1. Start with a good grade of coffee. Arabica beans are of better quality than robusto, typically costing a lot more, but aged properly on the vine before picking.
Arabica is higher quality, but some blends use small amounts of robusto for specific characteristics. For example, a small amount of robusto in an espresso blend can act as a crema enhancer without harming flavor (infact increasing it alongside mouthfeel).
2. Only buy coffee from a supplier that doesn't 'warehouse' the beans for a long time. Store brands like Maxwell House, Yuban, Choc Full o' Nuts, etc., are typically rancid by the time of consumer purchase.
Agreed, best to buy when you know the roast date, if possible. If you can't find it locally you can order online, many roasters ship at a reasonable rate. Ideally beans are used 2-2.5 weeks after roasting.
3. Buy beans and grind only what you need to make a cup. Store the beans in a vacuum canister. Take out a smaller quantity for each week and put that in a smaller vacuum canister. Exposure to air is destructive to the beans and causes oxidation, which results in the two oils within the bean to turn rancid.
Light is also an issue. Dark, cool and air tight. Storage method also depends on how long beans are kept. I rarely seal my beans in anything air tight because they aren't around long enough to go stale.
5. Use a clean coffee maker and cup, free of soap residue and old coffee residue. If the cup smells of stale coffee, it needs to be washed again, with steel wool and detergent and rinsed until thoroughly free of soap film.
Don't forget regular maintenance of your machine - descaling and cleaning out the lines regularly removes oils and other buildup from the lines. These forms of buildup can drastically affect flavor quality. Regular maintenance will also lengthen machine life.
6. Drip coffee maker works the best. Measure the correct amount of coffee. Too much is just as bad as not enough. Typically an extra scoop of ground coffee is necessary to saturate the filter. Then one scoop per cup of coffee made.
Drip coffee the best? Completely subjective, I am not a fan of good drip coffee most of the time. I rank espresso at the top of my list.
Remember scoops vary in volume capacity. Saying X scoops doesn't mean much because there is no standard.
7. Use a high quality paper filter, not the cheap 'recycled' paper filters that are brown. Melitta filters taste the most neutral. Stainless micro perf mesh filters can also work, but they MUST be thoroughly cleaned every use!
Paper filters can remove oils from the coffee which can affect flavor greatly.
8. Brew at 195°F. Too hot will burn the beans. Not hot enough won't brew the beans to get the proper flavor.
This depends on method of brewing and the bean being used. From what I understand 200 degrees F is optimal for drip coffee, in fact the
only drip machine I know of that is
SCAA certified brews at this temp. From what I remember the ideal range for all brewing methods is 198-205 degrees F.
