The Coffee: It should be brewed no more than 14 days after roasting. Any longer and the taste will become drastically less pronounced. (In fact, after 4 to 6 weeks, all coffees' flavor seriously degrades and becomes flat. According to some experts, more than 90-percent of the coffee bought in the U.S. is stale at the time of purchase.)
Cohveca Coffee seals their roasted whole-bean and ground coffee in "one-way valve" bags to help extend the freshness of the roast. If these bags remain unopened (and therefore don't expose the coffee to air), the gourmet coffee will remain fresh for many weeks longer. Once opened and exposed to air, you can help extend the life of the gourmet coffee by transferring it to an airtight container.
Grind: Each method of coffee brewing has its own set of rules for the type of grind. With experimentation, you may find that these rules do not necessarily apply to you. It is all a matter of taste. At Cohveca Coffee, they believe that a more concentrated cup allows one to experience the full range of flavors that each origin offers. The finer the grind, usually the more concentrated cup. Of course that is up to you. Generally, there are two types of grinders consumers can use: a blade grinder and a burr grinder. While both will grind coffee, the burr grinder chops the beans into more consistent pieces than a blade grinder. Blade grinders - which have blades that look like whirly-bird propellers - are often less expensive than burr grinders; though they're a bit less efficient than burr grinders, for average household use, they're fine. It is our pleasure to grind your freshly roasted beans for you! Please use the following as a guide for your grind:
French Press / Vacuum / Percolator - Coarse grind
Automatic Drip - Medium
Espresso - Fine
Measure: Use 2 tablespoons of ground gourmet coffee for every 6 ounces of water. This can be altered to your taste.
Brewing Method: Once again preference plays a big role in the method in which you create your brew. Some love the ease of an automatic timer controlled brewer, others enjoy the time it takes to prepare a pot from the Press Pot method (i.e. French Press). We feel that the press pot method preserves as much flavor as possible while giving you the most control over the brew. There are countless ways to prepare gourmet coffee but the rule of 2 tbsp to every 6 ounces should produce a great cup.
Water: Ninety-nine percent of brewed
coffee is water. That means the quality of water you use plays a huge role in the final product. Use filtered or bottled water if possible. You want the water to be at 195 degrees F when you are ready to brew.
Never boil coffee as it will taste very bitter, hardly resembling the exotic beverage it was prior. Never re-use ground coffee. And once again 2 tbsp to every 6 oz. of water will produce a consistently excellent cup.
