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How you should be making coffee
I borrowed an employee manual today at the local Starbucks and copied the below about brewing coffee.
Good coffee starts with great ingredients and the right recipe. Coffee and water are the only ingredients, and to learn what to do with them, you need only the Four Fundamentals : proportion, grind, water and freshness. Understand and follow the guidelines for each of them and you're on your way to brewing a great cup of coffee.
Proportion
Use the Right Proportion of Coffee to Water
This is the most important step in making great coffee. The recipe for great coffee is two tablespoons of ground coffee (10 grams) for each six fluid ounces (180 milliliters) of water. Starbucks did not invent this brewing recipe ; the standard is based on consumer research done in the 1940's by an organization called the Coffee Brewing Center. The standard coffee measure was introduced in 1945, twenty six years before Starbucks opened its first store in 1971.
Coffee is made when hot water extracts, or pulls out, the flavor components in the ground coffee and mixes them with water. The proper proportion allows the extraction of the coffee's full flavors and yields a rich, aromatic cup. Keep these proportions constant, regardless of the quantity you make. The best way to make a "weaker" cup of coffee is to add hot water to properly brewed coffee.
Using Too Little Coffee Makes a Bitter Cup
For a variety of reasons, any people attempt to make a weaker or milder cup of coffee by altering the proportion of coffee to water, most often by using significantly less coffee. Though this approach may be intuitive, the result is usually thin, very bitter tasting coffee - the very thing most coffee drinkers wish to avoid.
The improper dose of coffee means that more water passes through the grounds, continuing the extraction process long after the desirable flavor components have been pulled out. This is why we recommend diluting full-strength coffee if a milder cup is the target.
A pound of coffee makes about 45 six-ounce cups of well-brewed, full-strength coffee. This equates to about 22 tall or 17 grande cups of coffee.
Grind
Different Brewing Methods Require Different Grinds
All commonly used methods of brewing coffee basically work the same way : hot water passes through ground coffee. Among the many variables, the grind of the coffee (the size of the individual particles) is enormously important. The fineness of the grind determines how much time the water and coffee are in contact, which in turn determines exactly what is extracted from the ground coffee.
Simply put, if coffee is ground "too fine," then the water stays in contact with the coffee for too long, resulting in over-extraction. If the grind is "too coarse," the opposite happens and the coffee is watery (under-extracted). The correct grind is an function of the brewing method. Three basic brewing methods are dominant :
- Drip coffee, which uses paper or mesh filters, either flat-bottomed or cone-shaped. The cone-shaped filter uses a finer grind.
- Espresso : Starbucks sells only pump-driven machines, but other types exist and are addressed in the grind chart in this section.
- Coffee press : Starbucks recommended brewing method, the coffee press requires a coarse grind.
Grinding Finer Doesn't Save Coffee
Among the most common errors people make in brewing coffee at home is grinding coffee too fine. This practices is rooted in the belief that a finer grind will mean more cups per pound. The result of this practice is indeed more cups per pound, but all the cups are bitter and over-extracted. As noted earlier, an overly fine grind allows the water and coffee to stay in contact for too long.
Grinding Coffee
[ ]
Coarse
This is the recommended grind for coffee press, cold-water brewers (such as Toddy), open pot and percolators.
Water
Heat Water to Just off the Boil
Water heated to just off a boil (195 to 205 degrees F ; or 90 to 96 degrees C) is perfect for extracting the coffee's full range of flavors. Any cooler, and the water can't adequately do the job. Automatic coffee makers heat the water for you. Make sure the one you use gets the water hot enough. If you use a kettle to heat water, bring the water to a boil, remove the kettle from the heat for a few seconds, and then pour the water onto the coffee. When brewing coffee in a coffee press in your store, use water from the hot water dispensing spigot on your store's brewer.
