Do you feel like a coffee connoisseur that knows everything about coffee? Even if you are a coffee expert there is always more things that you can learn. Continue reading for helpful advice for expanding your knowledge about coffee in order to make the best cup of joe you’ve ever tasted.
Keep your automatic coffee maker clean with white vinegar. Run a brewing cycle with one part water to one part white vinegar. After allowing the carafe to soak in the vinegar for a while, run a cycle with plain water to rinse the machine. Clean your coffee maker once every week or two to remove rancid coffee oils, mold and other contaminants.
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.
Don’t just default to storing your coffee in your freezer. As a matter of fact, it is possible for coffee to absorb some of the odors and flavors from nearby foods. An optimal spot for storing coffee is a non-translucent container that is air tight. If you must freeze it or put it in the fridge, at least use a freezer bag.
Try using coffee when cooking meats. When you think of coffee in foods, you typically think of a flavor that is rather strong. In desserts, that’s definitely true. But when you use coffee as a rub for red meat, it actually brings out the flavor of the meat itself, making for a much tastier meal.
Always consider how much coffee you plan on having as you measure out the water and coffee grounds. Measuring cups hold eight ounces, as opposed to the six ounces that a standard cup holds. The ideal mix is water, six ounces, and coffee, two tablespoons. Using a measuring cup will result in a watered down brew.
A big mistake that many people make when brewing coffee is not using the proper amount of coffee. The proper ratio of ground coffee to water is six ounces of water for every two tablespoons of coffee. Any less coffee and you will have a weak and unsatisfying brew that tastes more like water than coffee.
If you like the flavor of vanilla sugar in your coffee, but don’t like the price, here’s a great tip. Purchase your own vanilla beans, and bury them in a jar of sugar for at least one week. Then, use the vanilla sugar instead of regular sugar in your coffee for added flavor.
If you drink it black, coffee can assist with burning fat. Putting sugar in your beverage will negate all the positives associated with the drink. Drinking black coffee with your breakfast will help you control your weight.
Packaging is important when it comes to coffee. It you buy coffee beans, pay attention to the packaging they come in. Make sure you buy beans with quality packaging. Also pay attention to how long it took to package these beans and how long they’ve been sitting on a shelf. Little facts like these can make a big difference in taste.
For those of you who prefer a more medium cup of coffee, you should roast your beans for between 9 and 11 minutes but no longer than that. When they come out of the roaster they will look dry, but it produces a much sweeter taste than a mild brew.
Do you like to put milk in coffee? There are several different methods of adding milk to your coffee. While chilled milk is popular, it provides for a different coffee experience than warm milk does. You can get a different flavor depending on how much milk you use.
Ask your favorite coffee shop how they make the coffee. This will of course give you some great ideas about brewing your own coffee, but make sure that you ask good questions. Ask about technique, but also ask where the coffee comes from and how it is grown and harvested. You want to make sure you’re having the best coffee, after all!
Make sure your coffee remains sealed in order to keep it fresh. When coffee becomes exposed to oxygen, the taste can be impacted. It can make your coffee taste stale and old. To avoid losing flavor, only store your extra coffee in airtight containers.
Coffee can be addictive as many hard drugs. If you are drinking more than five or six cups a day, you may have a problem. It might be hard to quit cold turkey, but try to avoid withdraw symptoms by tapering off gradually. Reduce your daily intake by one cup a day every week until you are down to a reasonable coffee consumption level.
Do not store coffee beans or ground coffee in glass jars or other transparent containers. Light, heat, and exposure to air can negatively affect the quality of the coffee. Place ground coffee beans in an airtight container that you cannot see through. Store the container in a cool area away from the stove.
Never get caught up in a coffee shop debate about whether or not baristas are tipped enough or should get tipped at all. Both sides are passionate about their arguments, and when everyone has a cup of coffee in their hands, a tense conversation can get anxious pretty quickly and out of hand.
You may not have known all of these fantastic tips. This piece has told you what you need to build a better coffee. Who knows, maybe these tips will impress those around you as well?
