Coffee - How to Buy, Store, and Grind it for the Perfect Cup

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Coffee - How to Buy, Store, and Grind it for the Perfect Cup

Coffee - How to Buy, Store, and Grind it for the Perfect Cup

In the early days of the coffee craze, before the first Starbucks arrived in my town, I owned a tea and coffee house for several years. At the time, espresso was something new for most people, and a lot of my customers had questions. I decided to teach a class on coffee at the shop, and learned in the process that there are several misunderstandings about buying, storing, and grinding coffee that when corrected can lead to a much more enjoyable cup of coffee.

True coffee connoisseurs know that buying coffee beans in small amounts that allow you to brew your coffee within a day or two of being roasted will result in the closest to a perfect cup of java. If you keep the beans in an air-tight container the flavor will remain strong for seven to ten days. Contrary to popular belief, storing beans in your refrigerator or freezer will actually diminish the flavor. There are two reasons for this. First, the beans will soak up the flavors of other stored items. Secondly, moisture affects the oils in the roast. Better to store that container on the counter (in a dark, cool place, if possible). If you can't smell an aroma or it's unpleasant, the beans are past their prime.

Soapy water can leave a residue, so when cleaning your coffee storage, use a dry cloth or paper towel to soak up the oil. Clean the container regularly because oil can get rancid over time. Also, frequently clean the equipment you use for brewing. Again, don't use soap because of the residue. Instead use vinegar and salt and rinse thoroughly.

Always grind only the amount you will use immediately. Once exposed, the oils in the beans disperse, affecting the coffee flavor. If you grind your beans the night before you brew your morning cup, you will be losing flavor. Switch to grinding in the morning, unless you don't want to wake your sweetheart with the noise from the grinder. How fine or coarse the grind should be depends on how long the hot water will be in contact with the coffee grinds. The shorter the length of time, the finer the grind so that the surface area is maximized. Here are the consistencies you will want for the different methods of brewing:

Drip Brew: Grind to a character similar to table sugar if the drip cycles range from four to six minutes. Grind to a finer consistency if less.

French Press: Use an extremely coarse grind.

Espresso: Very fine, powder-like. The extraction time of espresso should be between 25 and 30 seconds. If a one ounce extraction takes longer, use a coarser grind; if it takes less time, grind finer.

How much coffee do you grind? For brewed (and French Press) coffee, three tablespoons for eight ounces of water. For espresso, an ounce (7 grams) for a single shot. Double that for a double shot.

Time and again I heard from my customers that they had no idea what a good cup of coffee really tasted like until after they had followed these easy guidelines. Try it. It's the small things that will make your coffee drinking experience sublime.

Professional writing coach Marilyn J. Schwader writes on a range of topics. Her articles about coffee are published in The News at QY Coffee the single on-line resource for a world of news about coffee. Be sure to refer to all Marilyn's articles at http://www.qycoffee.com/

In The News:

Financial Post (blog)
NY coffee and sugar end at 21-month lows, cocoa down
Reuters
May 23 (Reuters) - Arabica coffee futures sank in heavy volume on Wednesday, closing at their lowest in 21 months as investors fled riskier assets and ran to currency investments, causing the market to trigger automatic sell orders.
Coffee Falls to 21-Month Low in NY; Sugar, Cocoa DropBusinessWeek
ICE sugar, coffee set new lows as commodities fallFinancial Post (blog)
NY sugar ends at 21-month trough; cocoa, coffee downReuters Africa
AgraNet (subscription)
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Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc. Introduces Baridi Iced Coffee Blend
MarketWatch (press release)
EMERYVILLE, Calif., May 23, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Peet's Coffee & Tea, Inc. invites coffee drinkers to take a sip of summer with its new coffee offering, Baridi Iced Coffee Blend. Beginning today, Peet's will highlight this specially crafted blend to ...

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PR Web
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San Francisco Chronicle (press release)
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Dr Oz Coins Pure Green Coffee Bean Extract As Fat Burning Coffee BeansSBWire (press release)
Pure Green Coffee Bean Extract for Natural Weight Loss - Significant Results ...DigitalJournal.com (press release)

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Singularity Hub
Study Suggests Coffee Is Healthy, Coffee Drinkers Are Not
Singularity Hub
by David J. Hill May 23rd, 2012 | Comments (0) Coffee turns out to be good for your health...as long as you drop all the bad habits that go with it. Older adults who drink coffee have a lower risk of death by about 10 percent, according to a large ...
Study links longer life to coffee consumptionWALB-TV
Coffee drinking linked to longer lifeWLBZ-TV
Drink coffee, live longer?People's World
Winnipeg Free Press -The Independent Florida Alligator -Shape Magazine (blog)
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Buffalo.com
Iced coffee to help children's hospital
Providence Eyewitness News
cup of the company's famous Iced Coffee for just $1.00. Additionally, a small Iced Coffee will be reduced to 75 cents and a large Iced Coffee will be reduced to $1.50. And the donations are for a good cause. Fifty cents from every iced coffee sold will ...
Wednesday Is Iced Coffee DayPatch.com
Sweet Deal: Dunkin' Donuts Announces Free Donut Offer For National Donut Day ...MarketWatch (press release)
Iced Coffee Day for children's charitiesYNN Hudson Valley
WWLP 22News -Evening Observer
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Coffee shop a west-side hub
The Columbian
Anne McEnerny-Ogle enjoys an espresso drink during a meeting at Latte Da Coffee House to discuss neighborhood issues and to make connections. By Susan Parrish By Troy Wayrynen This Lincoln kiosk bulletin board was recently installed outside the main ...

Critical Alerts For Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Polo Ralph Lauren, Cree ...
MarketWatch (press release)
Today's PriceWatch Alerts cover the following stocks: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NASDAQ:GMCR) , Polo Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) , Cree (NASDAQ:CREE) , Nasdaq OMX (NASDAQ:NDAQ) , and Lennar (NYSE:LEN) . InvestorsObserver's PriceWatch Alerts contain ...

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Kenyan Shilling Gains First Day in 3 on Higher Tea, Coffee Sales
Bloomberg
Kenya's shilling strengthened for the first time in three days after coffee and tea prices increased, leading to a higher inflow of dollars. The currency of East Africa's biggest economy appreciated as much as 0.3 percent to 84.90 per dollar and was ...
Kenya's top coffee prices up at latest saleReuters Africa

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Morning coffee brief
NASDAQ
The honeymoon for Chinese stimulus appears to be over as the short covering in the Asian markets seems to have come to a halt after euro zone worries began to reemerge late in the US trading session. During yesterday's US session former Greek Prime ...

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Press Herald
Too much caffeine? Fair trade coffees fighting
BusinessWeek
By DAVE GRAM Two stalwarts in the fair-trade coffee movement are at odds over a move by a national certifying organization to expand beyond small, farmer-owned cooperatives and allow larger growers to sell their product with a fair trade label.
Conscientious Coffee: Students should make an effort to spend the extra dime ...Daily Bruin

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