Trying out this blog thing... "I'm buying good quality, freshly roasted coffee... What's the next step I should take?"

Excerpted from my newsletter/roasting reminder from last week Friday, September 27:

The initial purpose of this newsletter was to simply remind my customers of when I'm roasting, and to act as a trigger to take a look and see if you would be needing coffee before the next weekend or not.

Prior to setting this up, I would text my "regular" customers, if I did not already have an order from them, asking if they were needing coffee that week or not. An email reminder seemed like a good substitute, and it still serves the initial function, but to change things up a bit, I will be adding some little educational-type blurbs regarding all things coffee.

Some of what I'll cover may be news to you, some may not, but my hope is that it remains interesting and educational.

As of right now, I have a loose list of topics that I will be covering, but if there is anything you would like me to delve into drop me a line and I'd be happy to take some suggestions! Thanks to Trevor and Aaron for your input on this (and the coming) week's write-ups.

I'm buying good quality, freshly roasted coffee... What's the next step I should take?

This is the question that I get asked more than any other, and I'm always eager to talk about it. So, if you're asking this, here are some of my thoughts:

Regarding prepared coffee, there are multiple factors that are directly tied to what ends up in the cup;

• Quality, freshness and roast of coffee

• Is the coffee simply scooped/eyeballed or is it weighed to a set water:coffee ratio

• Method of brewing

• The equipment used to brew

• Water quality

• Water temperature

• Amount of time taken to brew

• Etc. etc. etc.

Now, I understand that not everyone has the time or desire to delve into all this, and there is a cost associated to coffee paraphernalia, but I can't emphasize enough how much of a role each of these variables (and a number of others not listed) play in getting the most out of coffee.

This Week's Topic: Should I use a kitchen scale when preparing your coffee?

One of the easiest ways to consistently dial in your coffee every day is by weighing it. A kitchen scale is one of the first things I suggest adding to your arsenal of coffee equipment.

It may take a bit of tweaking to find your sweet spot, but once you do you can repeatedly get identical results day to day, and with varying amounts of coffee made. For drip brewers, a good starting point is to use 8 grams of coffee for every 6 fl. oz. of water. If this is too strong, try 7 grams on the next pot, or 9 grams if it is too weak.

Here are a couple scales that I have used and had good results with:

Etekcity kitchen scale
OXO kitchen scale

If you have pre-ground coffee, put your coffee filter and basket onto the scale, turn the scale on, and fill the filter with the desired weight of coffee. If your basket does not sit flat, use a small cup or bowl to weigh the grounds in, and then pour the desired weight of grounds into the filter. If you have whole beans, put a bowl or cup onto the scale, turn it on, weigh the coffee, grind and pour into the filter after grinding.

This week's topic - using a scale when brewing coffee - is a key component to producing a reliably good cup of coffee. More to come on other key components to brewing great coffee in future newsletters.