Miscellaneous Guide

The progression of coffee love has gone from a couple of cups a day to knowing about how to make the stuff to coffee shops on every street corner to the need for gourmet coffee. And that’s fine. To all the gourmet coffee makers, I wish a happy and caffeinated day.

The Grind

It’s great to be able to make gourmet coffee for yourself and your friends. It’s especially nice to become known as one of the best gourmet coffee makers around. Once you learn about the kinds of gourmet coffee that are available and you try them at the coffee shops and become familiar with their taste, you’re ready to take the next step and begin making your own gourmet coffee. I know that you want to run out and pick up a really cool machine, all stainless steel with knobs and compartments that will make great coffee and, hopefully, really cool noises, but before you do that you need to learn about the grind.

The coffee grind is not the hard work routine that goes into becoming one of the great gourmet coffee makers; it is the texture of the bean after it is ground up. There is no one right grind. The grind has to match the technique of the coffee preparation. Here’s the rule of thumb: the finer the grind the more there is of the bean to be exposed to the water, a more exposed bean needs less time in hot water to release flavor, if a ground bean is left in hot water for too long the bitter elements of the flavor will be released into the beverage. So if your machine only runs hot water through the grind, you will want a fine grind. If the machine exposes hot water to the grind for a longer period, you will want a coarser grind. Now you’re one step closer to becoming one of the great gourmet coffee makers.

The Machine

Once you know what type of gourmet beverage you want to make: espresso, drip, Turkish, French pressed or one of their off-shoots, you’re ready to go get that fabulous machine. Do a little research first. How much coffee do you want to make at a time? The longer prepared coffee is kept warm, the more taste is lost. If you plan to have only a few people for coffee at a time, consider a one- or two-cup coffee maker. Some brands can make more than 10 cups at a time but dispense them one at a time. The coffee waiting to be dispensed is kept in a special compartment in the machine instead of in a pot where it can become scorched. If you’re planning on larger gatherings, go for the big shiny machine.

Whatever your dreams for coffee making fame, match up the bean, the grind and the machine and you really will become one of the great gourmet coffee makers anywhere.