The complete guide to making the dream brew
Want to upgrade your brewing skills and learn more about coffee and its growth? Good thing you’re here! There are several things that have to be considered if you want to make the perfect coffee. Follow our tips & tricks from different experts and in no time you would find yourself brewing the coffee you’ve always dreamed of.
Starting with the beans
Choosing the right beans is the most important step before actually beginning to make the coffee. Different beans have different taste characteristics, depending on which part of the world the plant is being grown. Altitude, temperature, the type of soil and even harvesting also play a role. Moreover, when coffee beans are being roasted, there are even more tastes that are being generated.
The most important questions
Where do you buy the coffee beans from? What type of coffee brewer/maker are you using? What flavours are you seeking? These are the main questions that you should ask yourself when choosing the beans. Ideally, you would buy local, fresh beans. However, if you don’t have access to a local roaster, you would have to order online. If that’s the case, choose a company which clearly says that they only roast coffee after it’s ordered.
Then, the brewing method would also influence the type of beans you choose. For example, if you’re brewing with a french press, you should look for something medium to dark roast for a full bodied brew. If you decide to go on with cold brew coffee, you would need light roasted, higher-acidity beans single origin beans. If you’re a fan of pour over coffee, that means the best match will be a nice, exotic single origin bean with flavor notes that excite you.
Another factor to take into consideration is the desired flavor. If you crave fruity, exotic flavors typically associated with pour over coffee, choose a nice light roast single origin coffee and don’t add milk. If you would like to drink something that tastes very “coffee like”, go for a dark roast coffee (adding some milk would be fine as well with that).
Arabica vs Robusta
While there are dozens of different coffee beans, the most significant ones are Arabica and Robusta. They differ in taste, growing conditions and price. Arabica beans have a sweeter, softer taste, with lots of sugar, fruit, and berries and a higher acidity. Robusta, on the other hand, is easier to grow, has twice as much caffeine as Arabica and a stronger, harsher taste. Robusta beans are considered to be of inferior quality compared to Arabica.
Taste & aroma
The unique taste and aroma of a coffee can be achieved by mixing different coffee beans and trying various roasting levels. That’s an art which requires tasting and smelling and it can be truly mastered by expert coffee lovers. To get the perfect taste that you desire, you should mix them according to their individual characteristics and qualities which were exhibited during the roasting period.
There’s a certain reason why we love the smell of freshly roasted coffee beans. Each bean has approximately 800 different ever-changing aromas and tastes. The art of making coffee lies in extracting the treasure locked in. When beans are being grinded, water can extract most of the soluble substances. These substances are responsible for the taste and aroma of what eventually ends up in your coffee cup.
The rule of 15
There is a certain rule of thumb which can help you make sure that the coffee is fresh. “Ground coffee lasts about 15 minutes before it goes stale”. This means that after 15 minutes grinded coffee loses 60% of its aroma. To make the best coffee, we recommend you to keep your beans from being exposed to air, light and moist. Also, consume them 6-8 weeks after they were roasted and always make your coffee right before you are going to drink it.
