How to Make Perfect Coffee

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/08/how-to-make-perfect-coffee/278944/

by jonbaer • 13 years ago

185 122 13 years ago

ams6110• 13 years ago

I don't know if it's perfect, but you can do far worse than an Aeropress. It will make a really good americano with ordinary supermarket coffee, and an awesome one with good coffee.

cdcarter• 13 years ago

The article actually goes into depth about what brew methods produce what results. On the scale of more body to more clarity, an aeropress is near the middle, but slightly more body-oriented. So if you prefer flavor clarity, you can do far better than an aeropress too!

Then again, this article is primarily about brew coffee, not espresso, so how it brews an americano is worthwhile contribution.

deckiedan• 13 years ago

I've been using areopresses for a few years now and absolutely love it. I still make cafatiere (french press), stovetop and occasionally vacuum-pot (usually if we have a lot of guests) but areopress is extremely good, and somehow makes even cheaper pre-ground supermarket coffee taste many times better.

larrywright• 13 years ago

The Aeropress stands as the best $25 I've ever spent. It's amazing how good the coffee is from that (and I've tried nearly every other means of making coffee out there). It's also very travel friendly, I generally take it with me on trips with a little pre-ground coffee.

mturmon• 13 years ago

Everything you said. Also, the simplicity of the device and the preparation are appealing to me.

tspiteri• 13 years ago

I used an Aeropress for quite some time. I stopped using it because it wastes a lot of coffee. I used to need a lot more grounds in an Aeropress for the same strength and quantity of coffee. And it was a pity to waste good coffee beans.

techtalsky• 13 years ago

The best coffee I've been able to make at home is with a red plastic #4 cone filter holder and a large mason jar, slowly pouring boiled water over the grounds until the jar is full. Now they have those fancy looking chemex ones for $60 and I'm sure they make good coffee as well. I was seduced by the inferior coffee of a coffe maker because, well, it can have coffee ready for me when I wake up.

TheBiv• 13 years ago

Forgive my ignorance, but a mason jar can withstand temperatures of 200+ without shattering?

I kind of feel bad asking this bc I have lived my entire life in the south (Dallas, Texas) so I feel like I should already know the answer; yet I don't.

jonah• 13 years ago

Mason jars are intended for canning. Typically that involves a boiling water bath. So, yes.

cheald5• 13 years ago

They're frequently used to store jams, which can be quite a bit hotter than coffee when prepared. It wouldn't surprise me. Just don't plunge it into an ice bath right after filling it with boiling water.

001sky• 13 years ago

If you mean 200f, yes. The traditional way is to sterilize them with near/boiling water in situ, to preserve foods without trapping pathologens.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason_jar

nrivadeneira• 13 years ago

You want to know how to make a perfect cup of coffee? It's easy. Make yourself perfect and then just brew naturally.

EDIT: Jeez, downvoters clearly have never read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

visakanv• 13 years ago

I can't downvote you, but I would if I could.

Here's why: http://blog.bumblebeelabs.com/social-software-sundays-2-the-...

TL;DR:

Witty comments might be funny but promoting them is anathemic to serious discussion (in the long run). You can always go to Reddit if you're out to be witty and funny. I realize this sounds harsh and dismissive, I apologize for the tone. (Interwebs and all.)

hudibras• 13 years ago

But I think you also have to take into account the context of the comment. A glib comment would seem out of place in a more "HN-centric" post about VC or Scala or something, but when a fun story about, say, brewing coffee makes the front page I think the comment standards should naturally loosen up.

dylangs10303• 13 years ago

Lighten up, a joke here and there is okay. I thought it was funny, but it didn't diminish my ability to resume serious business, and it didn't push me to be witty in return. The echo chamber needs a stronger boost than that.

jacques_chester2• 13 years ago

This was a great read. I am not prepared just yet to deal with the inconvenience of buying, storing and grinding my own beans, but our household gets through a small packet of vacuum-sealed preground stuff each week. It's a workable compromise.

I've prepared coffees with french press (we call them "plungers" in Australia) and a mini espresso machine. Recently I've been playing with cold brew as well. Like the article suggests, different methods bring out different notes in the coffee.

