Coffee

You can make a great cup of coffee. With patience, diligence and the right ingredients, anything is possible. To learn how to make the best pot of coffee at home, keep reading.

Start With Good Tools

A great cup of coffee can’t be made with a dingy old filter and a coffee pot that’s older than you. Start your home coffee barista career with quality equipment that’s designed to last and made to make great coffee.

Look for a machine that has a stainless steel, reusable filter and a built-in water filter. For your coffee accessories like your scoop, choose a stainless steel scoop and clean it thoroughly after every use. Leftover coffee grinds and oil residue can affect the taste and flavor of the next batch.

Keep Your Coffee Fresh

The best way to keep your coffee fresh is to buy whole bean coffee in small batches of one to two week supplies. Then, keep your coffee at room temperature in an airtight container. Avoid extreme temperatures, moisture, odors and direct sunlight.

Grind each pot of coffee right before you brew it. Because grinding releases so much aroma and flavor, this is the best way to retain as much of that as possible.

Use Filtered Water

Always use filtered, pure or bottled water for your coffee. Tap water, while perfectly healthy, often contains a chlorine, metallic or mineral taste that can adversely affect your brew.

Measure Properly

The ideal amount of ground coffee is about one to two tablespoons for every six ounces of coffee. Once you have your machine and have settled on a particular blend or roast, try experimenting with different amounts to find that perfect balance.

Don’t Overbrew

Be sure your coffee pot is heating the water at a fast enough rate to avoid over brewing. If the water is boiling too slowly, this can slow the brewing process and make the coffee taste bitter and overbrewed.

Clean Your Pot Regularly

A good coffee pot is a clean coffee pot. So, clean out your coffee pot with mild soap after every use and make sure you rinse it thoroughly. Keep your machine running smoothly by decalcifying or descaling it as needed on a monthly or even annual basis.

Never Reheat Coffee

Once coffee has fallen below 175 degrees, its flavor begins to change. So, after a pot of coffee is finished or cooled, consider it done; then throw it out and brew another pot.

For informative details on coffee and enticing flavors that explode your taste buds, please visit http://www.coffeetryst.com a popular site providing great insights on coffee options, such as vanilla flavored coffee, specialty gourmet coffee, and many more!

Author: Wesley Johnson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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When brewing coffee the ratio of ground coffee to water is vital. Generally the rule is 1 standard coffee scoop (2 tablespoons) of ground coffee to every 6 ounces of water. The only problem here is that coffee scoops can vary in capacity. The ideal way is to measure the capacity of your coffee scoop and adjust your subsequent coffee measurements accordingly. If weaker coffee is preferred then the 2 to 6 rule applies. Make it full strength and then dilute to taste with hot water or milk.

There are many ways to brew coffee but a percolator should not be one of them. Percolators violate two of the fundamental rules of good coffee brewing. They boil the coffee which extracts bitter and sour substances that should play no part in coffee and they pour water that is too hot over the grounds repeatedly. The water should be just right and poured only once.

There are many recommended methods of brewing a good cup of coffee.

The filter cone method involves pouring the hot water through ground coffee that has been measured into a filter set inside a cone. Over recent years this method has become increasingly popular. Connoisseurs prefer to use gold-washed metal filters but paper filters are convenient and easy to use.

Electric Drip machines operate in much the same fashion as manual filter cones except that they pour water over the coffee electrically from a pre-measured reservoir. The flat-bottomed cupcake shaped filters are thought to allow the water to saturate the ground coffee more evenly than the cone shaped filters.

The commonest version of the Metal drip pot is the old-fashioned stovetop pot divided from top to bottom into chambers for hot water, ground coffee and brewed coffee. These are excellent and produce coffee, which is full in flavor and body.

Plunger Pots or French Press Pots operate in a unique manner. The course ground coffee is placed into the pot. Hot water is then added and the grounds are left to steep. Then a metal screen attached to a plunger is slowly pushed down forcing the coffee grounds to the bottom of the pot. This coffee has a thick texture and is particularly appropriate to the flavors of dark roasted coffees.

Espresso coffee is fast becoming popular and the term espresso refers to the brewing method and not a coffee bean. This method gives the fullest bodied coffee by far. Espresso machines force hot (not boiling) water through finely ground coffee at high pressure.

