Ah, coffee! There is nothing like the aroma of a freshly brewed cup of coffee wafting through the house. However, even if you start off every day with a cup of joe, there is always more to learn about this amazing beverage. Keep reading to learn something new about coffee.
Make sure that you make your coffee in water that you would have no problem drinking alone. This is important because the taste of the water will affect the way that it makes your coffee taste. If you live in an area where the water quality is not that great, use spring water to brew your coffee.
Those of you who work from home can turn to coffee to get rid of cabin fever. Lots of coffee places offer free WiFi, so you can work in them while you get your coffee fix. Keep in mind that a lot of restaurants have Internet as well.
Be mindful of the sort of water used for brewing coffee. Poor tap water can hurt the taste and feel of your coffee. Also, try to make sure the water you use has minerals. Otherwise, your coffee runs the risk of tasting bitter.
If you loved your coffee on ice, try cold-brewing your own coffee concentrated. There are many recipes available online; Most entail mixing a few cups of water into several ounces of ground coffee, allowing the mixture to sit overnight. When the grounds are strained out, you are left with a smooth, rich concentrate that can be diluted with milk or water and ice.
When you brew your coffee at home, do not throw out the used grounds. These coffee grounds might not be good for another cup of coffee, but they are excellent for many other purposes. They are great for composting, exfoliating, cleaning, and quite a few other uses. Don’t throw them away!
Always make sure that you store your coffee in an airtight container if you are not planning on using it. This will help to preserve its freshness so that you can make coffee that is desirable for all of your friends and family. Coffee tastes the best when it is fresh, as this will help to optimize your brew.
Using fresh roasted beans really produces the best coffee. If you insist on buying whole beans, make sure they haven’t expired and check the roasting date. It is generally best to buy your beans from a specialty store or coffee shop rather than the supermarket.
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.
Never store coffee near your oven. Heat saps the flavor out of your coffee very quickly. Avoid storing your java anyplace that is close enough to the oven to get warm.
Do not buy purchase coffee that has packaged beans and is pre-flavored. These coffees are made using oil that is hard to clean out of a coffee pot. They will also affect future pots of coffee that you make, giving each subsequent cup a funny taste. Furthermore, the flavors these coffees are made with tend not to taste good anyway.
To keep your coffee beans fresh, put them in the freezer. While many people refrigerate their coffee, doing so allows the beans to absorb odors from foods inside your fridge. A better solution is to freeze the beans. One easy approach is to divide the beans into several smaller packages so you can simply remove a package as needed.
The amount of time that you brew your coffee is very important. Around 4 or 5- is all it should take. If you brew for longer than five minutes, the coffee ends up tasting bitter. If you brew for less than four minutes, usually you end up with a weak and flavorless brew.
When buying coffee, never buy in bulk. Buy enough coffee for the week and store at room temperature. Heat and light destroy the flavor of your coffee. If you have to, you can store your beans in an airtight container in the freezer, and they will last up to a month.
To gauge which roasts are right for your taste preferences, pay close attention to the color of the beans. Typically, the darker a bean is roasted the stronger its brewed taste will be. French roasted beans are dark but Italian roasted beans by far produce the darkest and strongest coffee.
When brewing coffee, use fresh, clean water. Since your coffee essentially consists of mostly water, the quality of the water you use will affect the quality of the coffee you drink. Avoid using a water-softening filter for the water you use in your coffee. Super soft water fails to properly extract the coffee oils.
Eliminate the expense of coffee shop lattes by making your own at home. With practice you can even teach yourself to create the fancy designs produced by the baristas at your favorite local coffee shop. All you need to perfect your design is patience and practice. Pour the milk into the cup slowly and finish with melted chocolate.
The kind of coffee you enjoy drinking depends on the region in which is brewed. If you prefer coffee that has a mild flavor, go with coffees from Latin America countries, like Brazil. If you like those with an exotic taste, you should drink coffee from African or Asian countries.
A clean coffee maker is a great coffee maker. If your coffee maker is not cleaned on a weekly basis, your coffee will suffer. Use a solution of one part vinegar to two parts water to run through the coffee makers system to flush out any dirt and contaminants that could influence the taste of your coffee.
Coffee is the fuel that keeps you going through a long, hard day, but you may not have realized just how amazing coffee can be. Now that you have read this article, you should have a new appreciation for this remarkable drink. The next time you are enjoying a pot of coffee, think back on this article.
