coffee beans

Why You Should Never Freeze Coffee (and Other Freshness Tips)

Filed under: Dining

Coffee is something most of us enjoy making and drinking on a regular basis, daily even, but do you know how to keep it at optimal freshness between buying and brewing? One of the most common habits, sticking beans in the freezer, is actually among the worst things you can do. When optimal flavor is the aim it must be realized that coffee and coffee beans are really very fragile -- the delicate oils and flavors begin to break down almost immediately after roasting and are sensitive to light, oxygen, moisture, and temperature extremes.

Why keeping coffee beans in the freezer is bad
Although freezing whole beans can be okay in some cases (like if you have more beans than you can use up in a week or two) it only works if you seal them up and freeze them once -- not to be opened or removed from the freezer until you're ready to thaw the whole batch.

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How to Grind Coffee Beans Perfectly

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

If you brew your own coffee every morning then you know how important the details can be when taking steps to create the perfect cup, but one step that many people don't give enough attention to is how they grind their coffee beans. Of course many people do their own grinding, but how many pay attention to exactly how? It can be an art in and of itself.

Timing
Coffee beans should be freshly ground immediately before brewing, so you should grind just one pot at a time. Oxidation begins immediately and flavors will degrade noticeably in just a few hours -- if you're looking for perfect coffee, no grinding should be done the night before.

Method
There are two main types of coffee grinders: blade grinders and burr grinders. Blade grinders are the most common and the least expensive, and although they can grind coarse and medium sizes nicely, they can also have inconsistent results and are noisy (especially first thing in the morning). Also, when using a blade grinder it's important to grind in small bursts of a few seconds at a time to prevent heat from building up and burning the grounds.

Source

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Peugeot Coffee Mill

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

The Peugeot Coffee Mill is gorgeous, and a lovely alternative to an electric coffee grinder. This particular design is almost an exact replica of the one the company produced from 1879-1915. With a simple turn of the top crank, the Burr grinding gears will transform your roasted coffee beans to the grind of your choice, easily adjusting from fine to coarse. The machine is very quiet compared to most electric models and the classic styling make it a work of art that you'll want to display on the counter, not hide in a drawer or cabinet. Price: £60 (in dark walnut, pictured).