How to get your coffee to taste as good as in a Coffee Shop

What follows, was copied from their Facebook Page:

From: Square One Cafe
145 North Duke Street
Lancaster, PA 17602

Website is: www.squareonecoffee.com
Or to Tweet them: twitter.com/squareonecoffee

People ask us, "How do I get my coffee to taste this good at home?" 4 keys to brewing delicious coffee: Water, Freshness, Grind, Proportion. (We'll be highlighting each one of these in the coming days!)

First up is Water!
#1 Water: Don't use distilled Water (or HWater w/too few minerals) because it will extract too much, producing sharpness or exaggerated brightness. Don't use hard water either (tap water, in most cases). Water with too much "stuff" in it won't extract as much from your coffee. The ideal water for coffee/tea brewing has a PH of 7, Hardness of 70-80mg/L & Alkalinity of 50mg/L. So, it's important to test your water!


Next up is Freshness!
#2: Freshness! Whole bean coffee should be treated more like a gallon of milk or like fresh produce (& less like a bag of sugar!). Coffee fresh from the roaster should be allowed to "de-gas" for at least 48 hrs. Most coffee "peaks" between 2-8 days. Only grind the amount of coffee you need right before you brew it. (Ground coffee ages much faster & loses aroma/flavor). So let it "Peak" before you "Perk", but don't wait "too long".
Brewed coffee should be consumed within 30-45 minutes (or less!). Never re-heat coffee because the flavor oils break down & become bitter.


Next up is "The Grind"
#3: Grind! Make sure you grind your coffee for the appropriate setting for your brewing method. Experiment to see what grind works best. In general, French Press or Siphon = Coarser Grind, Auto-Drip or Pour-Over = Medium Grind to Fine Grind, Espresso = Very Fine Grind. The type of grinder is important too. Blade grinders simply chop your beans, while burr grinders (preferable) actually crush them.
You can always go a touch finer or coarser and still be within a good range. If you're doing everything right and you find your coffee is weak, try grinding a little finer (and vice versa). Experiment, and trust your taste buds.

Next up is "Proportion"
#4: Proportion: The SCAA recommends using 10 grams (about 2 tbs) for every 6 oz. of water. If you use less coffee, the brew will be over-extracted. (The H2O extracts everything good & keeps extracting undesirables.) This means that the filters in home coffee makers can't hold the full amount of coffee, so try brewing 3/4 or 1/2 pots.
If coffee brewed at the proper proportions is too strong for your taste, simply add hot water directly to your cup.



And I added this:

Next up is "Cleanliness"
#5: Cleanliness: The cleaner your equipment, the more likely you are to taste the subtle differences in the different kinds of coffee available out there. Some look for fruity, some floral, some smokey. The key, is to clean your equipment, before AND after use. In my workplace, we make hot water for tea, regular and decaf coffees. If you don't clean the machine, your tea could taste like coffee. Or you could end up with more caffeine in your decaf, than is there already. So I clean it before each use. When brewing FOUR pots for a Continental Breakfast, Hot water is first, followed by the decaf, THEN the two 'regular' coffee pots. The cleaner the equipment, the more likely the product will taste great.



Courtesy of your Coffee Reviewer. Have a nice day, and God Bless!

Square One - House Brew

Stopped at Square One, on the way home from work, and got a LARGE cup of 'regular' coffee.

A nice dark roast, with a smokey taste to it. Not sure what the roast was, but it had a taste of being a little 'burned', perhaps in the percolator a little too long. I used cream and 'raw' sugar to sweeten it up. Still... better than anything that Starbucks would put out. I know I'll be going back to Square One again.




Courtesy of your Coffee Reviewer. Have a nice day, and God Bless!

Wawa Coffeetopia

There are a LOT of coffees to choose from at Wawa, a convenience store found in Central Pennsylvania among other places. The coffee today is their English Toffee Cappuccino. Being really 'thick', it's best to 'water it down' using a brewed coffee. For this adventure, I filled the cup to about 60%, then used their French Vanilla brewed coffee to fill the cup the rest of the way.

This is a delicious way to get English Toffee. The French Vanilla, a medium roast, enhances the flavor. It's very good. A couple years ago, Wawa had a Caramel Roasted Coffee that was better at bringing out the almond and butter flavor of the toffee. It was a 'special' release, and they do not know when they will bring it back.

To call this Cappuccino 'rich' would be an understatement. Your system needs to be ready for it. But if it is... you're going to LOVE this combination. Few coffee houses offer this combination, so it's worth the trip. I'll be doing this one again.