For the next 10 days I am on decaf-only, so cold brewing has made life more tolerable. Decaf in the espresso machine is like liquid dirt. As a cold brew it has revealed surprising tastiness.

teyc• 13 years ago

Peter Baskerville has the most detailed coffee writeups on Quora http://www.quora.com/Coffee/What-are-some-tips-for-making-a-...

cheald5• 13 years ago

For what it's worth, grinding your own beans is not really any more work than pre ground. I think it's actually easier, since I don't have to carefully measure - I just know that I have to cover the blade with beans, and that turns out to be perfect for my size pot. I just keep my beans in a zip lock in a cabinet, so they stay dark and cool and air sealed. As a bonus, you can decide how fine a grind you like per pot.

jacques_chester2• 13 years ago

It's mostly that I already have a grinder which I use for other purposes. Having two grinders just seems silly.

lostlogin4• 13 years ago

The extra step of roasting isn't really that bothersome either. If it takes more than about 10 minutes you have baked them, any less than about 5 and they are scorched. Always fresh, very cheap (for me its about $10 New Zealand per kg versus $14 NZ per 200g) and you rarely run out. I get 5kgs per purchase and it lasts about 3 months. I use a heat gun ($15NZ) a wooden spoon and an old colander. Heat them and stir them outside.

jmduke• 13 years ago

I didn't know that cold brew even existed until I moved to Seattle, but its upended my world -- especially on hot, lazy mornings where I'd rather sleep the extra thirty minutes and grab a to-go cup from my fridge than go through the morning routine.

cheald5• 13 years ago

I drink enough coffee that I've been working on finding better ways to prepare it.

Good beans matter a lot. I typically like medium roasts, since dark roasts often taste burnt, while light roasts end up tasting too weak. I also tend to not like Indonesian beans, since they tend to have too much peaty taste for my liking. That said, I've been drinking Kicking Horse dark roast[1] lately and it's quite good. Lots of flavor, nice oily beans, no burnt taste.

I boil water, then grind my beans after removing it from heat, which means that the water has cooled to around 195 by the time I pour it. The brew happens in a thermally insulated French press, which maintains the water temperature while it brews. It makes a remarkably smooth, flavorful cup of coffee.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0027Z8VES

philip12092• 13 years ago

I think you'll find that dark roasts are popular now because they have a more robust, classic coffee flavor that stands up to the fat of milk. Lighter roasts seem to come off as citrusy and less flavorful for two reasons. First, roasters tend to use V60s to profile their beans, and the V60 disproportionately removes citrus flavor. The second reason is that many people drink their coffee immediately after brewing, when in fact the flavor completely opens up after the coffee cools down to about 140 degrees (about the temperature of a hot water faucet in a home).

Try a darker roast if you put cream and sugar in your coffee. If you have a lighter roast, be sure to let it cool down to appreciate its benefits. If you buy a medium roast, keep in mind that each type of bean is unique, and certain beans have unique qualities that are highlighted by their roast, so don't assume that the flavors you enjoy are particular to the "medium" roast.

Finally, keep in mind that lighter-roast coffees actually have the most caffeine. This is because heating the coffee breaks down the caffeine molecule, so the longer the roast process and the darker the roast, the more caffeine is broken down.

cheald5• 13 years ago

In general, I shoot for medium roasts just because they're safer - I like the richer flavors from dark roasts, but most dark roasts are just burnt, which makes for a really bitter and unpleasant cup. You're absolutely right about the range of flavors, though - I tend to like nutty coffees (not nut-flavored), and citrus/floral/peaty tend to be less appealing to me. Light roasts seem to accent lighter flavors, like citrus, whereas the darker to roast, the more accented the round, full flavors like peat and nut tend to be.

I actually drink my coffee black (for health reasons; I realized that I was taking in a ton of daily calories in milk and sugar) which is what motivated me to find better coffee. When you're masking the flavor of the coffee with additives, it's easier to get by with bad coffee, but when it's just the brew itself, the tastes matter a lot more.

