Tips for a Great Cup of Coffee, Part 1
August 24, 2009 by Karen Weideman
Filed under Food and Drinks
I think back to my early days of drinking coffee and can’t help but to smile. I had no clue what a good cup of coffee was, which is obvious by all of the cream and sugar I put into a cup. I have to wonder how many people I served coffee to that thought it was absolutely horrible. Since then, I have tasted the goodness of coffee and now I just can’t go back. Here are some tips to help with obtaining a good cup of coffee.
1) Grind your own beans. Coffee tastes best when it is fresh. You can’t get much fresher than grinding your own beans. The smell is wonderful too!
2) Store your beans at room temperature. I’ve seen some folks that put their coffee in the refrigerator or freezer. This one sort of puzzles me. They say it’s to keep it fresher. In reality, the beans pick up the flavor of the refrigerator or freezer and the coffee absorbs the moisture as well.
3) Use 1 tablespoon of ground coffee for every cup of coffee you’re making. This also translates to 2 tablespoons per 8 oz of water. A “cup of coffee” is a bit confusing because it’s not an actual cup in your measuring cup. I use my coffee maker’s carafe to measure my water. That way I know it’s one tablespoon per cup. I usually make 4 cups at a time so I use 4 tablespoons of coffee grounds. In actuality, this is only 2 cups in a measuring cup. If that doesn’t make sense, let me know.
Stay tuned as I’ll be sharing more tips for a great cup of coffee. What steps do you take to ensure a great cup?
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I have learned to drink it black… I never knew it could taste so good! And I was one of those poor souls that thought coffee should be stored in the freezer. Must have been an ’80s thing. I’ve wised up and now I just make sure that it is air tight and at room temp.
I don’t know that I’ll ever like it black. I am very fond of the french vanilla creamer. mmmmmm!
Try making the coffee a little stronger, I always recommend 2 rounded tablespoons for every 6 oz of water you brew.
Great tip on grinding your own beans. Grind them just seconds before you make your coffee… coffee goes stale about 30 minutes after grinding, and on top of that 90% of the C02, what mainly transports the essential coffee oils out of the beans and into your cup, dissipates within 60 seconds after grinding so be quick when making coffee.