Brewing tips and techniques

Brewing Coffee

You might be thinking, "I can make coffee. . . . that's easy!" It is easy to make coffee; it's good coffee that can be a challenge.

The Colorado Coffee Exchange (CCE) prides itself as supplying only the best coffee available. We use the best arabica beans from coffee producing countries around the world. There are always different grades of coffee available from a producing country. The difference from grade to grade may depend upon size only (the larger the bean, the higher the grade), or include processing method (wet or dry), or the percentage of imperfect beans in a given sample.

All coffees sold by CCE are roasted at about 5,000 feet in altitude. We roast each variety of bean to a roast that, over time, we have decided is the best roast for that particular bean. This process of course, involved much tasting and actual consumption of coffee. Nothing is too good for our customers, however.

So. . .

1. Start out with good coffee.

2. Use fresh, clear water.

Water (of course) makes up the vast majority of coffee, and if you don't start out with good water, you can't end up with good coffee!

3. Be sure your coffee maker is clean.

Oils and impurities can (and do!) build up on glass carafes and brewing chambers. Clean these areas regularly with either a brewing system cleaner available in the coffee section in many stores, or just plain soap and water for the glass container.

4. When the coffee is finished brewing, remove the coffee and filter from the brew basket!

This can be one of the most important things you do to prevent your coffee from becoming pre-maturely bitter. Just like the last swallow from a soft drink is 99% spit (a well-documented fact), the last drops from the coffee are bitter and oily.

5. Once your coffee is brewed, leaving it on a heat source will cause it to become stronger and more bitter. The best way to be a friend to your coffee is to put it (or brew it) into a pre-heated airpot. That way, your coffee will stay as good as when you brewed it.

Coffee flavors are best extracted at just under boiling. Because of this fact, one of the best methods of making coffee is with the french press. A lot of people don't like french press coffee because they have been drinking poor coffee poorly brewed, and a strong cup of coffee is just too much. It is a taste worth cultivating, however, as every nuance and flavor available in a coffee will be available in your cup....and with nothing but stainless steel and glass between you and your coffee, you will find no impurities left from paper filters, etc.

Most coffee makers on the market today brew coffee around 150 degrees. This is a far cry from just off boiling. One of the few coffee brewers I've seen that brewed coffee at 185 degrees (which is just off boiling at 5,000 feet altitude) is a combination coffee maker/espresso maching made by Briel. I'm sure there are others as well, but this particular combination by Briel brews excellent coffee, and makes excellent espresso as well.

Revised: Saturday, April 05, 2008