Coffee is a wonderful drink, but many people who enjoy a good cup do not always know that much about what they are drinking. If you are a coffee drinker who wants to learn more about this beverage, keep reading. This article will teach you more about your favorite drink.
If you want great coffee at home you have a couple choices. You can invest in either an espresso machine, or one of the new single serve coffee makers. The espresso machine will require a bit of a learning curve as you learn to properly brew espresso and steam milk, but can be a great way to impress your friends.
No matter how attached you are to your favorite blend, don’t be afraid to try a new variety. You don’t need to invest in a large bag to try out something new. Almost all brands will offer a single pot or sampler size to allow you to try out new flavors.
Stir the coffee in the pot immediately after brewing it. Stirring helps you maximize the aroma and flavor of your coffee. When served, the coffee will have a rich taste that is characteristic of good coffee.
Make sure that you use high quality water with your coffee. Coffee made with terrible tasting water is not going to taste right itself. Also, try to use water with a mineral count to preserve freshness. If you do not use water with a mineral count, you may not like the taste.
Avoid storing your coffee in the freezer. The extreme temperatures of the freezer will destroy the oils in the coffee. Instead, drink what you have or buy smaller amounts of coffee. If you do not buy too much coffee, you will not need to worry about storing it for an extended period of time.
If you want your coffee brew to be the purest, you will need to utilize the purest of waters. Remember that everything you put in your brew will affect its final taste. You should use purified, spring, or bottled water to make a great cup of joe.
Freshly roasted beans make the best coffee. If you buy whole beans, you should always check the expiration date and find out when these beans have been roasted. Specialty stores are superior to grocery stores when buying coffee beans.
You can froth milk without having to buy an expensive machine. Place your milk in a measuring cup or microwave safe mug, and heat until it steams. Put a whisk inside the cup, then rub quickly the handle between the palms of your hands. Do this until you have a foamy milk. For ideal results, use half-and-half or 2 percent milk.
When brewing your coffee, use bottled or filtered water. Doing so, you will obtain maximum flavor for your brew. However, you do not want to use water that is too soft. The flavor will not be extracted as well. Look for a nice balance. Compare the flavor of your coffee with different brands or types of water.
If you do go to a coffeehouse for a cup of joe and work away from home, be careful how you place your laptop. You do not want to spill your drink on it, nor do you want anyone reading your screen over your shoulder. Also be mindful of what you say on the phone. Your competition could be in there too.
Understand that the fineness of your grind affects the quality of your coffee taste. A very fine grind will leave your coffee tasting really strong, whereas a course grind will give a very dull and weak taste. Some people prefer different types of tastes, so understand this before making coffee for them.
To gauge which roasts are right for your taste preferences, pay close attention to the color of the beans. Typically, the darker a bean is roasted the stronger its brewed taste will be. French roasted beans are dark but Italian roasted beans by far produce the darkest and strongest coffee.
Make it a habit to only grind enough coffee for your immediate use. When you grind a whole bag of coffee, you are speeding up the flavor shelf life. Those grounds will lose flavor within a couple of days, where the fresh beans would have held out a little longer.
The water you use in your coffee is as important as the beans. If you use a drip-brewer, then avoid putting hot water into the drip machine. Instead, start with cold water. Charcoal filters can dramatically improve the taste of local water, but avoid using softening filters on your coffee water. Softened water may not pull the oils from the beans properly.
Always utilize cold water inside a coffee brewer that drips. Never use warm or hot water in drip style coffee pots. Water gets heated while the coffee brews. Using hot water to brew coffee will likely burn your coffee grounds. This will make your coffee taste bad and may also be a burn hazard.
To retain your fresh carafe of coffee’s flavor, take it off your burner within ten minutes. Anything sitting longer than that will start to burn, turning the taste bitter. An insulated and air tight thermos can keep your coffee piping hot long after it is brewed.
The water temperature is extremely important for brewing a great tasting cup of coffee. If you are not satisfied by the coffee your automatic machine is producing, check the temperature of the water after it is heated. It should be between 195 – 205 degrees Fahrenheit to produce the best tasting cup of coffee.
There is so much to learn about coffee that a single article is not long enough to contain it all. Still, after reading this article you should know more than you did before about coffee. If you want to get the most out of every cup of coffee, remember what you have read here.