The lighter roast = more caffeine thing is actually (kind of) a myth; you get less caffeine per bean, but since the dark roasting process removes more water, you actually end up with a higher caffeine-by-volume content in darker roasts. If you're using the same volume of coffee per pot (say, 4 tbsp), then you may actually end up with more caffeine from a dark roast, since substantially more of that 4tbsp will be the coffee itself rather than water left unextracted from the bean. However, the caffeine differences between something like a robusta vs an arabica bean are very significant, so if you need more or less caffeine, you can pick a roast you like with a bean that gives you the caffeine you desire.

drewwwwww• 13 years ago

Most roasters worth discussing use a process called "cupping" to profile their coffees. Even those not worth discussinh are far more likely to use this controlled, direct immersion method, than a paper filter brewer like the Hario v60. Not sure where you're getting this from.

philip12092• 13 years ago

This article attempts to delve into the world of hand-brewed coffee, which became a trend in the professional barista world after Starbucks acquired the Coffee Equipment Company for its Clover Machine in 2008. The Clover was an $11,000 coffee maker that allowed for the precise digital control of every aspect of the brewing process. When Starbucks yanked the machine from the market for exclusive use in their stores, the coffee industry rebounded to more analog brewing methods that relied on the art and craft of the brewer. By providing pourover bars with $12 ceramic funnels in place of $50K espresso machines or $10K brewers, baristas strived for perfect coffee through individuality, as they highlighted method, bean, and flavor. What this article attempts to highlight is the fact that this hand-brewed coffee equipment is both accessible and affordable, thus allowing home brewers the opportunity to appreciate the effects of coffee freshness, grind, temperature, and proportion during the brewing process.

The article could be drastically improved by highlighting the bisection between immersion and pourover brewing methods in hand-brewed coffee. Immersion methods, like the French Press, leave all coffee beans in the full quantity of water for the brew time, and by using filters that remove only coffee grounds, produce a flavorful, full-bodied cup of coffee with natural oils. Pourover methods, such as the Chemex or the V60, generally combine the use of a paper filter with a specific coffee grind to limit the rate at which water flows through the coffee, generally in a cone-shape, which results in a "clean" (less oily) cup of coffee with more fruity and citrusy flavors. The line between immersion and pourover coffees is blurred by hybrid brewing methods such as the Aeropress or the Syphon, which mix ground beans and water for the full brewing time, then extrude through a filter that extracts oils from the coffee.

To get started in the world of hand-brewed coffee, I suggest the Aeropress and a burr handgrinder (total <$40). This combination allows full experimentation into the effects of grind size and extraction time on coffee flavor. The next step would be acquiring a scale, to perfect the proportion of coffee and water. A thermometer would then provide insight into the variable of water temperature, which generally is about ten degrees Farenheit below boiling. Moving forward, the brewer learns about the benefits of preheating the device, the speed of extraction (here, plunging) and its effect on flavor, and about the freshness of beans based on the bloom period of the coffee.

harrytuttle• 13 years ago

I don't get all this fanfare over coffee with respect to all these processes and equipment etc. In a blind taste test, much like wine, I reckon a lot of it is the knowledge and observation of the process rather than flavour or the outcome.

For me, a dirty knackered Bodum french press bought in a charity shop in 1997 for £1 and the cheapest value brand ground coffee the supermarket sells works. Sometimes I can't be bothered with that and just instant.

Perhaps I'm sad but I've spent the last decade playing a game with people. When I lie about the coffee's heritage just to see, they remark that it's good. If they do know the genuine story, they make no remark. I've even thrown some instant in a cup or two next to people drinking pressed as a control and there is still a consensus.

YMMV but I think it's mainly hokum.

Suppose I better tell them all now :)

poke1112• 13 years ago

These things are detectable in blind taste tests, unlike wine. I did one myself to test how much the time-since-ground made a difference in flavor. I had 1 month, 2 weeks, 1 week, 2 days, and fresh grounds. In a blind test I correctly put them in order, except for transposing the 2 day and 1 week old grounds.

e12e5• 13 years ago

I think we're all susceptible to mood affecting taste, and like in medicine, where the placebo-effect may often be real -- if the goal is to enjoy the best taste, then being "fooled", doesn't have to be a bad thing (just like being "tricked" into getting better isn't a bad thing, but basing medical research on it, probably is). Ceremony can add to any experience; and it may be overdone and detract from it.

As for taste varying by how you make the coffee; I'd say that it does -- but assuming you're not doing anything "wrong" -- the differences would be subtle and dominated by the type and preparation of the beans.

Just like you can take a prime cut of meat and burn it to a crisp, you can ruin good coffee -- but the difference between getting it "just right" and "almost right" are much more subtle.

Marazan3• 13 years ago

A French press ( cafetieres for non-colonials ) will produce great coffee without a doubt and I certainly don't use anything more expensive than that.

Cheapest value-brand coffee though I will take exception to, there is a massive difference in taste between freshly roasted, roasted some what recently and dust in a packet even of the same bean variety.

