by | January 23, 2012

Learn More Than the Basics of How to Make Coffee

I’ve been a coffee fan since I was a teenager.  That isn’t to say that I’m anything like a coffee snob.  People who look down their noses at others because of what they drink are a bit ridiculous if you ask me.  With that said though, I have built up a bit of knowledge regarding what I think makes a superior cup of coffee.  When I see people paying four dollars for a cup of java just because they don’t know how to properly make coffee on their own, it makes me cringe a bit.  What follows are a few tips to help you get more out of the coffee you brew at home.

  • Starting with quality is always a good idea.  This means good quality coffee beans as well as a decent quality coffee maker.  No matter how you like to prepare your coffee, there is just some equipment that is better than the rest.  Spend a few extra dollars to get a good brand name coffee maker, and don’t always go for the cheapest coffee that you can find.
  • Keep things clean.  No matter whether it is your coffee maker, or even the cup you use to drink coffee, make sure that you give it a thorough cleaning once in a while.  Old coffee remnants will foul the taste of even the best coffee.
  • Try different brewing techniques.  Most people today drink a lot of automatic drip coffee.  The way you brew your coffee can make a big difference in how the finished product tastes.  Try something different like how to make French press coffee.  You might find that you really like it.

These are just a few simple ideas, but they can make a big difference in the coffee you end up drinking.  Most people never really learn how to make coffee that tastes great.  They follow the instructions on the back of the coffee can and never try anything different.  Experiment with your coffee a little bit.  What have you got to lose?

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by | January 19, 2012

Why I Use a Stove Top Percolator

My coffee snob friends tease me a lot about the fact that I use a stove top percolator to make most of my coffee. Partly I love being involved with the preparation of my food and beverages. I’m also a very cheap Yankee who doesn’t like to waste money on fancy gadgets if I don’t have to. Lastly, I live in rural coastal Maine that loses power during blizzards in the winter and hurricanes in the summer, so a coffee maker that doesn’t need electricity (I have a gas stove) is a great choice.

But the first consideration is the quality of the coffee that a stove top percolator brews. In short it is a rich and bold cup of coffee. While a good percolator coffee machine can be bought for under $25, the coffee grinder that produces the ground coffee that goes in the percolator can be quite expensive. And that’s where I invested my coffee making dollars. I have a $200 burr coffee grinder that produces an even ground. When you use a coffee percolator you should use a coarser grind so the water can continue to pull out the flavor as it repeatedly perks through the coffee grounds.

It is also wonderful not to be at the mercy of Mother Nature. When the power goes out I can use my gas stove or burning fireplace to make coffee in my percolator. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the video below to see how to make percolator in very primitive conditions.

 

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by | January 19, 2012

The Taste Of Tea

An oolong tea

Join me on a tea tasting session. Just as with wine, a professional tea tasting session follows a specific set of steps.  The goal is to be able to compare different teas and identify the good and bad points of each.  Here’s what the process involves (adapted from the Australian tea lounge tea site):

The first step is to spread a sample of the dried tea leaf over a white sheet of paper or a small plate so that this can be examined. You can learn quite a lot from dried tea leaves. The taster will check for consistency, determining whether the shape and size of the leaves is the same throughout the sample. You also check the freshness and of course smell the bouquet.

Next for each tea sample the tasting cup is filled with 3 1/2 ounces of water. The water is carefully controlled so that it is the correct temperature for the tea being tested. The water is added to the tea and a lid is placed over the cup for the brew.  The brewing time is normally longer than for normal so that all of the characteristics of the tea are drawn out.  

Once the brew has completed, the tea is decanted into another bowl. The wet tea leaves are kept in the original cup so that they can later be examined.

Before the tea is tasted, the infusion is examined. The tester will check to see whether the liquid is clear or murky.  Then, when tasting the tea, the taster will be looking for 5 different qualities: saltiness, sweetness, sourness, bitterness and umami. The last characteristic is the least familiar to the western palate. The easiest way to describe it is perhaps a savory quality.  The second component of the flavor is determined via the aroma.

We often underestimate how powerful our sense of smell is. But consider this for a moment: We have around 100 million nerve cells in our olfactory system. That’s far more than the 1 million cells that produce our sight or the 100,000 that we use for hearing or the 10,000 that we use when we taste.

But when tasting the tea the taster will not only check for flavors and aromas but also try to determine the effect of the tea on the palate. For example does the tea have a creamy texture? Does it have a mouth filling quality?

Following these steps will allow a taster to control as many factors as possible in the infusion so that he or she can determine the quality of the teas being tasted.

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