Fundamentals of Coffee

Fundamentals Of Brewing Coffee

Anirudha Kadam, https://merahomechef.com


As an Indian the only beverage I knew was Tea. Coffee was limited to me until Ready to brew sachets. However, the scenario changed when I completed my hotel management degree and was being hired by a big multinational coffee giant. I used to not like drinking black coffee at first but since it was related to my work now, I had no choice. The first sip is always the most rancorous of all. Slowly, my palate started developing flavours for coffee. Now all I drink is black coffee to stay energetic and awake. 
During this period I have learnt that coffee is a growing subject and creating awareness about it is the need of the hour. The Fairtrade Practise, Farmer-Customer Engagement are some of the topics which need to be covered and the awareness needs to be spread amongst our general audiences.

Major Difference which people experience while brewing the same coffee at home is that they do not get the same taste although using the same coffee which barista's use to brew their coffee at the cafe. There are a few tips that will change the way you brew coffee at home.

Proportion

Grind
Water and Temperature
Freshness



Proportion
Coffee to water proportion is in which coffee releases its actual flavours. Generally, this proportion is in the ratio of 1:18 wherein 1 part of grinded coffee equals to 18 parts of water. This is the most important step in brewing a perfect cup of coffee. To simplify, 2 spoons of 5 gms each coffee powder to 180 ml of water.


Grind
One thing you need to be clear is that there are various brewing method of coffee-namely, French press, Por Over, Aero Press, Chemex and Siphon. Each brewing method requires different grind size coffee beans so as that water to coffee contact time changes thus giving you different flavours of coffee.


Water
Of course, if you want your coffee to taste good you should use good quality of water. What do you mean by the good quality of water? The Ph level of water should neither be too acidic nor too alkaline thus giving you neutral water. Perfect Temperature of water helps coffee to retain and evolve its flavours. Ideally, it should be between 90-96 degrees celsius, not less not more!


Freshness
During my term as a barista https://merahomechef.com/coffee-at-home/ , I often heard of a term called "Coffee expires". What does this mean? This doesn't mean that drinking this coffee might lead to food poisoning or something, but rather it meant that the flavours which coffee naturally has won't be active or bold. The strength of this coffee might be very weak. Hence, we should always store our coffee in an airtight container, away from moisture and sunlight. The coffee which is unpacked and transferred to an airtight container is fresh for a term of 7-days.