It may seem simple to make great tasting coffee, but there’s more to it than one thinks. The piece that follows is sure to provide you with the expertise you need to be a master brewer.
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.
Brewing your own coffee at home can add up to huge savings when you compare it to the costs of going to a coffee shop every day. Invest in a good no-spill travel mug so that you don’t regret your decision. Use that expensive coffee as a way to treat yourself when you achieve one of your goals.
Do you need to exercise? You should drink a cup of strong coffee an hour before you go for your run or head to the gym. The caffeine will give you the energy you need to work out efficiently. However, it is very important that you drink plenty of water before, during and after your workout session.
Do you enjoy strong coffee? You should try using a French press instead of a drip machine. Pressing the coffee means more oil will end up in your beverage instead of being retained by the filter of your coffee machine. You will find that pressed coffee has more flavor and contains more caffeine.
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.
The flavor of a coffee blend is determined by the origin of the beans. Mix it up every now and again and try something new. Price shouldn’t be as important of a factor considering you would have to drink more of a weaker blend.
Make sure that your videos have summaries or even transcripts of the content. The search engines cannot yet listen to or watch videos to index them accurately. So, a thorough description in the text or code is going to be your best bet at getting your video ranked well.
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.
Be sure to regularly clean out your coffee maker or pot. If you wait too long between cleanings, your coffee is more likely to have a foul taste and you may even find coffee grinds in it. A good rule of thumb is to clean it out at least once a week.
If you are grinding your own coffee, the medium grind is preferable for regular purposes. It works great for the home drip brewer. It should be around the consistency of common table salt when you are done. Practice with your own machine until you learn what produces flavors you prefer.
Make it a habit to only grind enough coffee for your immediate use. When you grind a whole bag of coffee, you are speeding up the flavor shelf life. Those grounds will lose flavor within a couple of days, where the fresh beans would have held out a little longer.
If you frequent a particular coffeehouse often, see if they will give you a discount for bringing in your own cup or mug. These cups can sometimes cost the shop a few pennies at a time, so they can save money too over time. They also get the chance to make a pro-environmental statement with you.
If you have strong smells on your hands that will not come out, you should try wetting your hands and then scrubbing them with some used coffee grounds. They will absorb any odors on your hands and have them smelling fresh and clean in no time. Make sure that you rinse them well after you are done.
Try using charcoal filtered water to brew your coffee. It is easy to buy charcoal filters made for your kitchen faucet. Another alternative is to buy a coffee machine that has its own built-in filter. Supermarkets and mass merchandisers also sell water filters.
Make sure you buy the right size filters for your coffee maker. If your filters aren’t the right size, grounds can slip into the coffee being brewed, making it grainy. This defeats the purpose of using filters. Using the right size filters will ensure your coffee is smooth and delicious.
Grind your coffee at the last possible moment. Ground coffee begins losing its flavor as soon as the grinding takes place. Blade grinders are your best bet. Burr mill grinders will not grind your coffee too finely. Powdery coffee grounds make bitter coffee.
Be wary of coffee beans that are already flavored. These beans are sprayed with flavored oils that are very difficult to clean from coffee grinders and coffee makers. Over time, the various flavors accumulate, giving you very strange tasting brews. Rather, use cinnamon, vanilla or other fresh flavors. Syrups can be used for flavoring as well.
It is not hard to brew your own coffee, but you do need certain knowledge to consistently brew good coffee. Be sure to use the advice whenever you make your next pot of coffee.
