Coffee Brewing 101
So you're about to brew coffee? Here are a few general rules to get the perfect cup!
1. Store your coffee in a cool, dark, dry spot.
Heat, moisture, light and oxygen are the enemy of coffee as they will speed up the ageing process and spoil the coffee. The fridge is coffee beans #1 enemy because of the moisture created by condensation.
Try storing your beans in your pantry, or even better, get one of our airtight container for optimum conservation!
2. Buy a grinder.
Within 15 minutes of grinding your beans, the quality of the coffee has been significantly compromised, so having a grinder at hand will make a big difference. Spinning blade grinders (sometimes called spice grinders) have no consistency in grind size, so you will need a burr grinder for the best coffee grounds possible!
3. Scales help if you really want a good brew.
Coffee brewing is an exact science and 2g can make a huge difference to the flavours in your cup. Small digital scales like the Hario drip scale or the Brewista smart scale are pretty affordable and a worthwhile investment to take the guess work out of home brewing.
4. Buy small quantities.
To get the best out of your coffee beans, it is best to buy in small quantities: depending on how you enjoy coffee at home and the effectiveness of your storage, you should aim at purchasing enough beans to get you through one or two weeks worth of brews.
Our beans are roasted weekly and are available to purchase either online or in our cafés. Coffee beans are best enjoyed 5-7 days after roasting and depending on your storage, they should still taste good after 14 days. Past this, the quality of the beans will start to degrade: stale flavours will start to come through and the bitter tones will become more prominent in the aftertaste.
So why not get freshly roasted coffee beans delivered weekly to your door? Blends or single origin, the choice is yours! Plus with a coffee subscription, the shipping is always free!
5. Buy beans appropriate to your brewing method.
Espresso Workshop was founded on the principle that coffee is not just a product but an experience. This is achieved by focusing on purchasing quality beans and roasting them with the goal of unlocking their full flavour potential.
At the roastery, we work with many different single origin coffees: some of them end up in our house blends and some of them are roasted and sold as single origin espresso or single origin filter coffees.
When buying coffee beans for home, you should choose the beans that will work best with the brewing method you follow.
Our espresso blends and single origin work very well on espresso machines, stove tops and plungers and our light roast single origin are designed for the softer way of brewing that is filter coffee (aeropress, chemex, V60).
If you need help making your choice between an espresso or light roast, don't hesitate to get in touch, we'll be happy to help!