[ ]
Brewing in a Coffee Press
All stores should have several coffee presses on hand and ready to use. The procedure for brewing in a coffee press is :
1. Add into the coffee press the correct amount of coarsely ground coffee :
- 8-cup press : .12 lb. (54 g) or 5 scoops
- 12-cup press : .18 lb. (82 g) or 8 scoops
- One scoop equals = 2 tablespoons
2. Add water from your coffee brewer's hot water source, and stir to make sure all the grounds are wet.
3. Place the plunger assembly loosely on top to hold in the heat.
4. Using a timer, steep four minutes.
5. Pointing the pouring spout away from you and holding the pot by the handle, slowly press the plunger down with your other hand to push the grounds to the bottom of the pot.
6. Serve immediately, as the coffee maintains its superior taste for only 20 minutes. Set a time for 20 minutes if all of the coffee will not be consumed immediately.
Coffee Freshness : At Home
Encourage your customers to think of coffee as they do fresh produce or a fresh loaf of bread. Both can be fantastic if fresh and terribly disappointing if not. As with produce and bread, there are some simple things to keep in mind that will help maintain the quality and value of fresh coffee.
The enemies of coffee are oxygen, light, heat and moisture. Once a FlavorLock bag has been opened, which exposes the coffee to air, it should be stored in an opaque, airtight container at room temperature for the best way to keep it fresh and great-tasting.
Use Freshly Ground Coffee
For the best results, coffee should be ground fresh just before brewing. Whole bean coffee stays fresh longer because there is less surface area exposed to oxygen. By grinding beans each time you brew, the freshness is preserved.
Drink Coffee when Freshly Brewed
Once brewed, the flavors in coffee are very fragile. Brewed coffee is best held in a thermal carafe. Coffee left on the burner of a home machine will begin to taste bad after 20 minutes. Coffee should never be reheated.
Based upon the above from the employee manual, my suggestion as that you commence boiling your water. While the water is heating, grind your beans. I'd pulverize them as much as the socket to a bayonet will allow. If you still see beans, you need to grind it more. By the time you're tired of pounding that rio, the water should be nearly ready. Add the grind to the boiled water and stir. It should froth to the top rather quickly. Use of a boiler with bailing wire is recommended. Remove from the fire, stir once, cover, and let sit as long as it takes the grounds to settle. Strain it into a second vessel by slow pour and the assistence of the blade of a pocket knife. Drink it.
I borrowed an employee manual today at the local Starbucks and copied the below about brewing coffee.
Section Nine
Brewing and Selling Coffee
Brewing and Selling Coffee
Good coffee starts with great ingredients and the right recipe. Coffee and water are the only ingredients, and to learn what to do with them, you need only the Four Fundamentals : proportion, grind, water and freshness. Understand and follow the guidelines for each of them and you're on your way to brewing a great cup of coffee.
Proportion
Use the Right Proportion of Coffee to Water
This is the most important step in making great coffee. The recipe for great coffee is two tablespoons of ground coffee (10 grams) for each six fluid ounces (180 milliliters) of water. Starbucks did not invent this brewing recipe ; the standard is based on consumer research done in the 1940's by an organization called the Coffee Brewing Center. The standard coffee measure was introduced in 1945, twenty six years before Starbucks opened its first store in 1971.
Coffee is made when hot water extracts, or pulls out, the flavor components in the ground coffee and mixes them with water. The proper proportion allows the extraction of the coffee's full flavors and yields a rich, aromatic cup. Keep these proportions constant, regardless of the quantity you make. The best way to make a "weaker" cup of coffee is to add hot water to properly brewed coffee.
Using Too Little Coffee Makes a Bitter Cup
For a variety of reasons, any people attempt to make a weaker or milder cup of coffee by altering the proportion of coffee to water, most often by using significantly less coffee. Though this approach may be intuitive, the result is usually thin, very bitter tasting coffee - the very thing most coffee drinkers wish to avoid.
The improper dose of coffee means that more water passes through the grounds, continuing the extraction process long after the desirable flavor components have been pulled out. This is why we recommend diluting full-strength coffee if a milder cup is the target.
