Five Essential Coffee Rules
The path to good coffee is not that hard to master, you don’t have to be a total coffee nerd too. It’s not like climbing Mount Everest. Far from it. For a full and all-around happy treatment check out this post on coffee over at Gizmodo, pretty good stuff in there.
My rules are simple:
Always use freshly ground beans. Only taking this step will improve your coffee experience manyfold. You don’t have to be a connoisseur to taste the difference, it’s very noticeable.
Always clean your coffee equipment right after and/or right before use. This prevents old coffee oils from getting stuck somewhere in the machinery and ruining future coffee.
Use softened or filtered water. This keeps away salts from the equipment, extending its lifetime considerably.
Always use fresh milk. No homogenized crap. Even fresh milk from the chilled shelves is homogenized these days, and it does make a big difference. Homogenized milk foams different and tastes different. The taste takes away from the taste of the coffee, therefore almost ruining it. It’s a quality sign for a coffee shop whether they use really fresh milk.
Pour your heart in it. Caring about coffee usually results in good coffee, simple like that. You don’t need to be a professional barista, you just need to care. Put away your Mr. Coffee, and get some real gear. It’s not even expensive, and pays off manifold. French press, mocha pot, espresso machine, you name it. It doesn’t have to be too expensive to get good results.
So, how’ve you been doing?
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