Buying Coffee Beans
Coffee beans are an item that because of the internet can now be sourced with great ease and convenience, the thing is do we buy them from our local coffee vendor or should we buy them from an internet based coffee store? Well this all depends on what coffee beans you might want and how patient you are, in other words both methods have their benefits. Buying a number of blends from a local store will be pretty straight forward but if you want something like green Kenyan beans then it may be that you have to look a little further and use the internet.
One bad aspect to hunting for coffee products locally is the fact that the variety of products that these local dealers stock is usually way beneath that held by the online sites, anyhow lets pretend the food and drink merchant did not have the items you originally wanted but did have a Green Coffee product you might possibly be interested in and a Iced Coffee product you might also want to look over. Obviously the next thing you need to do is check out the dealer to look at these coffee items for yourself, this is one of the genuine advantages of using a local coffee dealer, seeing the goods before you actually purchase.
Being able to evaluate merchandise like coffee makers and also kenyan coffee sachets for yourself is a real important factor if a person is coffee buying, internet shopping does have its good points but it does lose when it comes to looking at items. The fact that you have real human interaction with a merchant can often be a terrific advantage, lets say for example you order a Brazilian Santos pack or a Celebes Kalossi Toraja pack, lets also say there is some sort of problem with the goods you have ordered and need to return it to the coffee vendor it was purchased from, now it could just be a matter of simply trading the merchandise you bought for an identical item or another model. Product returns in local coffee stores can occur very quickly say you had purchased something such as a trick coffee mug or a italian coffee jug via an online coffee store you may perhaps have to pay both the delivery costs and the inconvenience of having to wait for the food and drink company to return your cash or send you a replacement product.
Now a good thing about local coffee dealers is the expertise they can give you, lets imagine you visit your locally based store because you are wishing to order a german coffee thermos it may be you happen to talk with the person in the store and because of their expertise in the area of coffee products you end up getting a completely different product altogether. Tips and expertise in the area of coffee products can easily be located on the net but you have to be aware of the proper methods by which to probe and dig for your required coffee guidance.
Hopefully now you are fully aware of the good and bad points about buying coffee beans online you will be able to make up your own mind on the subject, I prefer a little of both as I think that both online coffee buying and offline coffee buying are great.
Grinding Your Coffee Beans
Air is the enemy of all coffee drinkers. Once air comes in contact with your coffee grinds, they begin to lose their flavor. Coffee manufacturers vacuum seal their grinds to keep them fresh while they sit on the shelves at the supermarket but once you break that seal, it’s all downhill from there. Buying whole coffee beans and grinding them yourself is a great way to ensure that your coffee remains as flavorful as possible. But do you know how to grind your coffee beans properly?
Different types of coffee calls for different types of grinds. So you’ll need to learn to use your coffee grinder properly if you want to make the freshest best tasting coffee possible.
If you plan on brewing your coffee with a percolator or a French Press coffee maker then you’ll need a coarser grind. Place the coffee beans in your coffee grinder and tap the grind button a few times as you would use the pulse feature on your food processor. The goal is to break the beans up so that they look like tiny pieces of coffee bean. If they look like a powder, then you need to slowly back away from the coffee grinder and start again. Remember to tap the button and not hold it down.
Automatic drip coffee makers work best with medium grinds. Picture the grinds that you’d find in a can of supermarket coffee. Those are medium grinds. They can be described as looking like brown sand. So remember the last time you went to the beach but instead of seeing the sand in between your toes, imagine seeing sand in your coffee maker. Once again, while holding the coffee grinder button, don’t get carried away and over grind your coffee beans. You do not want a fine powder if you’re going to use an automatic coffee maker.
Finally if your using an espresso maker, you want those fine powdery grinds that you’ve been trying to avoid when making coarse and medium grinds. So grind away until your heart is content.
Grinding your own coffee beans right before you brew your coffee is a great way to make sure that you’re getting the freshest cup of coffee possible. But a fresh cup of coffee can still be bitter or weak. Learning how to grind your coffee beans is an important part of making great coffee.
