There is really nothing quite like a good cup of coffee. Whether you enjoy making your own coffee at home, or you prefer to patronize a local coffee shop, the more you know about coffee, the more you will enjoy it. This article will share a few interesting tidbits about this most popular of drinks.
Make sure that you make your coffee in water that you would have no problem drinking alone. This is important because the taste of the water will affect the way that it makes your coffee taste. If you live in an area where the water quality is not that great, use spring water to brew your coffee.
Don’t grind whole coffee beans until you’re ready to use them. Coffee might lose its flavor when you store the ground up coffee. Your coffee will have a weaker taste when the beans are ground far in advance.
You should make sure to clean your coffee pot every time you use it so that any residual flavors do not tarnish the taste of it. There are oils that will stick to the coffee pot over time. Many people do not notice the difference, but true coffee lovers will be able to tell right away.
Do not reheat coffee after you are finished with it. It isn’t harmful, but it tastes nasty. Some compounds in coffee begin to break down within a half hour of brewing, especially when it is nuked or left to sit on a burner. The taste of the coffee will not be to your liking if this occurs.
Always find out how much caffeine a certain type of coffee contains before drinking it. Espressos do not necessarily contain more caffeine than other types of coffees. If you go to a coffee shop, your barista should be able to tell you how much caffeine you are getting in each beverage, but you might have to do some research about the beans you are using if you make your own coffee.
The best way to get iced coffee in a hurry is to make it ahead of time via cold brewing. This involves brewing with just grounds, water, a fine filter, and if you like, some milk. You can easily do this before bed. By the next morning, you’ll have refreshing iced coffee that is ready to drink.
If you want the best iced coffee that you have ever had, you need to brew the coffee cold. If you do try to make hot coffee cold, you can end up with a pretty awful brew. If you start your brewing right before bedtime, you will have delicious iced coffee for your morning commute.
You do not need to tip the barista at a coffee shop the same percentage as you do a waitress or a hairdresser. Your hairdresser has to understand precisely what you want and then do it, and a waitress has multiple tables to keep up with exactly everyone’s order. Your barista mixes up one cup at a time, so do not feel guilty for tipping him or her less. Still, do throw a few coins in the tip jar frequently.
When brewing a pot of coffee, ensure you use the appropriate amount of water. Without enough water, the flavor will be overpowering. Alternatively, if you use too much water, your coffee is weakened. A good guideline is to use 16 ounces of water for every 8-ounce cup of coffee.
Consider investing in a coffee grinder if you want incredible flavor. Doing so, you will be able to grind your beans as you need them. You will be amazed at the difference between coffee brewed from fresh beans and that made from a canned or bagged grind. You owe it to yourself.
It’s imperative that coffee beans are stored properly, for the best tasting cup of coffee. It is easy for fresh beans to absorb odors and flavors if heat and light exposure is allowed to occur. Keep your coffee beans in an opaque, air-tight container.
Avoid purchasing beans that come in cans or in vacuum-sealed bags. Coffee beans need to be protected by valve-sealed bags to remain fresh. Besides, valve-sealed bags allow the carbon dioxide that emanates from the beans to escape, which means the beans will retain all their flavor and stay fresh longer.
If you are making a cup of iced coffee, it is a good idea to use some hot coffee to melt the sugar before you start. This will stop the grains of sugar from lingering at the bottom of the cup. Each sip will taste just as sweet as the last.
Instead of drinking fruit drinks or sodas when you are preparing for your finals at school, try drinking a few cups of coffee. This will give you the amount of energy that you need to function well without the sugar, and is a great option to have for fall or winter nights when you are studying.
Clean your coffee grinder regularly. Coffee grinds go stale quickly. As a result, it is necessary to clean your grinder often. If the grinder is not cleaned on a regular basis, old stale grinds will be mixed with your freshly ground coffee. It is best to clean the grinder thoroughly every few days.
To get the ideal flavor from your coffee beans, the water needs to be just the right temperature. Boiling water is too hot and as a result will sap the more bitter oils from your beans. Alternately, water that is not hot enough will not brew all the flavor from your beans leaving you with a very bland coffee.
Now that you have finished reading this article, you should have gained a new respect for your favorite beverage. If you need to know how to brew a better cup of coffee, or you just want to understand how coffee is grown, the information in this article should have helped you out.