Courtesy of your Coffee Reviewer. Have a nice day, and God Bless!

Square One Mocha

Located at 147 North Duke Street in Lancaster, PA, I went here for one of their 'Mustache Days' specials (no longer available). When I saw Mocha on their menu, I just HAD to try it.

A dark roasted coffee, blended with rich creamy chocolate. I did not get the whipped cream, due to being lactose intolerant. This was a delicious combination. I have to use the word 'RICH' again. Freshly brewed in their barrista machine, then chocolate is added and mixed thoroughly. You can really taste the chocolate.

This coffee house puts Starbucks to shame, in the fact that they roast on premises. Their little bistro-like cafe is kept VERY clean. The barrista cleaned the machine. both before AND after making my cup. This assured me that my cup of Mocha was unique. That it wouldn't be blended with the cup before, or after. This is very comforting.

Very nice people. They are expanding the number of stores they have... most recently to Baltimore, MD. You will find them on the web, and on FaceBook.

I will definitely be going back to try more of their menu, as my budget allows.




Courtesy of your Coffee Reviewer. Have a nice day, and God Bless!

Dunkin' Donuts: Dunkin' Turbo

I saw, online, that I could get a free sample of Dunkin' Donuts coffee. So, I filled out the information, and waited for the day that it would arrive. It took a little over a week. On opening the package, I discovered a 4 cup sample was enclosed. After cleaning my Mr. Coffee machine, I set it up for a 4 cup brewing.

Dunkin' Turbo is a dark roast coffee. A slight 'smokey' scent while brewing it. It's flavor is pretty close to what you get in their stores. One difference... It's caffeine content is MUCH higher. It had a hint of smoothness to it. Slightly acidic in nature. I had my first cup "Black, no sugar". This is my tradition. Seeing if it 'needs' to have cream and/or sugar to taste. In my opinion, it needs both. It's a little harsh on the taste buds. Might be the elevated caffeine content. With some coffees, I use two measures of cream and 4 measures of sugar. This needed two more sugars. I could 'almost' say that it was sightly bitter.

It's not a bad coffee, but it needs additions to make it palatable, and drinkable. While NOT on my 'favorite' list, I would have it again. Just not too often. I would, however, put it on a list of 'back up' coffees if no other was available.

For this sample, I will say that the price was right. Worth trying, but not a special trip.





Courtesy of your Coffee Reviewer. Have a nice day, and God Bless!

Raos Coffee: Colombian Blend

Raos Coffee Roasting Company, based in Massachusetts, sent me a pound of their Colombian Blend coffee to enjoy.

I was amazed, as I brewed this dark roast, fresh ground, coffee. The aroma was very pleasant. On sampling it, I discovered it was a fully bodied flavor. This means it was very satisfying to my taste buds. It was silky smooth, flowing down very easily. It was a little dry, but cream brought out it's buttery richness. A slight hint of caramel meant that I would not need much sugar to enhance it's flavor. Slightly acidic, but a GREAT cup of coffee.

I've traveled a lot, in my life, and have had coffee from all over the world. This, by far, was the best coffee I have tasted.... to date. I would recommend Raos Coffee Roasting Company's products. I've only tried the Colombian blend, but look forward to trying some of their other, numerous, varieties of coffee. Perhaps even their tea, at some point. I put their URL into the title of this posting, and you can find them on FaceBook, too.
http://www.raoscoffee.com

HIGHLY recommended!





Courtesy of your Coffee Reviewer. Have a nice day, and God Bless!

How to BEST brew your coffee

ALWAYS clean your coffee brewing machine before AND after use.

ALWAYS use FRESH beans/grounds, for a much greater chance of enjoying your coffee.

ALWAYS use cold (filtered) water. The colder the better, actually.

ALWAYS measure out the amount of coffee according to the instructions on the packaging. Too much, and you're wasting. Too little, and it won't have the proper flavor experience.

NEVER put your coffee grounds/beans into the refrigerator or freezer. This affects the oils within the beans/grounds, and can leave you with a very bitter cup of coffee.

NEVER buy more coffee than you can consume, completely, in more than a week. If your open grounds are more than TWO WEEKS OLD, best to add them to your compost pile. Coffee DOES go stale and CAN go bad.

One last ALWAYS for you: ALWAYS brew only as much as will be consumed within 30 minutes of completion of the brewing process. The exception to this rule, would be if you're making "ICED" coffee. This "recipe" will be covered in a later posting.


Courtesy of your Coffee Reviewer. Have a nice day, and God Bless!