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Where Brewing Is an Art

Specialty coffee houses concoct the perfect blend.

by: Candy Sagon, from: AARP, November 3, 2010

The other difference among the new coffee companies is in the roasting. They prefer a lighter roast to enhance the beans’ more complex flavors, which they describe with wine-critic phrases such as “gentle acidity” and “notes of almond.” They sneeringly refer to Starbucks as “Charbucks,” because its beans tend to be dark-roasted to stand up to the milk and flavoring of its coffee drinks.

“If you put a filet mignon on the grill and cook it until it’s well-done, you lose a lot of flavor. It’s the same with coffee beans. The better coffees taste better with a lighter roast,” Pohl says.

While some may complain about the price of the new specialty coffees — a pound can cost from $12 to $30, depending on the variety — the man who opened New York’s first specialty coffeehouse in 2001 begs to differ. Ken Nye, owner of Ninth Street Espresso, ardently believes that you get what you pay for.

“If people had any idea of how much care and labor go into producing exceptional coffees, they would be shocked. When compared to wine, beer, spirits, cheeses and the like, coffee is an absolute bargain. If priced comparatively, a pound of great coffee could easily cost three to four times what it fetches now,” Nye wrote this year in an online question-and-answer with readers of the New York Times.

“The farmers that produce all of these amazing coffees deserve to be compensated,” he wrote.

Still, as Pohl points out, “there’s cheap wine and there will always be cheap coffee. But people are beginning to appreciate quality coffee, branching out, trying new things. It’s exciting for customers.”

How to Make Great Coffee

Buy freshly roasted beans.

The older the coffee is, the more the flavor fades. If you’re not buying coffee that’s roasted-to-order, look for a roast date on the bag you’re buying. Most roast coffee takes a sharp dip in quality after about two weeks.

Keep it cool and dark.

Air, light and moisture are coffee’s enemy. Store your coffee beans in an airtight container – such as a ceramic jar with a rubber gasket on the lid for a tight seal. Coffee expert and author Kenneth Davids with the website CoffeeReview.com warns that “refrigerators are terrible places in which to store coffee because they are damp and full of odors that easily can contaminate coffee.” A cool, dark cupboard or pantry is better.

For best flavor, grind before using.

Once coffee is ground, it loses quality quickly, so get yourself a burr grinder and grind beans daily, as needed.

Measure properly.

The standard recipe for making coffee at home is two tablespoons ground coffee per six ounces of water. Most mugs hold eight ounces, so if you measure by the mug, use 2 ½ to 3 tablespoons of ground coffee per mug of water. For those who say they don’t want a strong-tasting coffee, brew it the standard way, then add a little hot water to your cup to smooth out the flavor. You’ll get a better, less bitter result than using less ground coffee in the pot.

Want less caffeine without sacrificing flavor?

Grind a half-caf mix of decaf and regular beans. Some places, like White Rock Coffee in Dallas, even sell their own half-caf blend, called Sunset Blend.

Serve promptly

Coffee that sits on a burner in a glass carafe for more than 15 minutes begins to lose flavor as the natural oils break down. “In 10 minutes it will taste flat, in 15 minutes flat and baked,” says Davids. The best solution is to pour it into a preheated insulated carafe immediately after brewing, he advises.

Keep it clean

Clean your coffee pot and machine regularly to get rid of all that brown icky stuff left behind. Coffee contains oils that can go rancid and ruin the flavor of your morning brew. Just don’t go overboard on the soap or you’ll taste detergent, not coffee, in your next cup. Try a little baking soda or vinegar and lots of hot water instead.

To freeze or not to freeze: It’s up to you

Coffee experts have argued pro and con about freezing beans to extend their life, but here are some suggestions for making it work: Never freeze them for longer than a month. Store them properly in airtight freezer baggies in one-week portions, to avoid condensation or frostbite. Thaw before grinding and don’t put them back in – it’s the thawing and refreezing that will ruin your beans.