A Good Cup of Coffee

A Good Cup of  Coffee

I have always tried to broaden my coffee tasting to a variety of coffees and to a variety of different cafes. Today I had a cup that was from a company with a thirty year history.  They make a point of personally visiting and building relationships with the small-lot farmers who grow their coffee.  They have always roasted their beans themselves and are environmentally and ethically responsible in all they do.

So when I ordered a medium roast, I expected a good cup of coffee.  After all, I have had coffee from this café before and always enjoyed it.  This time though, one sip told me, this cup would go down in history as one of the worst cups of coffee, I have ever had.

When we brew coffee, whether it is at home, in our core rotation of blonde, medium and dark, on the Clover or as a Pour Over, we need to follow some fundamental rules.  Not following these fundamentals will result in an inferior product. At Starbucks, these fundamentals are streamlined to the extent to make the process quite easy.  With our drip coffees on rotation, everything is looked after. The amount of coffee, the grind, the amount of water, the temperature and the brew time.  One thing we must do though, is listen to that 10 or 15 minute timer.  Coffee left sitting past that time, quickly deteriorates. With that all the effort of using superior coffee beans, industry leading equipment and building enduring relationships with the farmers who grow our coffee, goes down the drain.

Brewing coffee does involve science, but it is the simple things that make or break a good cup.  My experience today, reminded me of some of those simple things. Following that timer religiously, following all the steps with a pour over or French press and keeping the Clover clean and tidy. 

And yes, I finally did have a good cup of coffee. A nice Ethiopia Kayon Mountain Farm.