16 tips for better coffee

I recently found this link (http://www.brokeandhealthy.com/16-tips-for-the-best-cup-of-coffee-ever) on reddit, and thought the crowd over on Roaste might find it interesting. 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of it is pretty much second nature to most of us here, but some of the tips are pretty interesting. For example, the tip about using cold water instead of hot because hot water sits longer. It reminded me of the article a while back that suggested to heat water slowly for coffee. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other interesting tip was letting the cup sit for a while before drinking. I've noticed this works especially well with milk based drinks like mochas. Letting the drink sit gives the favors more of a chance to meld together. I am not really sure it would do much for plain black coffee, and I'm not sure I'd let it sit for an hour before drinking, but it might be worth a try. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thing I don't agree with is the coffee to water ratio she lists. The method of preparation will change that ratio quite dramatically. Not to mention that she gives a ratio of tablespoons to water, but depending on grind size tablespoons can differ wildly by weight. Scales are the way to go for consistency’s sake. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other thing I kind of disagree with is ordering In bulk and storing in the freezer/cool dark place. Unless you're drinking a ton of coffee, I don't think you ever need to order 5 pounds of coffee at a time. Instead I think smaller batches are the way to go. While there have been several posts here on roaste.com about freezing and storing, most would argue that if you can instead just order such that there's no need to freeze that's the best. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other things I think are in general good advice, and basically boil down to using good quality ingredients and experiment and the brew will reward you.