How to Make the Best Coffee at Home
Metadata
Highlights
- One kilogramme of coffee produces about 10 litres of carbon dioxide in the roasting process. (Location 80)
- relatively little is retained by the beans by the time they’re packaged but, and this is an important but, there’s still enough to have a significant impact on the way that the coffee brews. (Location 84)
- For this reason, coffee can be ‘too fresh’, (Location 86)
- especially if you plan to use it in an espresso machine. (Location 86)
- If a lot of CO2 is coming out of the grounds, then it is harder for the water to extract the coffee. (Location 87)
- Higher ambient temperatures will cause coffee to turn stale faster, (Location 95)
- waiting at least 7–8 days after roasting before starting to brew the coffee. (Location 97)
- ‘blooming’ (Location 100)
- to help extract the CO2 (Location 100)
- Over the 2 weeks of use you’ll see a steady drop in the amount of crema the coffee produces because that crema is just trapped CO2 (Location 102)
- once you open the bag, then you’ve got a couple of weeks where you’ll get the best-tasting coffee, and a steady decline from that point onward. (Location 106)
- Once you grind coffee, the staling reactions begin to pick up the pace very quickly. In a side-by-side testing, many people would spot a clear difference between 12-hours-old and fresh coffee, and most people would spot the difference between 24-hours-old and fresh. (Location 108)
- The best way to store coffee for daily use is in something dark, dry and airtight. (Location 123)
- Many bags now come with resealable strips and they’re as good as anything else I’ve tested. (Location 125)
- The freezer is an excellent place to store coffee long term. Coffee, sealed airtight and ideally with as little air as possible in the package, will last months in a freezer. (Location 130)
- Taking the coffee in and out of the freezer is bad because of condensation, (Location 131)
- It is hard to buy truly fresh coffee in most supermarkets. (Location 149)
- coffee shops are the perfect place to go if you need coffee to brew right now. (Location 153)
- As a final bonus, you can often taste the coffee before you buy (Location 156)
- if you stop and think (Location 173)
- With speciality companies you are often best to presume that everything is light to medium in roast unless explicitly labelled otherwise. (Location 197)
- Historically, coffee has been labelled by roast (Location 198)
- through the use of a strength rating. The modern coffee industry has long argued that this practice is confusing, because strength comes primarily from the way that you brew the coffee and the ratio of coffee to water that you use. (Location 199)
- However, darker roasts are more soluble than lighter roasts, (Location 200)
- What these labels are really communicating is the intensity of bitterness that you’re likely to experience from a particular coffee. (Location 202)
- How you roast a coffee has a dramatic effect on its taste. The longer you roast a coffee, the more you generate what are often described as generic roast flavours. (Location 207)
- more burned-tasting flavours. (Location 209)
- an increase in bitterness, (Location 209)
- decrease in acidity. (Location 211)
- Acidity often correlates with the density of the coffee, which is about how it grew. Coffee grown at higher altitudes grows more slowly and is denser. It often has more aromatic complexity and a greater capacity for sweetness (Location 212)
- Interesting, complex and flavourful coffees tend to have higher levels of acidity. (Location 214)
- Acidity adds contrast, juiciness, crispness, excitement and can be delightful. It can also be sour, harsh and miserably unpleasant if the roast is executed badly. (Location 216)
- Roasting coffee isn’t just difficult because finding this moment of balance between sweet, acidic and bitter requires precision and a lot of practical experience. It is also difficult because we don’t all agree exactly where that point is. (Location 218)
- This is why there’s no real agreement on what a medium roast is. (Location 221)
- example, Starbucks’ lightest roast (their Blonde Roast) is darker than anything most speciality companies will ever roast. (Location 222)
- three key attributes of coffee drinking (Location 285)
- Fresh fruit flavours: (Location 298)
- high acidity. (Location 299)
- quite sweet, (Location 299)
- These coffees will often be light to medium bodied. (Location 300)
- Tropical fruit flavours: (Location 301)
- strawberry and blueberry (Location 301)
- mango, lychee, pineapple (Location 301)
- Cooked fruit flavours: (Location 304)
- jams, jellies or pie (i.e. cherry pie), then these coffees tend to have some acidity but it isn’t as dominant. (Location 305)
- Browning flavours: (Location 307)
- chocolate, nuts, caramel, toffee (Location 308)
- low acidity and often these coffees are medium- to full-bodied. (Location 309)
- Bitter flavours: (Location 310)
- dark chocolate (Location 310)
- Expect heavy body, limited to no acidity but more bitterness front and centre. (Location 311)
- cup of black filter coffee is around 98.5 per cent water and a typical espresso is still 90 per cent water. (Location 343)
- distilled or pure water is a bad choice for coffee brewing. (Location 360)
- makes bad-tasting coffee, and is actually corrosive inside a coffee machine or kettle, so is best avoided. (Location 360)
- calcium and magnesium. Both get directly involved in coffee brewing, helping extract the delicious soluble (Location 367)
- compounds in ground coffee into your brewing water. (Location 367)
- Bottled water is a great way to highlight the impact of water. Purchase two very different brands, say Evian and Volvic, and make a brew with each. The difference in your coffee will be very clear. (Location 466)
- a coffee grinder is the single best investment you can make for better coffee at home. (Location 515)
- paying for a grinder with metal burrs (Location 545)
title: “How to Make the Best Coffee at Home”
author: “James Hoffmann”
