Three Steps to Brewing a Better Cup

It's our founding belief that there is no one right way to make good coffee. However, there are some basic elements that go into brewing good coffee at home. Once those are in place, you are free to experiment or repeat as needed. The following assumes you are already using good quality, recently roasted beans.

1) Use spring or filtered water: All water may be created equal, but depending on where it comes from, it may have more or less of the mineral content need to ensure proper extraction of coffee compounds. Distilled water tends to have too little and tap water too much. 

2) Heat water to around 200 degrees: Brewing at the right temperature, ideally between 195 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit, ensures the proper extraction. Coffee compounds, including caffeine, go into solution much more efficiently at high temperature compared temperatures even 10 to 15 degrees lower.

3) Grind right before brewing: Fresh roasted coffee does a really good job of protecting itself from the degradation of delicate flavor compounds. Once ground, the coffee quickly loses this natural protection, greatly speeding up the staling process and the breakdown of flavor compounds.