I can't tell the difference between 1% and 2% milk in a blind taste test, I can tell the difference between good and shit coffee by blind smell alone never mind getting it to my mouth.

dylangs10303• 13 years ago

I wanted a [citation needed] on that blind taste test bit, but I went ahead and found it myself.

For the curious, it's true, most people can't tell the difference between cheap and expensive wine[1].

[1] http://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/apr/14/expensive-win...

sanityinc• 13 years ago

If you tell someone that the coffee you're giving them is special, won't good manners dictate that they compliment it?

maxerickson• 13 years ago

Maybe you don't taste bitter very much. Most coffee that isn't fancy is weak and bitter. I could certainly spot weak coffee, and dark vs light roasts.

gnaffle• 13 years ago

I'd suggest that you try serving the same people freshly roasted and ground coffee from a clean french press and pass it off as cheap coffee. Afterwards, serve them the cheapest coffee you can find from dirty coffee equipment and tell them it's high end coffe.

I'd be surprised if they don't prefer the "cheap" coffee. The only exception is that some people will actually prefer old, bitter coffee made with dirty equipment because they're used to that taste. Just like some people will prefer McDonalds to a good restaurant because that's what they're used to. Still doesn't make good coffee or food "mainly hokum". :)

epo• 13 years ago

"Don't know what all the fuss is about", "good enough for me" may mean that you have low standards as much as it might mean other people are faffing about needlessly. Perhaps your friends are just being polite and laugh at your cheapskate ways when you're not there.

thenomad2• 13 years ago

I've performed limited double-blind taste tests to check whether I'm fooling myself about liking quality coffee, and the results indicate that no, I really can tell the difference.

In fact, it turns out I can taste the difference between beans ground with a high-quality burr grinder and a blade grinder, brewed in an otherwise identical way.

If you can't, then I don't see any problem with continuing to use what are perceived as lower-quality beans. But assuming that everyone has exactly the same taste sensitivity as you probably isn't 100% accurate.

(Note: all of this assumes you're drinking the coffee black, that you're using at least a reasonably well-controlled brewing process, and that your water isn't utterly horrible. If any of those things aren't true, it's entirely likely it's much harder to taste the difference.)

ImprovedSilence2• 13 years ago

Haha, I can kinda agree with you on this point. And I will admit I do love a good Starbucks VIA Italian Roast (Instant Coffee). But Keurig stuff just tastes like shit to me. Also the local coffee shop only sells watered down lightly roasted acid.. So can I tell handmade from instant, no, not always, but I can always tell you whether I like it or dislike it. And I always, ALWAYS drink coffee black. If you don't you get no say it what tastes better, cuz you just watered it down with milk and destroyed any flavor it had with sugar...

cmbaus• 13 years ago

Years ago I used to buy and store wine, but I lost interest in it for this very reason. It is difficult to tell the difference between an inexpensive Cote Du Rhone and a $200 Hermitage, or the differences don't justify the cost (in my mind).

With hand brewed coffee the difference is much more noticeable. If are you in SF, stop at 50/50 on Geary. They spend more effort prepared their coffee than any place I've been. I think you will be surprised by the difference in quality.

goostavos3• 13 years ago

I think it's mainly hokum.

Ha! I completely agree. Drink snobbery, whether relating to coffee, beer, wine, or [insert beverage here], has always seemed like confirmation bias in action. Is Startbucks really undrinkable sludge to some people, or is only that way because of that sweet, sweet feeling of smug superiority that they feel when they say it?

I am one of the few that is nerdy enough to blind test myself and friends with things that have an entire culture of snobs around them -- a trait which I picked up after working in the audio industry for years (where people will believe and argue to the death about magical cable properties (give me measurements, or give me death!)).

If I could assemble enough coffee samples, I would love to put myself under test and see if one is empirically "better" to my taste buds. However, logistically it's not possible.

That said, beer and wine is readily available, transportable, and easily testable! So, my girlfriend and I set up a tasting night a few months ago. We grabbed a 6 pack of every cheap beer in the grocery store (pbr, miller lite, Natural Ice, bud, etc..), and then a whole range of wines -- everything from the $70 2011 wine of the year, to a $3 ABC brand bottle. We randomized each trial, poured the wines into glasses and then left the room so others could enter so we wouldn't influence their decisions (our attempt at setting up a double blind test). We had people log their impressions of each one, and then attempt to rate them in ascending order of "quality."

