Great Tastes: Coffee

Coffee Talk

Getting a great cup o' joe doesn't mean dropping a bundle at your local BigBucks. The best coffee you've ever tasted is just a few easy steps away, and it won't break the bank. Even if you don't want to change your whole routine, using just one of these steps will get your java jumping. Let's brew!


Thirsty For More?

Ruling The Roast

It all starts with the freshest coffee you can find -- and by that, we mean freshly roasted beans. Coffee begins to lose flavor soon after it leaves the roaster, so that sack or can of pre-packaged supermarket grind stuffed in your cupboard is operating at minimum taste wattage. Find the nearest local coffee roaster, or an online source, and buy just what you need for the week.

The Daily Grind

Now that you've got the beans, it's time to get grinding. You can either ask the nice folks at the store to grind them to your maker's specifications (automatic drip, paper cone, French press, etc.), or invest in a grinder ($18 - $75). Blade grinders tend to be less expensive, but don't offer the consistent chopping of burr grinders. Once you've made your selection, read the manual to determine how long to grind. If you don't have time to do this every day, figure out how much coffee you'll need for the week, and grind it all at once.

Airtight & Outta Sight

Whether you're grinding ahead of time or fresh every day, it's key to keep that flavor safe. Air and light are the enemy of coffee freshness. Store it in a dry, dark, cool (but not cold - the fridge and freezer are BIG no-nos) place, either in a cupboard or an opaque container. If you're storing it in a bag, make sure to force the air out before sealing it. Coffee, once ground, loses its maximum flavor after about a week, even under ideal conditions.

Proportionally Speaking

The ideal coffee-to-water ratio for the perfect cup is. Well, that's up to your personal taste. A good starting point is 1 heaping tablespoon per 8 oz of coffee you want to end up with. Note - that's coffee coming out, not water going in. Experiment with your coffee maker to determine how much liquid gets lost in the brewing process, and add more or less coffee to suit your palate. This will also vary depending on the roast and grind, so have fun experimenting!

Brew-Ha-Ha

Fancy-schmancy coffee makers are nifty and all, but they won't necessarily deliver the best brew for the buck. Quick overview - percolators re-circulate boiling water, and over-extract the flavor-giving oils. Drip coffeemakers offer convenience, but require ongoing investment in paper filters (which greedily absorb the aforementioned tasty oils), and don't generally bring water to the 204F temperature required for getting the maximum oomph from your beans. How to solve this pressing problem?

The French Connection

Your best bet for major flavor is an inexpensive French press (a.k.a. press pot). Just measure your ground coffee into the carafe, bring water to a boil on the stove, remove it from the heat, and let it sit for a few seconds to bring it down a few degrees. Pour it over the coffee, not letting the water level rise above the press's metal band. Place the plunger top on the top, but don't press it down. Wait five minutes, stir with a plastic or wooden spoon, and then press all the way down. Presto! You've got a great pot of coffee. If your household has varied wake-up times, keep it hot in a thermos or air pot.

Oh, Sugar!

What's the best way to mix up a cuppa, milk and sugar-wise? That's completely up to you. But if you'd like a side-by-side taste trial to figure out which blend of beans most delights your palate, you might wish to level the playing field. Prepare demitasse-sized servings of several kinds, let them cool, and sample them black, with swigs of water between as a palate cleanser. Once you figure out which coffees give your favorite taste kick, you can even begin to develop your own blends. Go, java junkie -- go!

Our Coffee Coaches

Thanks to Stagecoach Coffee Roasters for giving us the inside scoop on all things coffee. Visit them online at stagecoachcoffeeroasters.com, or at their locations in Cooperstown, NY and Albany, NY.

What The Pros Know: Coffee



Rod & Robin Torrence and Christopher Grady don't just know beans -- they've been roasting them for 15 years at their Cooperstown, NY and Albany, NY outposts of Stagecoach Coffee. They sat down with us over, what else, coffee, and poured out plenty of useful info.


There are two major types of commercial coffee beans -- arabica and robusta.

Robusta (Coffea canephora) is the bean that's found in the majority of grocery store coffee blends. It's generally grown at low altitudes on massive coffee plantations, mainly in Vietnam, Brazil, and Indonesia. As it's grown in such large quantities, and the plant matures to harvesting age more quickly than arabica, robusta beans are much cheaper. They've got twice the caffeine of arabica, but produce a less flavorful brew.

Arabica (Coffea Arabica) tends be shade grown on mountainsides, and hand-harvested by families of farmers. These beans have been cultivated in Ethiopia for over a thousand years, and now thrive in Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, Kenya, and other nations around the globe. Coffee connoisseurs tend to favor the less bitter flavor of these beans.

The "beans" of both arabica and robusta are actually the seeds of the coffee fruit, or "cherry". Once they're harvested from the bush, the cherries are either air processed in the sun, or pulped with a water technique to separate the green beans from the outer fruit. Once they're dried, they're ready to be shipped and roasted.

Have What They're Having

coffee

How do you develop great taste? Taste something great! Take a note from the pros and throw a coffee tasting party to find your new fave.

    Coffee gets the majority of its characteristic flavors from the level of roast it receives. The longer the beans are roasted, the more oil comes out of them, and the less acid and caffeine remain. There's no set standard as to how long roasting times last, but generally a regular or "city" roast is finished first, the French roast is next, and the espresso remains in the roaster longest. That's right -- espresso-roasted coffee contains the least amount of caffeine, but because of the concentration in which it's brewed, it retains its reputation for strength.

    There is no such thing as a chocolate, hazelnut, raspberry, vanilla, or any other such bean occurring in nature. Technically, coffee contains double the flavor components of wine, but unless you're "cupping" or professionally tasting it by sucking cooled samples of it to the roof of your mouth, it's not going to register. Steer clear of flowery descriptions, and focus on regional origins (Kenya, Costa Rica, etc.) and roasts to figure out your favorite flavors. You'll know what you like when you taste it.



    Chat about coffee with Rod, Robin & Chris at their Stagecoach Coffee Roasters locations in Cooperstown, NY and Albany, NY, or visit them online at stagecoachcoffeeroasters.com.

    What's your favorite brew? Click to spill it in the comments.




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