Great Coffee

How do you make the best cup of coffee at home?

First, start with great coffee, and for us at La Cantina that means Lavazza .

Next, you need to choose the type of brewing that suits your needs. No brewing method is "best" - it is largely a matter of personal preference. Some brewing methods are more suited to one type of coffee than another, for example, vacuum brewing tends to emphasize the delicate flavors in a cup, whereas espresso brewing makes a potent concentrate. Some brewing methods are simpler, some are more complicated (the process takes longer, require a special coffee mill, etc). With any type of brewing method, you need to use good-tasting, fresh water and clean equipment. Water must be heated to between 195 and 205 degrees Farenheit. The proper brewing temperature and the proper grind are essential for maximum flavor extraction. And of course don't forget to clean your equipment!

Step 1: Clean Brewing Equipment. The buildup in your coffee-making equipment does not add to your coffee's flavor (no matter what Grandpa says); it sours it. Lime scale buildup in a coffee maker reduces the temperature the machine can attain. It coats the heating coil and the thing may never get hot enough. The case is also is true for espresso machines.

Step 2: Use enough coffee, and don't use too much! The rule is 2 level tablespoons for a 5-6 ounce cup. Most people skimp. It's really not worth your time and effort to skimp. On the flip side, if you use too much coffee, the flavor and body become unpleasantly strong, and syrupy. And adjust this ratio to your taste - believe your own senses

.Step 3: Extraction. The following three factors are elements influencing extraction; these variables effect all types of brewing and need to be held in concert. As one element changes, you may need to make adjustments in the others. You cannot overdose or underdose to correct extraction problems (bad grind or low water temperature); it only makes weaker or stronger under- or over- extracted coffee. The three factors that influence coffee extraction are:

•Grind. In grinding you are essentially exposing the surface area of the bean to water. Water is a solvent, and the longer and more contact it has with the coffee, the more it will extract. The degree of roast and the freshness of the beans impact how the beans will grind too; for example, a dark roast is more brittle and will crumble more; a dark roast can tend toward overextraction for this reason.

•Water Temperature. As mentioned above, water is a solvent and it is more active when hot, i.e. hot water extracts more quickly than cold water. More extraction = more flavor (in general; too much extraction leads to bitterness). Ideal water temperature for brewing is 195 to 202 degrees. Bring your water to a boil, wait at least 30 seconds, and brew. You can use a pot on the stove or an electric kettle can be more convenient. What is crucial is what happens once the water hits the coffee; does it cool off rapidly as in a single-wall French press or plastic filtercone? Finding ways to conserve the temperature of the water (pre-heating the French press, wrapping it in a towel, can help give you better extraction.

•Extraction Time. In some brewing methods, you control extraction time only indirectly; for example in a standard filtercone your only way to slow extraction time is to use a finer grind. Extraction time will vary based on the two other factors - say your grind is a bit too fine because you have a dark roast but you live at altitude and water boils at a lower temperature. Shortening or lengthening extraction time can compensate.

Let's take a few examples:

1) French press brewing. A French presses generally lose a lot of heat so you can end up with under-extraction. Adding more coffee (increasing the dosing ratio) just means you get stronger under-extracted coffee. Pre-heating the press and/or using and an insulated or double-wall french press can really help with heat loss and hence improve extraction. With a longer extraction time, you then need to adjust the grind coarser.

2) Standard filtercone brewing. Here you have no direct control over the extraction time; the only thing you can do is choose a finer grind so that coffee flows through the filter more slowly. Using more coffee will only help slow the flow of water through the filter, so in a way it may help improve extraction time, but it is just a question of the mass of coffee grounds. Preheating the filtercone and covering the filter helps with heat loss, but generally coffee flows through so fast heat loss is not much of an issue.

The ideal grinding practice is:

•Grind immediately before you brew.

•Adjust grind to brewing method. As noted above, using a French press means that your water temperature plummets drastically, so you need to infuse for long. That means using a coarser grind so you do not get over-extraction. With filter drip, you want to grind fine enough for good flavor extraction and to slow the flow of water through the grinds (one of the only ways to control extraction time), but you do not want the filter to clog completely and the water to pool. if using a presspot, releasing too much sediment into the cup.

•Use a good grinder. While the "whirley blade" type home grinder has helped people like me to grind right before I brew, it does not produce the best results. The whirley blade smashes the bean to bits by rotating at high speeds. The results are an uneven grind: boulders, rocks and powder. Powder clogs the filter, and boulders don't release all their potential contents into the brew. It is also difficult to reproduce the same results with the whirley blade. That said, here's the positives: they are cheap, they last, and they actually are a good match for paper filter brewing (especially Chemex) which catches all the powder. They are also pretty good for Turkish coffee ... a brew method where you want 100% powder!