If you are an early riser, or even if you are likely to over sleep, nothing makes the morning time sweeter than with a cup of your favorite coffee. If you don’t find yourself stopping by your favorite coffee shop in the morning, you might be grinding your own beans at home. As a coffee drinker, it is likely that you already have your cup of jo routine going strong (almost as strong your brew), but here are a few tips to improve the quality of your home ground cup of coffee.
Grind Daily
While it might seem more convenient to ground enough coffee for the week, or dare I say, the whole bag when you purchase it, grinding your beans on the spot when brewing is the best way to go. Coffee stays fresher longer when it is left in full bean form and goes stale faster when it is already ground. Don’t settle for anything less than the perfect cup of coffee daily, and grind your beans right before brewing!
Know the Roast Date
Find yourself a local coffee roaster to purchase your beans from. After the beans are roasted, your coffee will be at its best flavor for up to about 2 weeks. If kept in a cool and dry place, your beans will stay fresh for about a month, but after 30 days, coffee beans are typically considered stale. Knowing exactly what day your beans were roasted helps you plan for the best possible delicious cup of coffee.
Measure Your Coffee
Sometimes eyeballing a measurement is okay, but do we really want to risk making a mistake with our morning coffee? By measuring out the grounds for each serving, you are creating that much needed consistency your morning routine yearns for. The most typically suggested amount is two tablespoons of coffee grounds for every eight ounces of water. So, if you are using a sixteen ounce french press, you would want to use about four tablespoons of coffee. Obviously, you can adjust this based on your personal coffee preferences.
Types of Grind
Different styles of coffee makers work best with specific consistencies and coarseness. For instance, espresso should be made with very fine coffee grounds, where as a french press or a percolator is best done with more coarse grounds. If you have a drip coffee maker, look for the shape of where the filter goes. If the bottom is flat, then you want to ground your beans to a medium level of coarseness, where as if the filter is cone shaped, you will aim for a finer consistency.
Storage
While many people store their coffee beans at home in the refrigerator, you might want to rethink this. Moisture is the enemy for your coffee, so storing your beans in either the fridge or freezer should be discouraged. In order to maintain freshness for as long as possible, store your beans in a cool, dry location like in a cupboard or pantry. Also, though the aesthetics of coffee beans in a cute glass container on your cabinet might be tempting, doing this can compromise the flavor. You want to store your beans in an opaque, airtight container so that you can be sure that your cup of coffee is fresh, strong, and the perfect start to your day!
