Brewing Coffee - Tips For the Best Cup Ever

Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages on the planet. The first reference to "coffee" dates to 1598. The word in was borrowed from the Arabic: qahwah. Worldwide, 6.7 million metric tons of coffee were produced annually in 1998-2000, and the forecast is a rise to seven million metric tons annually by 2010. Everyone will have drank a cup of coffee at one time or another, but how can you make the best cup ever? First we must start with the bean itself.

Coffee Beans

There are thousands of ways to get coffee beans. There are many different variations, all that enjoy different levels of flavour and aroma. Before you get to do anything to them as a drinker, they go through growing, processing, fermenting and roasting stages. You can usually select where your beans come from, and the way they are roasted, which will ultimately dictate most of the flavours you enjoy. Of the two main species grown, arabica coffee (from C. arabica) is generally more highly regarded than robusta coffee (from C. canephora); robusta tends to be bitter and have less flavor but better body than arabica.

The Roasting

If you are particularly picky about what you coffee tastes like, I recommend looking into a local bean roaster, or even trying your hand at roasting your own. Roasting coffee transforms the chemical and physical properties of green coffee beans into roasted coffee products. The roasting process is what produces the characteristic flavor of coffee by causing the green coffee beans to expand and to change in color, taste, smell, and density. There are many different types of roasting, from the cinnamon roast, which is the lightest to a Turkish roast, which is the heaviest.

The Preparation

The preparation is the thing you will have most control of. Personally I prefer percolator, or dripolator, coffee. The most common coffee is the one poured from an espresso machine. In a percolator, boiling water is forced into a chamber above a filter by steam pressure created by boiling. The water then seeps through the grounds, and the process is repeated until terminated by removing from the heat, by an internal timer, or by a thermostat that turns off the heater when the entire pot reaches a certain temperature. Coffee may be brewed by steeping in a device such as a French Press (also known as a cafetire or coffee press). Ground coffee and hot water are combined in a cylindrical vessel and left to brew for a few minutes.

The Pouring

For the best cup of coffee the cup should be warm. The best coffee cups also have round bottoms, so it is said. Milk first, or coffee first? Again, most people say you should pour the milk first because that way the coffee mixes in the cup. Chemically it doesn't really matter. As long as you don't overdo the milk.