After 4 or 5 trials (it stopped being fun around the 3rd set of trails) we called it quits and looked at everyone's results. It was pretty interesting. In with cheep beer, there was only one consistent looser, and that with Miller Lite (I honestly expected it to be Natural Ice), the rest were all randomly distributed. No one could tell one from the other -- or if one was better than the other -- with any reliability. It actually made it a little frustrating while testing, as some people (including me) though they were being messed with by having several glasses all with the same beer.

The wine had similar results. No clear winner. Result were all over the place with the "best" tasting wine being different for each person each time. With my pallet, I couldn't discern one as being "better," so much as just "different." This one is a little more X, while this one is a little more Y. It was an interesting experience. So, moral of the story, I only buy cheap wine now, because I honestly can't taste the difference. That $70 bottle wasn't even distinguishable from the rest.

I've rambled, but I highly suggest self testing! It's fun, and I can now say that, empirically, Miller lite is undrinkable piss water to my taste buds :)

bradleyjg• 13 years ago

The article could be drastically improved by highlighting the bisection between immersion and pourover brewing methods in hand-brewed coffee.

Did you miss the chart about 2/3 of the way through labeled "spectrum of body and flavor clarity" and accompanying discussion? It goes into exactly this and even uses the same examples of a french press vs pourover. They also recommend a burr grinder, scale, and thermometer as you do in the your last paragraph.

I'm forced to wonder if you read the article before returning here to critique it.

zerr• 13 years ago

Don't forget to drink perfect tea[1] while you're making this.

[1] See upcoming articles about how to make a perfect tea (involves drinking a perfect coffee).

zw123456• 13 years ago

This was a great read, thank you for the post. I recently purchased a La Pavoni, I am not pushing any particular brand, but these types of machines, the manual type, honestly make the best Espresso, which in my view is the best way to enjoy coffee. I have tried every contraption out there over the years, by far a manual pump machine is the best.

tailrecursion• 13 years ago

I think a large part of making better coffee is a matter of iteration, or trial and error. If you do something and it tastes better, you keep doing it. But you're never sure if there's some patch of the search space that you missed, that's even better.

If anyone wants to make splendid coffee, and doesn't fear learning a significant new art I'd suggest roasting your own beans. You can do it with a heat gun or an air corn popper, modified. It's not simple and it's a bit of a fire hazard, but you can get satisfying results blasting some hot air at beans in a pot. Roasting can be more fun and aromatic than making coffee. It is amazing.

For a brewer you could get a sock pot aka woodneck (or just the sock without the pot -- or just muslin cloth if you want to make your own); or, a ceramic cilio-freiling cone, or an inexpensive melitta plastic cone. Both sock & cone are considered pour over methods but they taste different.

For a grinder there are too many choices to pick just one, and the good ones are expensive. For the grinder it may be safer to avoid mass-market products, just because it's too easy to make a mistake and buy an inadequate product.

[Edit: there is another effective trick to get better at brewing. Coffee brewing competitions. It is surprising how effective these are at improving the art. Watching videos of what the contestants are doing is one important tool for improvement.]

selectstar• 13 years ago

Grinders are so important with hand crafted, I've not dropped the $350+ on a Mahlkonig, and I go through a bag a week, so I'm happy to have the store grind. I do have a porlex hand grinder for times when I order a bean based pack from somewhere online, but it's time consuming.

One simple 'hack' for using a french press, as I prefer, is that when pouring the water over only pour enough to cover the grounds. Then stir/shake this around and let it sit for 30 seconds. Then pour over the rest of the water and leave for 4 mins without stiring.

I don't know the science behind it I'm afraid as I read this tip a long time ago, but that inital absorption rather than drowning - leads to a smoother cup. (in my opinion.)

Oh, and support your local roasters! I'm lucky that in my small city there is half a dozen independent companies knocking out great quality beans. For all the staff in their shops may look like the kind of people you don't want to ask a question of, do it, they probably really love coffee and will be able to help your home brew immensely.

--Edit : Beans from Peru are my fav at the momement, give them a shot. :)

e12e5• 13 years ago

My guess: Less water means less heat energy, meaning you don't "overheat" the coffee as badly. It tends to bring out the bitter taste. You find similar things with (proper) tea -- I suppose most infusions.

