The Perfect Personal Coffee Blend
Confused by the variety of coffee to choose from? Are there substantial differences between them? How does the grind actually affect the taste?
Several factors substantially affect the flavor of home-brewed coffee; the most important is the roast. The lighter the roast of the bean, the weaker the flavor and, surprisingly, it has the more caffeine. Most canned coffee are light roasted. Dark roasts, such as Italian and French coffee varieties are used for espresso. A medium roast, such as Danish coffee or Vienna roast, is a blend of dark and light-roasted beans.
The grind you need will depend on your coffeepot. For drip method pots (with a paper filter) and espresso makers, a fine grind is recommended to produce the maximum amount of coffee, without bitter flavor, while course grinds are best used with percolators. During percolation, a cooking process, boiling water goes through the pot repeatedly, so too fine a grind would cause the filter to clog.
To maintain freshness, store coffee in an airtight container in your freezer. The fundamental difference between fresh-ground coffee bought by the pound and canned coffee is the shape, not the brand of their beans. Most canned coffee consists of misshapen beans, which don’t roast uniformly; the effect is a flavor with much less body. To maximize the flavor of your coffee, buy whole, roasted coffee beans and grind them at home, just before brewing.
There is a plethora of coffee beans and special blends in gourmet shops today. The choice of coffee variety is a matter of personal taste. To discover yours try various blends. Buy various beans to blend yourself.
Since I am a Filipino, living in the Philippines, I enjoy mixing our local brands of Philippine Barako, Arabica, Robusta, and Excelsa, in varying proportions day to day, ground just before brewing. These are readily found in our local supermarkets. This mix, for me gives the full bodied flavor and aroma I wanted. One time a friend gave us Kilimanjaro coffee from Africa, and we added it to our four-bean mix. It gave us a pleasant buzz after the drink. I look forward to having that African variety again.
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It’s all a matter of creativity in achieving the level of taste that will get you to the point you can almost say, euphoric. When you have found your holy grail of coffee combination, you’ll never crave for a Starbucks or any commercial coffee blend again.
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Published in: Cooking
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