Bits and Pieces
TEN PRACTICAL TIPS FOR MAKING GOOD COFFEE
1.- Choose a coffee of the highest quality, of freshly roasted beans.
2.- Buy it in small quantites and do not keep it for more than a week.
3.- Store the beans in an air tight container, glass or ceramic and store in the fridge.
4.- Only grind the amount needed for one use.
5.- Use mineral water or possibly tapwater if it does not contain too much chalk or chlorine.
6.- Measure one level teaspoonful of coffee per cup.
7.- Heat the water and take off the heat before it comes to the boil. Boiling water changes the flavour of the coffee.
8.- Always have a coffee pot suitable for the desired amount of cups.
9.- When the coffee is ready serve it immediately in cups warmed in boiling water.
10.- Prepare the exact amount of coffee required, never reheat the leftovers.
SOME TIPS FOR LOOKING AFTER THE COFFEE GRINDER
:In a corner of the bar, normally close to the coffee machine, shyly hides a machine that is often marginalised and underappreciated: a piece of equipment that keeps inside itself the coffee beans at the point of grinding, this phase is so important as it determines what grind grade, aroma and flavour the coffee will have in the cup. We are talking, of course, about the grinder.
We can broadly differentiate between three distinct parts of the grinder: The hopper, the measuring container and the body, subdivided into the motor and the burrs.
To maintain and prolong the life of the grinder you should remember these tips:
- Regularly oil the mechanisms.
- Replace the burrs every now and then.
- Regularly clean the hopper, the measuring cup and its star.
- Check daily the size of the ground coffee.
- Check the measurement weekly.
- If possible always use recently ground coffee which has sat for only one or two minutes.
- Do not mix ground coffee with the beans in the funnel.
- Put the grinder away from direct light and humidity ( like dishwashers, the regularly used steam attachment on the coffee machine...)
- Use natural coffees.