If you only have one french press it might be difficult to experiment; but like the top comment says; if you want to find out why, getting a thermometer might help (or a timer -- boil water and leave it to cool for x minutes before pouring -- would be somewhat harder to replicate with different ambient temperatures and different vessel, though).

iopq• 13 years ago

I just like really really strong coffee. What's with this "perfect" stuff? I want my coffee to be very flavorful and bitter.

jballanc• 13 years ago

Interesting article, but they overlooked (or at least downplayed) what I think is the most important part of good coffee:

They should be whole beans, sustainably farmed, and roasted within the past few weeks.

Roasted within the past few weeks? How about the past few hours? Seriously, if you haven't had coffee on the same day it was roasted, you don't know what you're missing. All the other variables of preparation method fall by the wayside in the face of the freshness of the roast.

Of course, roasting yourself is not really an option. Still, if you can find someplace that roasts their own on a regular basis, go for that. (For my part, I've been spoiled by the fact that almost every dry goods store where I live roasts their own, usually right in the shop...)

pedrocr• 13 years ago

Of course, roasting yourself is not really an option.

Why do you say that? I've been meaning to try it after I saw Michael Johnston describe it as his hobby[1]. He bought a 300$ machine[2] that by his math will pay for itself since green bean is cheaper than roasted. Amazon also seems to have a few cheap and well reviewed home roasting machines[3].

[1] http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photogra...

[2] http://www.roastmasters.com/behmor.html

[3] http://amzn.to/1d9OvOB

jfb_1973• 13 years ago

Hot air popcorn poppers work really well.

http://www.sweetmarias.com/airpop/airpopmethod.php

snowwolf• 13 years ago

Actually according to Tim Wendelboe (a former world barista champion) you should rest fresh roasted beans for a few days to allow it to degas.

From http://timwendelboe.no/coffee/finca-tamana-espresso/ "When the coffee is roasted it develops a lot of CO2 gas inside the beans. This gas will make the coffee taste smokey and ashy immediately after roasting. It is absolutely crucial to let the coffee degas and rest for a while before use to ensure maximum flavour."

He gives a great talk on sourcing high quality beans here: http://vimeo.com/69487909

fellowniusmonk• 13 years ago

For espresso this is true. For "pour over" the fresher the better, you first pour just enough water over the grounds to saturate which causes a massive off gassing, then you pour to completion.

devindotcom• 13 years ago

Was going to note this - I asked a local roaster about it and they said yeah, you're going to taste a lot of carbon dioxide. If you don't know what that tastes like.. you will.

RogerL2• 13 years ago

I roast with a popcorn popper I bought at Walmart. They only last a few roasts before they "die" - that is just a heat fuse that is set too low. Buy a new, higher rated one from Radio Shack, and you are good to go. 25 bucks total including the surgery. This does require you to have an outdoors place to roast - if you live in an high rise in a city it's a no go.

By and large you'll want to wait a few days. I find it depends on the bean - some are great just out of the roaster, some are pretty bad. Some take a day or two, some take 5 to really come into their own. Or so I perceive, with non-blinded tasting.

evandena2• 13 years ago

I split a $300 Behmor purchase with my friend. My $150 contribution will pay for itself in 4 months. Green coffee beans are significantly cheaper.

moo• 13 years ago

I'm liking my cowboy coffee right now. Made with whole beans, crank grinder, and camping pot. Boil water, dump in the grounds, cover and remove from heat, sit for ~ 5 min.

illumen• 13 years ago

Pretty good article. I'm glad that it mentions freshly roasted and light roasting as the most important factors. This is true, but most people have never experienced it. Roasts a few hours old are the best!!

Article does not mention types of bean. Beans are themselves also dried in different methods. The most expensive coffee in the world is scooped up from poo after digesting in an animals stomach.

Also getting different types of air to blow over the coffee after roasting can change the taste a lot.

Finally... what you drink as 'coffee' is mostly water (and milk for many). Better quality water goes a long way. Your tap water probably tastes very different to mineral water, or rain water. Different types of blends mix well with different types of milk too. With milk, you can usually get away with a more bitter coffee.

The pour and grind are important I guess... it's what lets people make a ristretto for example. But not as important as the roast.

Finally, what many of these coffee articles fail to consider are asian methods. I guess it is either racism, or ignorance. Try Viet, and turkish styles for example :)

Coffee snobs! There is no 'good' coffee, just different methods and tastes.

ciao! xo

mmariani2• 13 years ago

Even though I lived years drinking coffee brewed with a moka nowadays I think that If the coffee is not ristretto it is not coffee.

