About Coffee Blends, Roasting the Coffee Bean and How to Brew a Good Cup of Coffee

Blending Coffee | Roasting Coffee Beans |
Grinding for Your Favorite Brewing Method | Brew a Good Cup of Coffee

Blending Coffee Beans to Achieve Superior Flavors

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Coffees of various origins are usually blended in different proportions so as to make a cup of coffee with varying acidity and different taste characteristics. Coffee from the many growing regions in the world produces beans with distinctive characteristics. The reason behind blending is to balance the flavors needed to create a unique and better coffee. Many blends contain over 5 different types of coffee beans.

 

Roasting the Coffee Bean Develops the Flavor

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Roasting the coffee bean develops it by forcing the moisture out and bringing its rich oils closer to the surface intensifying the aroma and developing the flavor.

• A light roast results in a cinnamon colored bean with a sharper, more acidic taste
• A dark roast produces a chocolate brown colored bean.

The darker the roast the more oil rises to the surface of the bean producing a fuller flavored coffee with less caffeine and aciditiy.

Roasting Methods:

• Drum roasting machines roast the coffee beans in a rotating drum heated by gas.
• The hot air roasting machine roasts the coffee beans on a hot air current
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How to Grind Your Coffee for the Desired Results

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The roasted coffee must now be ground relative to how it will be brewed. The following is the popular guideline:

• Pecolated coffee: medium to fine
• Espresso: fine
• Coffee Press or Plunger: coarse
• Filtered Drip Coffee: medium
• Turkish or Greek Coffee: extra fine
  

 

How to Brew a Good Cup of Coffee

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Coffee is brewed in four basic ways: boiling, steeping, percolating and filtering.
Filtering is considered the best and percolating the least desireable.

• tasty water
• use a vacuum pot and keep no longer than 2-4 hours to retain aroma
• use ceramic, prorcelain or glass brewing pot and mugs
• do not reheat your coffee or it will become bitter
• If you like your gourmet coffee rich and strong make it with two heaping tablespoons for each six-ounce cup of water.
• For milder coffee it is best to add hot water to your cup after brewing rather than making it with more water