Coffee

If you buy coffee at a cafe every day, you might be surprised how much money you could save by making it at home. You can even have a better cup of coffee if you make it yourself. You know it’s fresh, and you can choose your favourite coffee bean. Coffee makers don’t have to be expensive. If you want to learn how to choose a perfect cheap coffee maker, just consider your needs and shop around. You can find an inexpensive way to make coffee at home that brews a cup of java at least as good as what you’d pay two or more dollars for outside!

The simplest, and least expensive coffee maker is the single-cup cone filter. You simply place the unit over your cup, place a filter in the plastic cone, put in some ground coffee and pour hot water over it. You can, of course, make more than one cup. If you have company, the coffee can easily make two or three cups of coffee. You can add as much or little coffee as you want, depending on how strong you like it or how many cups you are making.

Another kind of inexpensive coffee maker you can get is the kind that brews fresh coffee into a travel mug. These models often come with permanent filters, so you don’t have to buy the disposable paper ones. This is a good coffee maker to take with you to work if you want good fresh coffee instead of what they happen to be brewing at the office coffee pot (if there even is one!).

You can also get a coffee press type machine, where you add fresh ground coffee, pour hot water over it and press. These coffee makers are fairly inexpensive, and can also create a very fresh tasting cup of coffee.

No matter what method you use, much will depend on two things. First, the coffee bean itself. Second, the grinding process. You should use a good quality grinder, and determine how fine or coarse you want it to be.

If you want to know how to choose a perfect cheap coffee maker, consider whether you want to be able to make a single cup at a time, or a larger number of cups. If you want to be able to brew a whole pot of coffee at a time, you are better off getting a good but inexpensive traditional coffee brewing machine. You can find all of these choices in retail stores as well as online.

Mary Smith is a coffee lover, who likes nothing more than spotting and sharing a bargain. She keeps her eye on the best buys for coffee lovers at Cheap Coffee Makers, a site to visit if you want a quality coffee machine at a good price. Check out the expert reviews, including the highly regarded Delonghi EN680 Single ServeEspresso Maker.

Author: Mary Carper Smith
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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There is good coffee and absolutely abysmal coffee. Both may start with the same elements, but one cup can taste completely different to another. Freshness is the key to great tasting coffee. Here is the play by play smackdown of how to create a fantastic tasting cup of coffee.

1. Use good beans. Go to a local coffee roaster and buy only enough coffee beans to last you a week. Buying fresh beans is one key to good taste. When you buy beans make sure the beans are all relatively the same size and same color for even grinding and flavor. If you buy beans from the supermarket at minimum, check to see if the beans are Arabica.

2. Use filtered water. Even if your coffee maker has a charcoal filter it is best to start off with filtered water to ensure there are no impurities like chlorine or minerals to alter the real taste. Use cold water.

3. For the best tasting coffee ensure you have a coffee maker which can brew up to 95 to 98 degrees Celsius, just off the boil. This temperature is the optimal temperature to get the best flavor out of the bean.

4. The grind. Only grind as much coffee as you are going to need for that moment. The finer you grind, the more flavor you will receive. The grind has to be even to ensure even taste. If you are using a cheap coffee maker you should only use a medium grind to avoid the over-extraction. However, grind to your equipment’s recommendations.

5. Use two level tablespoons of coffee per cup. If you are making more than 10-cups of coffee you should use the strength meter on its highest position possible to allow more water to penetrate the grounds evenly.

6. Use unbleached coffee filters or ensure your permanent filter is free from all coffee sludge. When it comes to coffee, cleanliness is next to Godliness.

7. Stir the pot. Once the coffee is brewed, stir the pot to infuse the taste.

At bare minimum, these steps should always be used when making coffee. Think about the farmer’s in the field, if you skip a step are you doing their hard work justice? On a selfish note, missing one of those steps will affect the taste of your coffee, even slightly. Other things to make a great cup of coffee are:

1. Always ensure your equipment is clean. Old coffee sludge can really change the taste of coffee. Polident can clean your equipment to almost new.

2. NEVER reuse coffee grinds.

3. NEVER grind beans just taken out of the freezer. Let them thaw first.

4. Always store coffee in air-tight containers away from direct sunlight.

5. NEVER leave the coffee on a heater for longer than ½ an hour. It gets a burnt taste and smell.

6. Always warm your cup and never reheat coffee.

The best coffee starts with fresh beans, clean equipment and clean water. Adhering to at least those three guidelines will give you great tasting coffee. Everything else is just gravy.

Kate Simpson is a freelance writer who contributes for the Coffee Bean Queen – http://www.coffeebeanqueen.com/ a website offering information on everything from coffee to coffee making, capresso coffee and more.

