A lot of colleagues know I’m a coffee geek. They sometimes ask me about my brewing steps, thoughts on certain local roasters and most of the time, I don’t have very good answers for them. I’m a geek but not an expert. I brew Espresso at home or French Press and I brew with a Chemex or Aeropress at work depending on my mood. When traveling, I seek out espresso or cold brew. I generally buy beans from 2-3 different roasters and I don’t really know the science behind coffee or have any of my processes perfected.
“How can I make better coffee? What’s a cool tip?”
I hear this often and truthfully, buying whole bean changed my world.
In 2009, I was living in San Francisco atop Twin Peaks in a small 1 bedroom apartment. The bus service sucked so outside of work, I didn’t go into town much anymore which meant aking coffee at home became a bigger focus. I was still drinking a lot of Starbucks back then and I bought a small push grinder with blades that you basically push down on the top to grind. It was hard to get a consistent grind and the grounds would sometimes get scorched from the heat generated by friction but my coffee was infinitely better than the past.
The reason was quite simple. Grinding whole beans at home minutes before making the coffee is a huge upgrade even if you’re making coffee in a traditional drip machine. Perfect Daily Grind covers this well:
- It’s fresher – whole beans have a much lower surface-to-air ratio than ground ones, so stays fresh for longer.
- Tastes better – easy way to maximise freshness in your morning “cup of java” – oxidation begins once ground. It takes about 15-20 minutes for the subtle volatile aromatic compounds and oils to dissipate. Why not capture the compounds in your cup and enhance the taste?
That’s a very simplified take on it but less oxidation, more oils are still in the bean and the aroma and flavor is just really better.
So keep making coffee the way you do today. Buy a grinder and whole beans instead of pre-ground. It changes everything.
What grinder to get?
You can start with one of those push grinders or hand grinders but a Burr Grinder really is where you want to be. At the top end of the home Burr Grinders, the Baratza Virtuoso at $220 is the best you can get before you jump up to prosumer models like the Mazzer Mini which is really focused on people making espresso more than pour-over. If you’re new to this and want a grinder that lasts 2-3 years at most, the Cuisinart DBM-8 and Bodum Bistro grinders are $49 and $99 respectively and get the job done with a decent grind for any non-Espresso activity.
Where to get whole beans? I’d say anywhere but a grocery store. If you can buy at a local health food store beans that are roasted in your home-state, you’re going to be good or if there’s a local cafe you love, buy whole beans directly from them. Basically, finding the freshest beans possible will help because fresher beans grind much better and have more punch to them than old stale beans.
I hope this helps anyone who’s looking to easily improve their coffee brewing.
