Cold Brewed Coffee

I made my first batch of cold brewed coffee today.  It was good but to be honest I want to play with the ratio more and use a different coffee so that I have something to compare it with - stay tuned.

I used my 8 cup French Press coffee maker and filled it with 1-Cup of coffee grounds.  Then I filled the rest with room temp filtered water and let soak for 24 hours.  I stirred it once at 12 hours because the grounds made a sort of crust on the top and I wanted to make sure that all the grounds were being steeped by the water.  After I stirred the grounds they did not form a crust again but rather sank to the bottom and steeped fully for the last 12.

I used an initial 1 to 3 concentrate to hot water ratio to make the coffee but then I landed on a 2 to 3 ratio.  It was good coffee.  There was no bitter and the acidity seemed non-existent.  In the morning I am going to try a 1 to 1 ratio and see how that works out - I am expecting great things.  I liked that the coffee was immediately drinkable as the hot water mixed with the cool concentrate made it nice.  i suspect that tomorrow's 1 to 1 ratio will make the coffee too cold as the concentrate is in the fridge tonight so it will be cold rather than room temp and the 1 to 1 ratio will make there be more cold in comparison to the hot.  If I like the flavor better using a 1 to 1 ratio then I will have to make a more dense concentrate and go from there.  Again, stay tuned.

3-Keys to Great Coffee

There are really only three keys to a great cup of coffee and I am going to share them with you here...

1.  Coffee must be fresh!  

Some coffee brewers promote the freshness of their coffee because it is brewed a few minutes before you get it and then it is poured into the drain when it becomes so-many minutes old.  That is commendable but it is only half of the fresh equation - the other side of the fresh coin is that the coffee needs to be roasted fresh. Coffee begins to stale the very moment that it is cooked.  It oxidizes from the air just as metal begins to rust. The process of staling coffee is impeded in a variety of ways but stale it still goes. (And the freezer method to keep coffee fresh is little more than a mythical hope).  I give coffee 14 days before it goes off, not Cinderella off but off enough that one can tell the difference. 

2.  Coffee must be made with good water!

Coffee too easily takes on the flavor of the water that is used to make it with.  I once made Michigan Snow Coffee and I also made coffee using good old-fashioned rain water - I don't suggest it without good filtration because it was nasty. Even with the tap water you can tell the difference between filtered and non-filtered--So get yourself a Brita or something like it if for nothing else but your coffee.

3.  The Coffee-to-Water Ratio must be Correct!

And here is the greatest of the three...We've all done it. We get the coffee container out of the freezer and use a spoon to fill the filter with grounds, we stop adding grounds only when we "feel" like there is enough caffeine and from pot-to-pot we wonder why we cannot get it to taste the same.  The fix to this is to weigh your coffee (ie. For every ounce of water you need a set amount of grounds to go with it).  I use a standard .042oz. (by weight) to 1oz. of water (by volume) for my ratio.   

Of course, coffee flavor will always be subjective according to the tastes of the person drinking it. There are a thousand things that factor into the flavor of your coffee (what you ate earlier, the roasting profile of the bean, the origin of the bean, the specific crop that the bean has come from, the blend, the cleanliness of the cup that is used, etc. etc.) but getting these three keys under control are huge and will lead to consistency and a better cup of brew.

For those who are purists:  Although I did not include it here there is something that needs to be discussed in another post - The idea of the Single Origin bean. Just as a single-malt scotch is preferable to a blended scotch or how a bottle of wine is known for the specific grape that is used to produce it so also a single-origin coffee bean is preferable to the blended grind.  At least that is my position as a coffee snob. ;-)

Coffee Like a Great Lake - Improve Your Coffee Part 3

I remember a television show when I was a kid called "That's Incredible" where a guy said that he could identify each of Michigan's Great Lakes by the flavor of the water.  The man claimed that each of the Great Lakes were notable because of the impurities in their water.  And when he was given samples in a blind taste test - sure enough he identified them - 5 for 5.

I say all that to point out that the water that we make coffee with should be filtered-water.  I first learned this lesson when my brother-in-law made coffee using filtered water and I noticed a significant difference in the taste.  Then I really noticed a difference when I used water gathered in a snow storm in my Michigan Snow Coffee trial - it was not good.  It was because of both of these experiences that I can honestly say that you can improve the taste of your coffee by improving the quality of the water that you use.  If you doubt me just make your coffee with

An Experience Experiment - Pt. 1

The next couple of posts come about because of a reader's request. Van (the reader) wanted to know what happened to the flavor of coffee based upon the brewing method. So, I put my 7th. grade science class thinking cap on and devised the following science experiment. (I hope you are reading Mr. Kawalski)

• HYPOTHESIS: The same exact coffee brewed by different brewing methods produces differing results. (Mr. Kawalski should be proud)

THE STANDARD METRIC:

1. COFFEE: Bolivean - CIAPEC (100% Organic)
2. ROASTED: Full-City+
3. WATER/COFFEE RATIO: 5 oz. (liquid) : 1 Tbsp. (ground)
4. WATER: Filtered by Brita

TOOLS:

• Green Beans
• Popcorn Air-Popper (coffee roaster)
• Coffee Grinder
  
• Weight Scale
• Pyrex Liquid Measure
  
• 1/2 Cup Measuring Cup
• 1 Tbsp. Teaspoon
  
• Knife
• Sauce Pan
• French Coffee Press
• Drip Coffee Maker
• Percolator Coffee Maker
• 4 - Coffee Cups
• Filtered Water
  

Tomorrow I will begin to describe the variables of the experiment. Stay Tuned...

This coffee press makes a single regular sized cup of coffee. It was $9.99 on sale at Meijer. It works and cleans pretty well but because I have nothing to compare it to my assessment might be skewed.

I have been using it to make a cup of Maxwell House when I don't have a pot of my own roast brewed. For the most part the flavor has not been enjoyable and quite bitter. But I have discovered that this is because of user error. I have been making the coffee in the press with water from the tap. I know the importance of using filtered water when making coffee but for some reason I have been too lazy to get water from the fridge when using the press.

Yesterday I made a cup of Maxwell House using the press and I used filtered water. What a difference in the flavor. While I find Maxwell House to be a boring/common coffee it is a stable blend and the basis from which I compare all coffees. Using the filtered water the flavor is not bitter and pretty much without quality flaw. The flavor is still common and unimpressive but it is not bad. The press is a nice way to make a quick cup of coffee but filtered water is still a necessity.

The Necessity of Filtered Water

I spent a weekend at my in-laws and I finally bought a coffee maker for their home. For 10 years I have been going to the local McDonalds for my morning coffee whenever I spend the weekend. So me and my brother-in-law have been enjoying brewing our own pots of Maxwell House. Since I have been roasting my own coffee beans, Maxwell House has been anathema to me but since I was at the in-laws it would have to do.

I made the first pot and it was pretty blah and when I made the second I used more grounds and it was stronger but still not very tasty. However, my brother-in-law made a third pot and he used the filtered water from the Brita pitcher. I have to admit that it was actually quite flavorful. I have never used filtered water to make coffee before and now I am convinced that it is a necessity. I have read that distilled water is not good for making coffee but rather that filtered water was the suggested method. Of course, I am too lazy to wait for water to drip though the filter and so I have never used the suggested method. But from now on I will wait.

So, if you enjoy good tasting coffee it is a necessity to use filtered water, for filtered water makes even Maxwell House taste good.