Thursday, February 26, 2009

How To Brew A Good Cup Of Coffee

By Jan Chambers

Brewing the perfect cup of coffee can be done by anyone. Knowing how to brew coffee properly will allow you to enjoy your cup and allow for the natural tastes and flavors to come out.

First, let's look at preparation. You need to start with a clean machine. You will want to make sure that your coffee maker and pot are clean. That means that a pot or brewer with heavy staining or water spots needs to get cleaned. If it is too far stained, you may want to get a new brewer.

Now lets look at brewing. You want to use cold, fresh water. Ideally, if you can use filtered water, even better. Using cold and fresh water from the start will insure that your coffee tastes good. The Coffee is made up of mostly water, therefore this is a key step. Use a clean glass to pour the water into the reservoir. Do not taint the water by using the carafe to pour the water.

Use a high quality coffee to make and brew with. Using premium coffee beans will give you the freshest and more flavorful tasting pot of coffee as well. These coffees are better balanced between bitterness, and roast. Your beans should be stored in an air tight container. The best coffee to use would be one that you grind yourself, but if you can't get that, just get the best that fits within your budget.

The next, is how much coffee to use. You want to use two rounded tablespoons per cup, which is about one cup. You can also find coffee measuring spoons to help. Just use more coffee if you want a coffee that is stronger.

What to do when the coffee is done brewing. First, remove the filter and discard. Allowing the filter to sit in your coffee machine means that coffee will continue to drip in to your freshly brewed coffee. Although the coffee is fresh in your carafe, the last parts of the water draining out of the grounds is bitter. Because of this you run the risk of ruining a fresh pot of coffee. Plan on drinking your coffee as soon as possible.

Best practices for storing your coffee. First, you don't need to keep it in the freezer. Assuming you drink coffee on a regular basis, freezing does not help you. All you need to concern yourself with is keeping it in an air tight container. If you can make sure that you keep the coffee out of the air, you will be well on your way to having coffee that lasts.

The last tips is to enjoy your coffee right away. Coffee loses its flavor as soon as it hits the air. Serve your coffee fresh and you will be able to get the most out of it. Most important, enjoy! - 16004

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