Almost certainly every nation of the eastern Mediterranean brew coffee with a very simple method which is though to have originated in the coffee houses of Cairo in the fifteenth century. Very finely ground, sweetened coffee is lightly boiled several times in a medieval looking long handles brass or copper vessel called a cezve in Turkish and ibrik or briki in Greek. Although the coffee is not filtered the grounds stay in the bottom of the pot but some sediments will find there way into the cup where it sinks to the bottom and remains.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Coffee [http://coffee-guides.com]

Author: Michael Russell
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Coffee cupping is a method to compare the different characteristics of a coffee bean. Cupping lets us compare different coffees against each other to evaluate the uniqueness between them. This information can give us a better understanding of each different region and their basic tastes.

Having a coffee cupping party at home is a great way to socialize and enjoy coffee while evaluating and sharing thoughts on the different blends. It can be fun and a sense of adventure discovering flavors and nuances you never thought existed in a cup of coffee.

Gather some coffee lovers together with a small cupping supply and let the fun begin.

Coffee cupping is not difficult and will take some practice and patience but the reward will give you invaluable knowledge about coffee.

Your cupping supply will consist of the following :

1. Fresh filtered water, not distilled or softened.

2. A coffee scoop that holds 2 tablespoons.

3. Small cupping cups that hold 5 ounces each

(3 for each sample; if cupping 3 coffees you will need 9).

4. Small rectangle plastic trays to hold beans; 1 for each coffee.

5. Cupping spoons that are deep for holding samples and slurping.

6. Whole Bean Coffee; enough for 3 cups each-six tablespoons.

To Begin:

· Bring water to rolling boil and let stand.

· Put your cups on the table in 3 groups of 3 each.

· Using your scoop measure 1 scoop of beans per cup.

· Grind coffee beans to a fine consistency and put in cup.

Make sure to grind each coffee to the same fineness and clean the grinder after each grinding.

Start by sniffing each of the coffee samples then begin pouring water just off the boiling point on the grounds. Allow the coffee to steep for 3 to 4 minutes. Using your spoon gently break the crust and take time to smell the coffee at this point. Once the crust is broken gently stir the coffee to allow some of the grounds to sink. Any left on top should be scooped out and thrown away.

After cooling slightly start slurping the coffee from the spoon. Let it splash over your entire palate letting your taste buds experience and acknowledge each flavor. It’s fun to see how many funny sounds you can make while slurping.

You could even make a game of it to see who can make the funniest sounds. Hold the coffee in your mouth without swallowing and swish it around and begin to realize all the different taste sensations. At this point, spit the coffee out and begin sharing your experience and thoughts with the rest of the group. There are no right or wrongs just opinions.

For many beginners evaluating coffee with other coffee lovers will open your eyes and your taste buds to flavors in coffee that you might have missed. It is a fun way to share a new understanding and appreciation for coffee cupping and enjoy it all at the same time.

Copyright © 2005 Best-Coffee-Makers-Online.com. All Rights Reserved.

This article is supplied by Best-Coffee-Makers-Online.com where you can easily shop and compare coffee makers so you can purchase exactly what youre looking for at great values.

Author: Gary Gresham
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Coffee cupping is a method to compare the different characteristics of a coffee bean. Cupping lets us compare different coffees against each other to evaluate the uniqueness between them. This information can give us a better understanding of each different region and their basic tastes.

Having a coffee cupping party at home is a great way to socialize and enjoy coffee while evaluating and sharing thoughts on the different blends. It can be fun and a sense of adventure discovering flavors and nuances you never thought existed in a cup of coffee.

Gather some coffee lovers together with a small cupping supply and let the fun begin.

Coffee cupping is not difficult and will take some practice and patience but the reward will give you invaluable knowledge about coffee.

Your cupping supply will consist of the following :

1. Fresh filtered water, not distilled or softened.

2. A coffee scoop that holds 2 tablespoons.

3. Small cupping cups that hold 5 ounces each

(3 for each sample; if cupping 3 coffees you will need 9).

4. Small rectangle plastic trays to hold beans; 1 for each coffee.

5. Cupping spoons that are deep for holding samples and slurping.

6. Whole Bean Coffee; enough for 3 cups each-six tablespoons.

To Begin:

· Bring water to rolling boil and let stand.

· Put your cups on the table in 3 groups of 3 each.

· Using your scoop measure 1 scoop of beans per cup.

· Grind coffee beans to a fine consistency and put in cup.

Make sure to grind each coffee to the same fineness and clean the grinder after each grinding.

