I have made a lot of progress in the past year in my quest for the perfect cup of coffee. I have had a long history with coffee and I am always searching for something better. Here is a summary of my findings.
Bad coffee sucks, people complain that they don't like the taste of coffee but a blanket statement like that is absolutely unfounded. Tasting one coffee is nothing like tasting another. Each region that supplies coffee has a very different taste than another. The problem with grocery store coffee is that you have no idea how old it is. It sits there for days, weeks, months who knows? The fresher the coffee the better! Caned coffee doesn't taste good. It has preservatives in it or has just been sitting around for months. It has some far off expiration date that you just accept.
Pre ground coffee is another issue that the coffee industry ignores. Ground coffee must be consumed within 1 week if not refrigerated or 2 weeks if stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. The problem with the refrigerator is that moisture can enter the coffee grounds and basically ruin the coffee. These cans or there are air tight canisters that are great for preserving the coffee in the refrigerator.
Coffee is as finicky as cheese and a single brand or farm can produce a great batch or a terrible batch. Depending on the location of the tree, bean, wind, attitude of the farmer etc. All you can do is go all in and hope for the best.
You must find what kind of coffee is right for you.
Light Roast
Medium Roast
Darker more robust taste of coffee. Strong coffee. Most commonly found coffee at such places as tim hortons, dunkin donuts' "dunkin dark", most diners also serve a medium roast. Medium is what you find in store bought coffees as well such as Foldgers, Eight O'Clock, Maxwell House, etc.Espresso Roast
Espresso is not the darkest roast of coffee. It also has a stronger caffeine value at about 75% of the caffeine of a cup of coffee in single shot because it is brewed in a hyper concentrated method using finely ground coffee. It is very strong and powerful in large quantities.
French Roast
The darkest roast. It has the strongest coffee flavor with a "burnt taste" commonly found at star bucks as their dark roast.
There are many other varieties of coffee and variations in roasting such as the Vienna Roast that falls somewhere between the Medium and French Roasts but outside the Espresso Roast.
Each Region has its on distinct flavor as well and lends itself to different roasts such columbian coffee is distinctly strong and is favored in a french and espresso roast. Kenyan AA is another example that lends itself to both a medium and a french roast. A different roast brings out different notes in a coffee.
On another note you should try different types of coffee. Not in reference to roast or region but experiment with blends. I find myself staying away from blends. I don't like pre mixed blends they often don't work well together even if they are great separately. I do however recommend using a small amount of flavored coffee in a similar roast to what you choose for yourself for a morning cup. Not everyone likes flavor but a hint of hazelnut or french vanilla coffee with your French Roasted Coasta Rican Coffee is in my opinion delicious.
One does not need to go down to a coffee importing company or shop online to find freshly roasted coffee. One can often find it in the local grocery store with a selection of beans. I suggest one only buy what the will use within a week if you can get back to the supermarket again or two weeks. This way you can use the grinder in the supermarket. The beans will taste better than the pre packaged stuff.
My next Post will discuss brewing methods.