It's not hard to get nor to operate a small espresso coffee maker, and as a bonus you get to make not only perfect coffee but wonderful cappuccios. They go for about €120 on amazon, and for €20 more you can get a reasonably good electric grinder.

That's it for the hardware, now the coffee beans. As others mentioned, it's very important you get the good stuff. My taste is 100% arabica medium roast, yours may differ. BTW, what's your favorite coffee beans?

Anyway, no matter what beans you choose you have to grind them thin otherwise you won't get out of it those incredible flavors you're expecting due to lack of pressure.

After all this talk I'm having the need for a ristretto... So it's coffee time! :)

dsr_• 13 years ago

Arabica is a species of coffee; coffee changes from place to place depending on where it's grown.

I'm currently working my way through a perennial favorite, Tanzanian Peaberry, with occasional changes to Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and sometimes Kenyan.

Yeah, I like East African coffees. Although I'm less thrilled by a bag of Rwandan I picked up -- it's not great hot, but it does reasonably well cold-brewed.

mmariani2• 13 years ago

Arabica is a species of coffee

I forgot to mention that I drink Italian arabica coffee which is usually is grown in South America.

Thanks for the tip on East African coffees. I'll look for it in my next buy! :)

sdnguyen90• 13 years ago

too much work.. need coffee in under 5 minutes of waking up

evandena2• 13 years ago

I'm in a similar boat. Any minute I spend preparing coffee is a wasted minute I could have been sleeping. It's hard to motivate myself out of bed in the morning, so a fast coffee prep is paramount.

I've tried plenty of methods, and for me, the easiest way of making 20 ounces is a Yama stove top vacuum pot. Look it up, it takes mere minutes to produce quality coffee.

bromagosa• 13 years ago

What? 17.42 units of water to 1 unit of coffee? This is not perfect coffee, this is slightly flavoured water!

rafitorres• 13 years ago

I suspect you are coming from the same background as me, where "coffee" means espresso. I need to keep reminding myself when reading these discussions that for most people in the US plain "coffee" means brew or drip type. (I'm Puerto Rican BTW, where most households use a moka pot[1] that produces coffee very similar in strength to espresso.)

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moka_pot

AsymetricCom• 13 years ago

useless article, like disecting a frog. nobody brews good coffee this way. It hardly even mentions roasting, goes into trivial details the will have negligible or no effect on the final product, doesn't even mention bean sourcing. A technical distraction; don't waste your time reading it.

nicholassmith• 13 years ago

An article entitled 'How to Make Perfect Coffee' is probably going to be as popular as 'Why Vim/Emacs/Nano is The Programmers Editor'.

There's at a certain stage a level of subjectivity, the perfect cup of coffee is the one that makes you smile. There's a similar argument made in photography that a perfect photo conforms to rule of thirds/perfect whitebalance/correct exposure triangle/tripod shot, but it's not always got enough soul to work.

16s• 13 years ago

Two teaspoons of Taster's Choice. That's my perfect coffee. It's quick, affordable and gets the job done. Doesn't taste bad either.

JimmaDaRustla• 13 years ago

I have an AeroPress and a Bodum conical burr grinder. Buy beans from local, independent companies. Grind on medium-fine setting, 200 degree water, 1 AeroPress scoop of ground beans, fill up cylinder, stir 30 seconds, fill up again, place plunger on top to steep coffee for 30-60 seconds. PRESS SLOWLY AND GENTLY. Should take approx another 30-60 seconds to press the coffee out.

I freeze my beans, grind 5 days worth at a time, but keep in a extremely air tight container during those 5 days.

Edit: What I love about AeroPress is that I can buy it from many, local, independent retailers. The girl I bought it from didn't even know what it was, or that her store sold it!

dmckeon• 13 years ago

I use an AeroPress when car-camping, and often show it to other campers if they complain about the difficulty of making decent coffee in the field.

A surprising number (1/3..1/2) glance at it and ask: "How do you make coffee with a breast pump?" I should start replying: "Follow the instructions: press slowly and gently."

lazyant• 13 years ago

I'm sorry but there's no way a French press has more body than a "Moka Pot". (also wtf with the gun comments/pic?)

tmoertel• 13 years ago

I can understand how people can read an article like this and think it's too much work or money to get a good cup of coffee. And many folks, including lots of programmers, view coffee as a utility beverage and are okay drinking anything that's drinkable. It's for these people that I wrote "The Coder's Guide to Coffee," [1] aiming for the sweep spot of cheap, easy, and pretty damn good.

