Better coffee. One cup at a time.

Tag: manual brewing (Page 3 of 6)

What is the Best Water to Use When Making Coffee?

Besides the actual coffee that you select to brew with, water is the most important element that goes into a cup of coffee. The mineral content and ph level of the water you use, can have drastic effects on the finished product. Using the wrong water can ruin a beautiful coffee and nobody wants to see that happen.

At the most basic level, water chemistry isn’t a huge deal. Conventional coffee wisdom is, if your water tastes good for drinking, it will taste good for coffee. To a certain extent this is truth.

Here are a few basic coffee water brewing principles, if you think you have a water problem, start here.

If you want to cut to the chase and start with water that is made for optimal coffee brewing, pick up a box of Third Wave Water and see how much of a difference the right water can make to a cup of coffee. (I have used Third Wave Water for several years now.) For the DYIer there is also a recipe for making your own version of Third Wave Water via Tinker Coffee (.75 grams Epsom Salt and  .26 grams Baking Soda mixed in a gallon of distilled water).

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Coffee Break (April 2015)

Spring has sprung and with it are a myriad of very un-coffee related activities I’ve begun to engage in. I have yard work to do, a fence to get built as well as plans to make my own bacon and brew some beer. I thought that it would be a good time for a few smaller updates joined into one post. I am going to call it Coffee Break in hopes that I can keep it concise enough to be consumed along with a cup of manually brewed coffee.

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What I Learned About Tasting Coffee From the Book Blink

When I turned thirty in December, I set a goal for myself to read an average of one book a week during my thirtieth year. Inspired by a friend who does not read fiction books at all, I decided that it would be 52 works of nonfiction.

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell was book number twelve.

Blink is filled with all sorts of mind blowing insights that can’t help but alter the way a reader perceives the world. It is a book about first impressions and the subconscious. It is about bias’ and how it is nearly impossible to not be swayed by things going on behind the scenes of your brain. I loved it and I recommend it.

What does Gladwell’s book have to do with coffee? More than I ever expected it to when I first picked it up for some mental exercise.

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