temperature is very hot: 195-205°F—
just off boiling—any cooler, and it won’t extract wanted flavors and aromas from the
grounds.
Proportions
To consistently brew great coffee, the key is the grounds-to-water formula: two
heaping tablespoons of coffee per six ounces of brewing water—four tablespoons
for most coffee mugs. For a 64 ounce (half-gallon) carafe, use 3.5-4.0 ounces.
Coffee is at its very best within a week of roasting—after that, its aroma and acidity
become muted. Within a month, no matter the quality of the beans, the floral, fruity,
and other delicate notes are reduced permanently. Demand freshness! Over 90%
of the coffee sold in this country is stale. Don’t be afraid to ask when the coffee
was roasted.
Storing
Buy whole beans and put them in an airtight container. Store at room temperature
and use within a week or two. If you really need to try to extend the life of the coffee
up to two months, seal the beans tightly in a small canning jar and freeze.
Grinding
whole beans right before brewing greatly improves the finished cup. Once ground,
coffee can become stale within hours. The right grind size depends on how you
are going to brew. The longer the contact time between grounds and water, the
coarser the grind can be, and vice versa. Thus, an espresso shot (which brews in
15-20 seconds) requires a very find grind, while a French press (which steeps for
around 4 minutes) works best with a coarse grind. About 25 seconds in a blade
grinder usually works well for a cone filter.
Water
Water is 98% of the cup. The taste of coffee is directly related to the quality of the
water used to brew it. If tap water contains “off-tastes” or odors, a carbon taste-and-
odor filter (i.e., Brita) should do the trick. Some hardness is desired—so avoid
using distilled or softened water. The ideal temperature is very hot: 195-205°F—
just off boiling—any cooler, and it won’t extract wanted flavors and aromas from the
grounds.
Proportions
To consistently brew great coffee, the key is the grounds-to-water formula: two
heaping tablespoons of coffee per six ounces of brewing water—four tablespoons
for most coffee mugs. For a 64 ounce (half-gallon) carafe, use 3.5-4.0 ounces.
| the manual drip brewing method This is the original version of what electric home brewers have long sought to imitate. Start water boiling. Set a filter cone(with paper filter in it) on top of mug. Grind coffee for 20-25 seconds. Put two tablespoons ground coffee in filter for every six ounces of water. Once water boils, remove it from heat, pause only a moment, and then fill the filter with water each time the level drops, until you have filled mug. The entire brew time should be between three and five minutes. Make it fresh, and drink it fresh: kept on a burner or a hot plate, coffee flavor keeps for only about twenty minutes. |
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