Who knew that there was such a method to brewing a good cup of coffee?

Couple that with the methods of roasting and growing, and it's crazy to consider what an art form coffee can be. Coffee like fine wine, liquors, and other food items, does not often get the credit it deserves, but a lot of this is due to the poor preparation and storage of the coffee. Or perhaps, users select the wrong roast for their coffee brewing method, or the wrong roast for their taste buds in general. There sure are a lot of ways to mess up! OH NO!

It's a learning process, we get it. We had to learn too! But it's fun and we want to pass along the information we have learned.  So here it goes!

1) Only grind what you’re going to use. Leave the rest as whole bean so it stays fresher. Ground beans have about two weeks of their optimal taste, while whole beans are a lot longer. We recently acquired this new at home grinder!  

2) Store your coffee away from heat, light, and moisture and make sure it’s properly sealed. In Hawaii, we often store coffee in the refrigerator just to make sure the moisture is kept away. 

3) Use filtered water! No one wants the taste of chemicals or dirt to be added into their cup of Joe. 

4) Use high quality beans that match your taste preference. We recommend buying a medium and a dark roast to see which flavor you prefer.

5) If you boil water, make sure to not put the boiled water in right away, it can burn your coffee.

6) Don’t use a coffee machine like Mr. Coffee- invest in a something worthy of the beans we hope you will buy! Our newest addition is this pour over pot! 

7) Figure out the right proportion of water and coffee for the strength of coffee you like. Ratios range from 1:14- 1:18. Unless it’s cold brew or pour over, in which case there’s a lot less water! But what does that mean and what’s an easier way to do this? Roughly 2 tablespoons per 6 oz of water. But again, the measuring of the water is not always easy. So we honestly recommend playing around with ratios over the course of a week. Write down how much coffee you are grinding and how much water you are pouring in, you could even take a picture. Each cup, each day, write whether you think it could be stronger, weaker (ratio), smoother (temperature), more flavorful (potential freshness of beans and quality of water), and better flavored (it might just not be the best blend for you!)

8) Brewing time is dependent on the device you’re using. See our blog on devices here.

The bottom line is- coffee is actually quite similar to wine. There is science in the growing, blending, roasting, and brewing. There are good coffees and bad. There are master brewers just like there are sommeliers.

Some people love wine, want to learn more, and want to invest. Same goes for coffee. It’s not a big deal if you just want a dang cup of coffee without all the bells and whistles, but if you skimp on the brewing process and skimp on the freshly ground coffee, at least don’t skimp on the flavor and quality of the beans!