A pound of coffee makes about 45 six-ounce cups of well-brewed, full-strength coffee. This equates to about 22 tall or 17 grande cups of coffee.
Grind
Different Brewing Methods Require Different Grinds
All commonly used methods of brewing coffee basically work the same way : hot water passes through ground coffee. Among the many variables, the grind of the coffee (the size of the individual particles) is enormously important. The fineness of the grind determines how much time the water and coffee are in contact, which in turn determines exactly what is extracted from the ground coffee.
Simply put, if coffee is ground "too fine," then the water stays in contact with the coffee for too long, resulting in over-extraction. If the grind is "too coarse," the opposite happens and the coffee is watery (under-extracted). The correct grind is an function of the brewing method. Three basic brewing methods are dominant :
- Drip coffee, which uses paper or mesh filters, either flat-bottomed or cone-shaped. The cone-shaped filter uses a finer grind.
- Espresso : Starbucks sells only pump-driven machines, but other types exist and are addressed in the grind chart in this section.
- Coffee press : Starbucks recommended brewing method, the coffee press requires a coarse grind.
Grinding Finer Doesn't Save Coffee
Among the most common errors people make in brewing coffee at home is grinding coffee too fine. This practices is rooted in the belief that a finer grind will mean more cups per pound. The result of this practice is indeed more cups per pound, but all the cups are bitter and over-extracted. As noted earlier, an overly fine grind allows the water and coffee to stay in contact for too long.
Grinding Coffee
[ ]
Coarse
This is the recommended grind for coffee press, cold-water brewers (such as Toddy), open pot and percolators.
Water
Heat Water to Just off the Boil
Water heated to just off a boil (195 to 205 degrees F ; or 90 to 96 degrees C) is perfect for extracting the coffee's full range of flavors. Any cooler, and the water can't adequately do the job. Automatic coffee makers heat the water for you. Make sure the one you use gets the water hot enough. If you use a kettle to heat water, bring the water to a boil, remove the kettle from the heat for a few seconds, and then pour the water onto the coffee. When brewing coffee in a coffee press in your store, use water from the hot water dispensing spigot on your store's brewer.
[ ]
Brewing in a Coffee Press
All stores should have several coffee presses on hand and ready to use. The procedure for brewing in a coffee press is :
1. Add into the coffee press the correct amount of coarsely ground coffee :
- 8-cup press : .12 lb. (54 g) or 5 scoops
- 12-cup press : .18 lb. (82 g) or 8 scoops
- One scoop equals = 2 tablespoons
2. Add water from your coffee brewer's hot water source, and stir to make sure all the grounds are wet.
3. Place the plunger assembly loosely on top to hold in the heat.
4. Using a timer, steep four minutes.
5. Pointing the pouring spout away from you and holding the pot by the handle, slowly press the plunger down with your other hand to push the grounds to the bottom of the pot.
6. Serve immediately, as the coffee maintains its superior taste for only 20 minutes. Set a time for 20 minutes if all of the coffee will not be consumed immediately.
Coffee Freshness : At Home
Encourage your customers to think of coffee as they do fresh produce or a fresh loaf of bread. Both can be fantastic if fresh and terribly disappointing if not. As with produce and bread, there are some simple things to keep in mind that will help maintain the quality and value of fresh coffee.
The enemies of coffee are oxygen, light, heat and moisture. Once a FlavorLock bag has been opened, which exposes the coffee to air, it should be stored in an opaque, airtight container at room temperature for the best way to keep it fresh and great-tasting.
Use Freshly Ground Coffee
For the best results, coffee should be ground fresh just before brewing. Whole bean coffee stays fresh longer because there is less surface area exposed to oxygen. By grinding beans each time you brew, the freshness is preserved.
Drink Coffee when Freshly Brewed
Once brewed, the flavors in coffee are very fragile. Brewed coffee is best held in a thermal carafe. Coffee left on the burner of a home machine will begin to taste bad after 20 minutes. Coffee should never be reheated.
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