Start by sniffing each of the coffee samples then begin pouring water just off the boiling point on the grounds. Allow the coffee to steep for 3 to 4 minutes. Using your spoon gently break the crust and take time to smell the coffee at this point. Once the crust is broken gently stir the coffee to allow some of the grounds to sink. Any left on top should be scooped out and thrown away.

After cooling slightly start slurping the coffee from the spoon. Let it splash over your entire palate letting your taste buds experience and acknowledge each flavor. It’s fun to see how many funny sounds you can make while slurping.

You could even make a game of it to see who can make the funniest sounds. Hold the coffee in your mouth without swallowing and swish it around and begin to realize all the different taste sensations. At this point, spit the coffee out and begin sharing your experience and thoughts with the rest of the group. There are no right or wrongs just opinions.

For many beginners evaluating coffee with other coffee lovers will open your eyes and your taste buds to flavors in coffee that you might have missed. It is a fun way to share a new understanding and appreciation for coffee cupping and enjoy it all at the same time.

Copyright © 2005 Best-Coffee-Makers-Online.com. All Rights Reserved.

This article is supplied by Best-Coffee-Makers-Online.com where you can easily shop and compare coffee makers so you can purchase exactly what youre looking for at great values.

Author: Gary Gresham
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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It is always something new and exciting in the world for coffee drinkers. And Coffee pods are the latest craze. What Coffee pods are, is a small paper enclosure, similar to a tea bag that holds an amount of roasted coffee that is freshly ground and measured to a specific amount and then encased in this small a paper bag like container.

To make a pot of coffee using a pod in simple, all that you need to do is place the pod into the filter department of your coffee maker and the procedure is then the same as normal. The result is a consistent, delicious pot of coffee every single time. Then when you are finished, you just remove the used pod and dispose of it straight into the trash. No mess, less waste and completely fuss free.

Many manufacturers are now making coffee machines specifically for pods, however you can still make coffee using a pod with any coffee maker that you already own. Many companies are now producing and selling adapters so that you can use a pod in the filter of your coffee maker easily.

In our ever increasing fast paced society, using a coffee pod is a time saver as well. By using a coffee pod, you can skip the often time consuming step of measuring out your coffee grounds each time you want to make a pot of coffee. Coffee pods are now available in a wide variety of flavors and blends and you can even purchase organic pods.

Coffee pods are typically a generic size that is geared to fit most espresso machines. All you need to do is simply open your single wrapped pod, place the pod inside the filter of your machine, turn the coffee maker on and wait for the machine to go throught the process and deliver you a delicious cup of coffee.

Using pods can be beneficial in virtually every environment where coffee is consumed. In restaurants and cafes, coffee pods are convenient because they save time therefore increasing the level of productivity on site. You will also save money by cutting down on the wear and tear of the grinders.

Many office buildings find coffee pods convenient as well because they allow people to quickly produce high quality product. Remember to store your coffee pods properly. The individually wrapped coffee pods should be placed in a sealed container and kept somewhere that is cool and dark. Make certain that you do not store your pods in the fridge.

If you have a coffee maker that works with pods, but are a little put off on the cost of purchasing pods, you can easily create your own pods at home. First of all, you will need a measuring scoop that is stainless steel and that can fit into the pod holder on your pod maker. Measuring scoops that are 1/3 of a cup are typically the ideal fit. You will also need a jar or even a glass that will fit tight into your measuring scoop. You will also need to purchase filters for a four-cup machine that are of a Mr. Coffee style. It is important to ensure that the filters fit tightly.

Take one of the filters and spread in evenly over the end of the jar or glass. Now, press the jar into the measuring scoop until there is a tight edge along the bottom of the measuring cup. Take the jar away and add approximately two teaspoons of coffee grounds to the paper filter. Adjust the amount depending on how strong you prefer your coffee. With your fingers, fold any extra filter to fully cover the coffee grounds making sure that your folds are even. Use the jar to again press down inside of the scoop very hard. Invert the scoop and remove your new coffee pod. Creating your own coffee pods saves you money, and also allow you to create your favorite blends and strength of coffee.

Do You LOVE good coffee? Heather is a qualified barista and shares many of her great coffee making tips. Register for Your FREE copy of the Health and Happiness Mag, that includes tips on coffee making like the professionals at http://www.womensinfoproducts.com/food/coffee

Author: Heather Richards
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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