The most important thing about storing coffee is to make sure that it is kept in the correct environment. Firstly, lets dispel the myth that you should store it in the fridge or freezer. Coffee should be stored in a cool, dry place! If you really want fresh coffee, buy a grinder! The best coffee is ground just before use. Coffee is extremely sensitive and should be treated as any other fresh product, it should be used and bought in smaller quantities in order to keep it fresh.
There are three main ways of preparing coffee in your kitchen at home. The cafeteire or plunger, stove top and espresso. All of these different methods require a bit of trial and error before you will be able to get exactly what you want.
If you have a home grinder, it will make things easier because you will be able to work out which grind works best for your coffee. Espresso requires the finest grind, then a little bit coarser for the stove-top and then a relatively course grind for the plunger.
It is really important to make sure that everything you use for home preparation is clean and in order to do this you need to clean it properly after use, maybe even buy some commercial coffee cleaner. A dirty apparatus means dirty coffee, and that ain’t cool.
Like we said earlier it is important to make sure that the coffee is fresh, grind it as you need it and you will be well on the way to making the perfect home brew.
Make sure that the water you are using is not straight out of the kettle. Boiling water burns the sensitive little beans. If the water is not hot enough then you won’t be able to extract the full variety of flavours from your coffee. Commercial machines generally push water through the ground coffee between 92 and 94 degrees centigrade. So if the kettle has just boiled open up the lid and let it sit for a minute or five.
The last main thing about getting the coffee right at home is getting your grind right. If it’s too coarse you won’t be able to gain the full flavour from your product, too fine and it will be slush, and on an espresso machine you may find that it won’t push through at all.
