“I make the Perfect Cup of Coffee”
Beans, blend, batch… what’s next? Why the Perfect Cup of Coffee of course! Who doesn’t claim that they brew the perfect cup of coffee? We all have our little secrets… We all have our own personal taste…
Although these aren’t secrets they are some of the basic considerations involved in making a perfect cup of coffee, we don’t guarantee that you will achieve this simply by following these tips, but they will serve as strong backbone which you can then perfect in your own way by adding your own little secrets.
Coffee / Water Ratio
One of, if not the most important step in brewing the perfect cup of coffee. This is what will make up the brewing ratio which in turn will also determine the drinking ratio (the amount of soluble which have been extracted in relation to the amount of water after brewing).
Water (Type and Temperature)
Type and temperature. These are the main aspects you will need to consider when brewing that perfect cup of coffee. Coffee being an infusion with the larger part being water the final taste will be reflected by the quality of the water being used.
Types of water to be avoided are:
– Bad tasting water, if it has a distinctly contaminating taste don’t use it.
– Distilled water should also be avoided as it is absent of all minerals which in turn will affect the extraction process.
– Gourmet Gold recommends filtered water as the best choice.
In relation to the brewing temperature the water should be heated near to the boiling point (90° to 96° C). This will extract the coffees full range of flavours, preference being to the higher end of the scale, but be careful, anything higher than 96° C and up to boiling point (100° C) and you will burn the coffee.
The Grind and Brew
General rule of thumb here is, the shorter the brewing process, the finer the grind. Conversely, the longer the brewing process, the coarser the grind.
Take the espresso machine as an example (Percolation), where the brewing cycle is short, (19 to 30 seconds) therefore the grind should be very fine, creating a larger exposed surface area to the water in relation to the total mass of coffee.
Now look at a Coffee Press (Maceration), where the coffee is steeped or soaked, with an extraction time of four minutes. The grind will need to be coarser reducing the surface area exposed to the water.
There needs to be a perfect balance between the grind and the brewing time, too short, you will miss out on the full range of flavours carefully established when roasted. Whilst over extracting times will generally release what we refer to as the unwanted “bitters”, these are the group of compounds known as the alkaloids which take longer to dissolve.
In the end, that “Perfect Cup of Coffee” is going to depend on you and your personal taste, so experiment, take note of your little secret brewing formulas, whether that be shorter or longer brewing times, or finer or coarser grinds, and stay true to your claim of making that “Perfect Cup of Coffee”
A few side notes to take into consideration:
Coffee Enemies:
- Oxygen
- Light
- Heat
- Moisture
Gourmet Gold recommends keeping your coffee fresh using our one-way valve bags. They allow the release of the coffees natural gases whilst retaining its flavour. Also avoid storing your coffee in the fridge or the freezer as warm, moist air will condense around the beans whenever the bag is opened ultimately weakening the coffees taste. For best results store as beans and grind just before brewing.
Your “Perfect Cup of Coffee” starts here. Check out our exquisite coffee blends and distinctive single bean (single origin) coffees.
Home Brewing Guides
For specific instructions and how to guide:
Stovetop (Moka pot); French Press (Plunger); Turkish (Ibrik); Syphon