Coffee School
Tips, tricks and knowledge from years of chasing coffee excellence
100 The Basics
102: Grinding
A foundation of great coffee is a consistent grind of the roasted coffee bean. Coffee is ideally ground right before brewing. The grind must also be optimized for the specific brewing method. If your grind is too coarse, you won’t get enough of an extraction to optimize flavor and notice a thin mouthfeel. If you grind too fine, you can get an over-extraction and imbalance of overwhelming flavors. How do you know what’s right for your brew method? There are some basic guidelines but there’s also room to experiment as specific brewers and filter-types vary.
Burr-type grinders (conical or flat burrs) are the best choice for overall consistency. Blade grinders will work too but are more challenging to achieve a consistent grind. If you have a blade grinder, try using a pulse method where you modulate it 1 sec on then off and monitor the coffee particle size by eye.
For cold brew or a French press, you will want a more coarse grind.
For a drip maker or pour over using a paper-type filter, you will want to utilize a finer grind past “medium” or the center setting on most grinders.
Espresso and Turkish-style coffee require the finest grind setting and not all grinders are designed to do this properly.
Be on the lookout for some of our favorite & recommended grinders featured in the Hardware section of the shop
101: Philosophy of the Brew
Our coffee ritual aims to result in a tasty, compelling beverage which inspires us. Jerry Seinfeld goes so far as to say “I think coffee is the most important part of a human's life”. I’m not going to argue with the likes of Jerry Seinfeld!
On a physical and chemical level, we grind coffee beans and brew them to extract an array of both simple and complex chemical compounds that interact with most of our senses. We make an extraction with water which fills our cup. There are so many ways to accomplish this task so we’re going to make sense of the process so you can increase your confidence in making your next cup and enjoyment not only of the coffee itself but also the process. We find that the ritual of making the coffee is also part of the enjoyment of the coffee. We also encourage experimentation and finding the ritual that’s best for you. We’re not here to dictate “right” and “wrong”, only to offer guidelines and knowledge based on our own experience and some science too. We’ll divide the process in several main topics: Grinding, Water, Brewing, Coffee Storage
103: Water
Most of your coffee is water meaning that it’s critical to the taste of your coffee. Despite this, water is a sometimes overlooked portion of the home coffee brewing exercise. There are two main components to consider when it comes to your coffee: Water temperature and water quality
Water temperature: This is the variable with which most of us getting into the details of brewing coffee are most familiar. Brewing temperature of the water must be between 195 - 205 degrees Fahrenheit (more on the background here in section 203).
Water quality: Most of us on municipal water systems have a decent baseline quality of water that flows into our homes. Being in Colorado and most of the West means that we also have a decent amount of dissolved minerals in our water that’s not removed by our water treatment plants. We also have elements added to our water such as chlorine which can impact not only the taste of the water but how it performs in extracting compounds from our coffee grounds. Basic single stage water filters like a Brita will remove most of the largest flavor offenders like chlorine but they don’t impact the minerals that are in the water. Some of these minerals are detrimental to full extraction while other minerals actually enhance the extraction. In addition, hard water will damage our coffee making equipment over time. (more details here in section 203)
104: Brewing
This is where we turn the beans into a brewed coffee. There are three basic concepts of brewing: Drip, Immersion, & pressure. All three have variations within them and can range in investment from very small ($20 or less) to very high (many thousands of dollars). Different coffee preparations & history are associated with the three different styles. It can be fun to experiment with how the same coffee can have different flavor profiles depending on which brew method you employ.
Drip AKA “percolation” & “pour over” is where water flows over and through the ground coffee to create an extraction. This is what a traditional countertop coffee maker and pour over style accomplish. These are some of the most convenient methods of making coffee due to their clean up and ease of use (when using automatic machines). Manual pour over does require some technique and practice, however. (more on this in section 204)
Immersion, like tea, is where the water fully immerses the ground coffee for a period of time and is then filtered out separating the brewed coffee and spent grounds. The most familiar of these methods may be the French Press which can be very affordable.
Pressure methods, like espresso, combine heat and pressure to maximize the extraction making a concentrated brew that can then be combined with milk (or milk alternatives) for Italian Cafe-style beverages (Latte, Cappuccino, Cortado, etc.) or diluted with hot water to mimic a drip-style coffee (Americano) but retain the full flavor profile of the extraction. Stovetop espresso makers like the Moka Pot are affordable and relatively easy to use. Stand alone espresso machines can vary greatly in cost, effectiveness & simplicity.
105: Coffee Storage
How you store your coffee greatly impacts how long it remains “fresh” and retains its optimum flavor. Like most specialty coffee in the grocery store, we package our coffee in non-reactive, opaque bags which are sealed and feature a one-way CO2 valve to optimize freshness. While you can store your beans in our bags for 10-14 days with minimal freshness loss, optimal storage will have some kind of vacuum sealing component. Freezer storage isn’t necessary and can be detrimental if not in an airtight container as coffee will absorb flavors from other food in the freezer. The main enemies of keeping your coffee fresh are:
Exposure to air (oxidation)
Heat and/or rapid changes in temperature
Light, especially direct sunlight.
Moisture.
We’re working on recommended storage solutions for our Hardware section so keep an eye on this or reach out if you want specifics in the meantime.