Best Coffee Brewing Practices

This month’s know your beans, I wanted to talk about best brewing practices. There’s a lot of information online about this topic, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned about coffee, it’s very subjective, and like wine there can be a wide range of variety and taste preferences. The goal with this thought, is to hone in on some good standard practices for a more consistent and enjoyable cup for everyone. These thoughts were inspired by an article a friend in Philadelphia sent me about enjoying a good morning cup. Early in the business I had printed a card of my own, with my own personal research. As a person who appreciates the Catholic Church’s view of science in a broad sense, similar to Aristotle's definition of science as "sure and evident knowledge obtained from demonstrations", I am not one to record data to make my points, just too tedious. However over the years of my business, I have appreciated seeing others prove my own suspicions, through their experimentation and research.

One of these hunches to begin, is how I bag my coffee, if you notice, I use the simple craft bags, because I have always felt that coffee needs air, like an uncorked bottle of wine to properly develop. Vacuumed seal bags with the valves I have always felt stifles that natural develop, in hopes of becoming the next great wholesaler. This allows the bag to sit on grocery store shelves for long periods of time. My hope is to simply share a cup like you would enjoy at the coffee farm in the country of origin. It’s why I also only do single origin, and in some cases single farm too. Recently my friends at Cafe Kreyol did an experiment on this subject, affirming my initial suspicions. They discovered over a 21 day period, the bean continued to develop in flavor. This is coming from the 2023 roaster of the year, as named by Roast Magazine. I currently get my Bolivian, Haitian, and Dominican coffee from them. They do amazing work with farmers worth researching.

I share this, because Cafe Kreyol was one of my great inspirations early in my business. I had several customers that used to always tell me I had the best Yirgacheffee, Haitian or something else they had tried. Very often I would just give it up to the very small batches I do, but when I had one customer share with me, that they enjoyed my Haitian more than another company they usually buy from, to my surprise, they mentioned Cafe Kreyol. This is where I knew I was onto something different, because Cafe Kreyol has been my kind of coffee company, ahead of the curve, doing something outside of the box, in a sometimes very rigid industry. It also taught me to never over think things, there’s a wide space of opportunity through offering experiences. Something different to the daily routines.

Through brewing in the many traditional manners, I’ve come to see the value in all the different brewing methods. Whether you are using a Keurig coffee maker, a standard coffee machine & coffee maker that drips, or espresso machines that make a potent shot or latte, every tradition brews a unique flavor with the same coffee bean & roast. Freshness of your beans will also make a difference. Try to avoid anything roasted under 48 hours as the flavor just starts to develop. In my case I put the actual roast date. This will allow you to know where you stand. I have found the best flavor develops between 7-30 days and will begin decline around 60-90 days depending on storage. Darker roast tend to develop more quickly.

To begin, just like your pizza and bread in places like New York City, water makes a difference. Whether it’s spring water, or filtered water, this will always improve your experience since most tap water is heavily chlorinated. I’ve come to find filtered water with the minerals left in it is best. It’s healthier for you teeth my dentist shared, since there’s a lot of tooth decay now days due to drinking a lot of bottled water stripped of minerals. In addition minerals can add flavor to anything we consume. The one place I would caution this is with your espresso, as the minerals can eventual clog your machine as they build up.

Grinding will also effect your brewing experience. Here’s a blog I previously wrote for the right grind. In addition to grinding, your portioning will determine a lot. I personally keep it simple using 1 tablespoon for every 8 ounces of water. Weighing it is an option if you have the time to be more precise, which I am reminded makes a difference. A simple google search can help you with the right weight for whatever quantity and method you’re brewing.

Water temperature is always an interesting topic. I’ve heard many different views, especially from the great George Howell, who was the original specialty coffee of Boston before Starbucks bought out his original locations called “The Coffee Connection”. I always encourage people to visit his new original location with his name on it, in the Boston Commons area for a unique experience. George Howell’s preference is 195 degrees, but personally I feel it just allows you to drink it a little sooner, the key is make sure it’s 195 or more for proper extraction.

One of my original images and montage of brewing methods when the business was inspired and developed in 2020.