Author: Kate Simpson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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You have gone to the coffee shop and had your best cup of coffee ever. Now you want to duplicate it at home. You try, but it is just not the same.

The following may be some of the reasons.

Keep in mind that there are only a handful of things you can do to make a premium cup of coffee at home. Most are simple should you choose to adhere to them.

First, you need the right equipment. You need a coffee brewer that will extract the best flavor from your coffee beans. Most people buy a $20 brewer from Walmart and think they have the best equipment. After all, it is new. Well, a cheap brewer brewer brews cheap coffee. Also, they think that the more expensive brewers just have more fancy bells and whistles that they just do not need.

You need a really good coffee brewer to brew good coffee.

There are two items to look for when assessing whether it is a good brewer or just junk.

First, it must have a high quality heating element. Coffee at most coffee houses is heated with brewers that have elements that will heat the coffee between 198 and 205 degrees. The cheaper brewer can only heat to 180 degrees. Hot enough for you, you say? Not if you are trying to brew the best cup possible. You need to heat your coffee near the 200 degree mark so that you can pull the great attributes out of the coffee.

Lower temps just will not cut it.

The second item to look for in a brewer is a quick brew time. Your water should only stay with your coffee for three to four minutes. You want your water to pull the best out of the coffee, and not sit with the coffee for longer than four minutes. After four minutes you pull the negative tastes out of the coffee.

I have seen Bunn advertise on the box that they have a three minute brew time. Most customers see this and think “I have one half hour to get ready in the morning and do not care that it is quick”. Fact is, it is telling the customer that the water does not sit with the coffee very long, not that you will have a quick cup of coffee in the morning.

That is about all you need in a good brewer. Above this, it is all bells and whistles. If you need a morning timer or a clock, get it. However, it does not help you make better coffee. As a rule of thumb, spend above $75 to get a good coffee maker. For goodness sake, they last 10 years. Bunn, Krups and Cuisanart have been consistent brands. However, beware even with these brands because they too will sell a crappy coffee maker.

The third important factor in making great coffee is in the water you are using. Coffee is 99.00123% water, and therefore, it is a very important factor. If you are using unfiltered tap water, (even if your city does have the best water), stop it. Put a high quality filter on the line under your sink, and do not forget to change the filter regularly. Using an on the counter filter system generally does not cut it. Use bottled water if you cannot have a high quality filter installed. The bottom line is use perfect water.

The fourth and final factor in improving your coffee is to use fresh coffee beans. We suggest that you invest in a burr grinder and grind the coffee just prior to brewing it. This can make a huge difference in the taste. While buying “gourmet” coffee off the shelves at the grocery store can make a huge difference in how your coffee tastes if you are using Folgers out of a can, I suggest you avoid what is on the grocery store shelf, especially the large bins of coffee that are unsealed.

Rather, locate a roaster of coffee in your area. What I am referring to is a place that buys the coffee beans in their green condition, and then roasts them on-site. Not only are you buying the freshest coffee possible, but you are keeping your money in your own community.

I suggest you find a roaster that will tell you the date that the coffee was roasted. Coffee is at its best within 14 days from its roast date. The quality begins to dissipate after this, although depending upon how the coffee is stored, it can last for 30 to 45 days after the roast date. With that being said, buy just enough coffee to get you through one week of home brewing. Generally this is between one and two pounds of coffee for most households.

Finding a coffee roaster that has a big selection of coffees and blends can be difficult. Start with the internet and see what comes up in your area. You never know, you may just start your very own Starbucks from the comfort of your very own kitchen.

The Jackson Coffee Company’s story is really quite simple: We have been roasting and brewing really great coffee since September 2006. Our coffee is roasted in small drum roasters in our downtown Jackson store, which is located in the heart of Jackson’s business district. We do this because we know that there is nothing better than freshly roasted coffee so long as you’re starting with great beans and roasting them with passion.

In 2007, 2008, and 2009 we won awards for “Best Coffee House” in Jackson. We have won every year since opening, beating out the likes of Biggby Coffee, three Starbucks, Bearclaw Coffee, three Tim Hortons, Dunkin Donuts, and 5 other independent coffee houses.

In 2007, the Jackson Chamber of Commerce awarded Jackson Coffee Co. the coveted Brick Award. In 2008, the Chamber awarded us the Entrepreneurial Spirit Award. In the March 2009 edition, Jackson Coffee Co. was on the cover of Jackson Magazine, and was the feature article. Our commitment to coffee, as well as the remarkable flavor of our coffees and our commitment to our community, is the reason for our awards. It’s what we call “The J Way”.

Author: Brian Surgener
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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