Overlooked area of innovation - The perfect cup of coffee.

reply to post by POPtheKlEEN89


So if you don't mind, where do you order your coffee beans from and what is the roasting technique. I am all over DIY so please share. TY.

Good coffee is more than the machine that brews it.

What's most important, is what kind of coffee you're using, and how you are preparing it. The absolute best way to achieve consumer perfection of java, is to buy 'green beans' wholesale from a coffee shop. I buy a few pounds here and there and try out different lots from all over the world.

Once you get your desired beans, you read up on their 'roast profile' and flavor-tones, then throw them in a drum roaster to toast them up into a nice flavorful, practiced roast. Every lot and every blend has it's own special roast time and temperature. From Blonde, to Cinnamon, City, Full City and all the way to a bitter Italian roast. You practice it, then you get professional with it. Once you achieve perfection with your chosen green-bean, it's as simple as putting your warm roasted beans into a tin or bag with a valve seal. The valve is to vent the excess CO2 produced from the resting beans. If not properly vented, the beans will get 'oily' much faster, the flavor profile will be compromised, and the resulting taste will be less than decent.

Let the beans rest overnight. Optimal rest time is 24-48hrs, but every bean and roast is different. Some lots are good after 4hrs. When they rest in the bag, the aromas are captured and give your bean a quality and distinct flavor after you grind it. Typically roasted beans lose their flavor profile after 6-8 days.

Throw the beans into a burr grinder. Not an electric blade grinder. Blades (like a blender) cannot produce the perfect grind needed for whatever you're brewing. Blades can't meet the consistency needed for a grind the way a burr grinder can. Whether it's a really fine grind for espresso, or a "rocky road" coarse grind for a French Press (like the mentioned Bodum), you grind it up on the spot, then put it directly into the machine.

Put it through your espresso machine, drip brewer, french press.. whatever.

Guaranteed best cup of java.


In order of importance, from left to right:

Quality Bean > Good Roast > Best Grind > Decent Machine
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This cannot be taken out of order under any circumstance.

Whatever you do, don't get an expensive espresso machine and then buy already ground coffee from the store. This is a grave sin. There are many places online (or local if you're lucky) where you can order beans and have them roast-and-ship, and get it in 2-4 days. If you do that, you can skip steps 1 and 2 and still have a wonderful cup of coffee. Don't skip the grind, though... can't be done.


(By the way, this should probably be in BTS, no?)

reply to post by SyphonX

(By the way, this should probably be in BTS, no?)

My initial post was a little weak, but since then, I think this post made the thread worthy of the Science forum.

We got one of these machines for my mother. Easy for her to use. I like the taste and the variety of the Kcups. There is a fill your own Kcup available sold separately, but its kinda pricey too, but lets you use your own grind. For the self grinding folks here is a bean blend that my brother developed for his restaurant:

50%Guatemalan
45% Columbian
5% Hazelnut

It's a nice blend and the hazelnut is so mild its just smooths out the other two and is barely recognizable.

Originally posted by Arbitrageur
I find that a pot of coffee lasts almost two weeks this way and if there's any degradation in taste over this time, it's not noticeable to me. I've seen coffee suppliers claim that the coffee flavor starts degrading from the moment it's brewed so you should throw out any coffee over an hour old...but they are selling coffee so I think the claim is biased.

I love my coffee, depending on my work schedule I sometimes do not drink all I brew in the morning and put the rest in the fridge and consume it when I get home. I notice a significant difference in flavor.

i like my drip coffee maker. i get my grinds from my local fred meyer. i only purchase what i plan to use in the next two or three days. this way i always have fresh coffee. the brand i like is javatopia. it's good stuff.

if i go out for coffee, my preferences are: dutch bros., peets, java nation, starbucks.

note: the kids at the starbucks near my home make some fantastic lattes. i'm not sure what they do differently but the coffee comes out pretty good.


-subfab