Although I wrote it in 2002, the recommendation hasn't changed:

1. Buy only whole-bean coffee roasted within the last few days.

2. Grind it fresh, just before brewing. (Yes, a cheap "whirly blade" grinder is fine.)

3. Brew it in a French press or a pour-over filter using fresh water, off the boil.

That's it, in a nutshell.

I've gotten criticism for claiming that a cheap blade grinder is fine, but it's true. You can make better coffee using a better grinder, but just using any grinder lets you ditch pre-ground coffee, which is almost always stale, and switch to brewing with fresh coffee, ground on the spot. That one change produces a huge jump in quality. And I'd rather you experience that jump, even if you can't justify more than $10 on your grinder.

The other thing I'd add is that if I had written the Guide today, I probably would have included the AeroPress. It makes really good coffee, but there's a bit of a learning curve before it becomes an easy, reliable brewing method.

[1] http://blog.moertel.com/posts/2002-04-25-coders-guide-to-cof...

matt__rose• 13 years ago

I don't even think you need the french press. My method for making fantastic coffee is simple Buy fresh-roasted beans Grind, then immediately.. Throw in a standard drip coffee-maker. Have my morning shower. Enjoy

shoover2• 13 years ago

Not bad. Agreed on fresh-roasted beans being the most important factor. The smell of stale preground coffee drip brewed can ruin my day, but fresh ground brewed the same way isn't so bad.

Still, I prefer the pourover/Aeropress style and if given the option will the standard drip machine as a pourover conversion. Just swing open the filter basket, put the coffee in a standard filter, and pour over hot water, letting it drop down into the carafe or a mug. Make it concentrated and top off with water.

lnanek2• 13 years ago

I think I would prefer tips from their marine days on how to get maximum caffeine into it. Currently I just get three espressos in one coffee cup, but could use a more powerful technique. I don't really understand their chart with perfect in the middle between weak and strong, isn't perfect what comes after strong?

sixothree2• 13 years ago

As an outsider looking in, meaning I don't drink caffeine, this guide seems like something only an addict would create.

pivo• 13 years ago

Addiction may be a secondary effect, but I'd say the appreciation of good coffee flavor is the primary motivation. You can be addicted to caffeine and not care about good quality coffee. In fact, I'd say most coffee drinkers fall into the latter category.

To me it's simply the equivalent of a foodie's interest in preparing good food.

sixothree2• 13 years ago

George Carlin once described being addicted to drugs as the enjoyment of the ritual surrounding the usage not the actual effect. He was addicted to feeling you get while preparing to get high possibly just as much as to the effects.

bmj• 13 years ago

I'm too lazy to find links at the moment, but the same sort of guides exist for, well, just about anything. For example, see the "Pizza Lab" on Serious Eats: http://slice.seriouseats.com/the_pizza_lab/?ref=sectionnav

korethr• 13 years ago

Indeed. Obligatory xkcd: http://www.xkcd.com/915/

teeja2• 13 years ago

One man's hobby is another man's addiction.

rdtsc• 13 years ago

Coffee is a drug and an obsession.

It affects mood & brain function rather strongly compared to other legal non-prescription drugs (alcohol for example being another). I am not surprised there are quite a few people who shell out thousands of dollars on hand crafted espresso machines.

It is pretty interesting. I can see why. I drink coffee and tea and I find myself day dreaming about my next cup of coffee. That is pretty weird. I never did any drugs so I guess that must be a one of the "signs" of addiction? ;-)

Speaking of perfect coffee, there is this latest craze out there and that brewing cold coffee. Not ice coffee as in brewing coffee with hot water and pouring over ice but instead let coffee steep in the refrigerator for 8+ hours with cold water. This is nothing new but I feel I keep hearing about it more lately. I tried it and it is actually pretty good. It is like a completely different drink. There is minimal bitterness and just a different taste profile. Try it the next time, put the grounds in your french press with cold water, stir it, but don't press it, put it the refrigerator for 8+ hours and then pour it over ice.

giardini• 13 years ago

Just a heads up:

"How Unfiltered Coffee Can Cause Heart Attacks"

http://www.drmirkin.com/nutrition/8241.html

The original study:

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/71/2/480.full

How to Make Perfect Coffee

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