url: ""
date: 2023-12-19
source: kindle
tags: media/books
How to Make the Best Coffee at Home
Metadata
Highlights
- One kilogramme of coffee produces about 10 litres of carbon dioxide in the roasting process. (Location 80)
- relatively little is retained by the beans by the time they’re packaged but, and this is an important but, there’s still enough to have a significant impact on the way that the coffee brews. (Location 84)
- For this reason, coffee can be ‘too fresh’, (Location 86)
- especially if you plan to use it in an espresso machine. (Location 86)
- If a lot of CO2 is coming out of the grounds, then it is harder for the water to extract the coffee. (Location 87)
- Higher ambient temperatures will cause coffee to turn stale faster, (Location 95)
- waiting at least 7–8 days after roasting before starting to brew the coffee. (Location 97)
- ‘blooming’ (Location 100)
- to help extract the CO2 (Location 100)
- Over the 2 weeks of use you’ll see a steady drop in the amount of crema the coffee produces because that crema is just trapped CO2 (Location 102)
- once you open the bag, then you’ve got a couple of weeks where you’ll get the best-tasting coffee, and a steady decline from that point onward. (Location 106)
- Once you grind coffee, the staling reactions begin to pick up the pace very quickly. In a side-by-side testing, many people would spot a clear difference between 12-hours-old and fresh coffee, and most people would spot the difference between 24-hours-old and fresh. (Location 108)
- The best way to store coffee for daily use is in something dark, dry and airtight. (Location 123)
- Many bags now come with resealable strips and they’re as good as anything else I’ve tested. (Location 125)
- The freezer is an excellent place to store coffee long term. Coffee, sealed airtight and ideally with as little air as possible in the package, will last months in a freezer. (Location 130)
- Taking the coffee in and out of the freezer is bad because of condensation, (Location 131)
- It is hard to buy truly fresh coffee in most supermarkets. (Location 149)
- coffee shops are the perfect place to go if you need coffee to brew right now. (Location 153)
- As a final bonus, you can often taste the coffee before you buy (Location 156)
- if you stop and think (Location 173)
- With speciality companies you are often best to presume that everything is light to medium in roast unless explicitly labelled otherwise. (Location 197)
- Historically, coffee has been labelled by roast (Location 198)
- through the use of a strength rating. The modern coffee industry has long argued that this practice is confusing, because strength comes primarily from the way that you brew the coffee and the ratio of coffee to water that you use. (Location 199)
- However, darker roasts are more soluble than lighter roasts, (Location 200)
- What these labels are really communicating is the intensity of bitterness that you’re likely to experience from a particular coffee. (Location 202)
- How you roast a coffee has a dramatic effect on its taste. The longer you roast a coffee, the more you generate what are often described as generic roast flavours. (Location 207)
- more burned-tasting flavours. (Location 209)
- an increase in bitterness, (Location 209)
- decrease in acidity. (Location 211)
- Acidity often correlates with the density of the coffee, which is about how it grew. Coffee grown at higher altitudes grows more slowly and is denser. It often has more aromatic complexity and a greater capacity for sweetness (Location 212)
- Interesting, complex and flavourful coffees tend to have higher levels of acidity. (Location 214)
- Acidity adds contrast, juiciness, crispness, excitement and can be delightful. It can also be sour, harsh and miserably unpleasant if the roast is executed badly. (Location 216)
- Roasting coffee isn’t just difficult because finding this moment of balance between sweet, acidic and bitter requires precision and a lot of practical experience. It is also difficult because we don’t all agree exactly where that point is. (Location 218)
- This is why there’s no real agreement on what a medium roast is. (Location 221)
- example, Starbucks’ lightest roast (their Blonde Roast) is darker than anything most speciality companies will ever roast. (Location 222)
- three key attributes of coffee drinking (Location 285)
- Fresh fruit flavours: (Location 298)
- high acidity. (Location 299)
- quite sweet, (Location 299)
- These coffees will often be light to medium bodied. (Location 300)
- Tropical fruit flavours: (Location 301)
- strawberry and blueberry (Location 301)
- mango, lychee, pineapple (Location 301)
- Cooked fruit flavours: (Location 304)
- jams, jellies or pie (i.e. cherry pie), then these coffees tend to have some acidity but it isn’t as dominant. (Location 305)
- Browning flavours: (Location 307)
- chocolate, nuts, caramel, toffee (Location 308)
- low acidity and often these coffees are medium- to full-bodied. (Location 309)
- Bitter flavours: (Location 310)
- dark chocolate (Location 310)
- Expect heavy body, limited to no acidity but more bitterness front and centre. (Location 311)
- cup of black filter coffee is around 98.5 per cent water and a typical espresso is still 90 per cent water. (Location 343)
- distilled or pure water is a bad choice for coffee brewing. (Location 360)
- makes bad-tasting coffee, and is actually corrosive inside a coffee machine or kettle, so is best avoided. (Location 360)
- calcium and magnesium. Both get directly involved in coffee brewing, helping extract the delicious soluble (Location 367)
- compounds in ground coffee into your brewing water. (Location 367)
- Bottled water is a great way to highlight the impact of water. Purchase two very different brands, say Evian and Volvic, and make a brew with each. The difference in your coffee will be very clear. (Location 466)
- a coffee grinder is the single best investment you can make for better coffee at home. (Location 515)
- paying for a grinder with metal burrs (Location 545)