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BREW Expertly - Let's Get Grindin' -
12/7/2010
Posted By:
Steve Hawthorne
As promised, today I will start you down the path of brewing coffee shop quality coffee from the comfort of your own kitchen (or coffee brewing location of your choice).
I sort of feel like Colonel Sanders opening the vault and revealing the “original recipe,” but the truth of the matter is that what I will share with you is no secret. With enough research and digging, you’d likely find this on your own, but I will save you the trouble of Googling! So, here we go…
There are three things to consider before you start grinding your coffee:
1. What are you using to grind?
2. What are you using to brew?
3. When are you grinding your beans?
Blade vs Burr
I’m going to make the assumption that most of you reading this have progressed beyond the “mortar and pestle” method for grinding coffee. (If this is not the case, give me a call. We’ll have a private tutoring session.) There are essentially two types of electric grinders available for you to purchase.
The first type is a blade grinder. The blade grinder functions similar to most blenders. There is a blade at the bottom of a basin. Beans are poured on top of the blade and the grinder is activated. Beans are chopped randomly and with little to no consistency. To control the fineness or coarseness of the grind, you grind for more or less time.
The second type of grinder is the burr grinder. Burr grinders crush the beans between a moving and a non-moving surface. The moving surface is called the burr. The coarseness of fineness of the grind is controlled by adjusting the amount of space between the burr and the non-moving surface. The result is a much more consistent particle size.
You may be asking yourself, “Why would anyone purchase a blade grinder?” Here’s the catch…burr grinders are significantly more expensive then blade grinders. A common blade grinder that can be found in most stores with a kitchen section will cost $10-$20. Burr grinders, on the other hand will run anywhere from $50-$300. A big difference, I know, but I assure you that whatever you invest in a grinder will be WELL worth it. Freshly ground coffee is hands down better than pre-ground…you will most definitely get your $50+ back in coffee enjoyment.
There are a few things to consider before purchasing a grinder. First, get a burr grinder. Second, make sure that the grind size is adjustable. Depending on what you are using to brew, you will want to be able to adjust the grind size. Second, be sure that the container that catches the ground coffee is easily washable…you want this to stay clean to prevent flavor taints in your coffee. Finally, consider where you will be grinding your morning coffee and how noise will impact your environment. There’s no way around the fact that grinding coffee is noisy. There are some models however, that are slightly less noisy.
My recommendation for a good quality, reasonably priced grinder is The Infinity Conical Burr Grinder by Capresso. This is what I use at home every day. It’s held up well and I really enjoy it. Depending on where you purchase it from, this grinder will run you anywhere from $80-$100.
Match Your Grind to Your Brew Method
This is an important one. You can do everything else right, but if you use an improper grind for your brewing method, you will either have weak, watery coffee or extremely bitter, over-extracted coffee.
By grinding your coffee, you are creating more surface area for water to contact during the brewing process. In theory, you could drop a whole coffee bean in hot water and it would “brew” over time…a very long time. If you cut that bean in half, there are now two new surfaces for the water to contact…keep cutting and you have created up to 16x the surface area of the original bean for water to latch on to and brew.
In the 1940s, the Department of Commerce developed a standard for measuring particle size. It involves $400-$500 worth of equipment and more math than I care to think about. Here at Stone Creek, we’ve gone about determining optimal grind size the old fashioned way…trial and error. Just last week, I spent multiple afternoons with our lead coffee tech brewing coffee using multiple brew methods and on various grind settings. We got down to where we were adjusting our grind by 1/16th of a turn to see how it impacted flavor. In the end, we confirmed some of our settings and updated others.
So, how do you take advantage of our work? Stop into one of our stores and tell your barista how you are brewing coffee at home. Ask them if they can grind a sample on the appropriate grind setting. Take that home and spread it out on a white sheet of paper. Grind some coffee in your grinder and pour it on a sheet next to the reference sample…now keep tweaking your grind until you get the samples to match…voila!
Every grinder is different and there is little consistency in how they label their grind settings. Some use numbers, some use words…the best we can do at this point is give you the sample and let you attempt to match it.
When Are You Grinding?
Coffee begins staling the minute it comes into contact with air. We’ve done testing and found the coffee loses approximately half of its flavor 7-8 minutes after grinding. You can slow this process down slightly by storing freshly ground coffee in an airtight container, however the coffee still loses flavor rather quickly after the grinding process is complete. How do you prevent this? BUY A GRINDER AND GRIND IMMEDIATELY BEFORE BREWING!! If you need more evidence, grind some coffee and let it sit for a week…then grind fresh coffee and brew them side by side. There is a very distinct difference.
You’re now on your way to having coffee shop quality at home. On Friday, I’ll dive into types of brewing equipment, water factors to consider and ideal ratios of coffee to water. If you have other questions or issues, feel free to contact me…I’m happy to help!
Sip slowly.
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