Brewing Premium Kona Coffee by Karen Paterson
If you want to brew the best cup of Kona Coffee possible, we have some suggestions that will help you.
1. Buy fresh 100% Kona Coffee Beans
you can make bad coffee from great beans, but you cannot make great coffee from bad beans. You won’t find great beans at your supermarket, Wal-Mart, or Costco. Discount stores buy distressed coffee at cheap prices. High quality farmers do not sell to discount stores.
The best beans are fresh: fresh from the plantation, fresh from the roaster, fresh from the grinder. If you know who grew your beans, when they were picked, how they were stored, when they were roasted and when they were ground you are off to a good start.
2. Store the Beans in an Air-Free Environment
The enemy of roasted coffee is oxygen. Roasted whole bean coffee can stay fresh for a few days if left in an open container. Ground coffee, if it exposed to air, will go stale in less than a day. Buy coffee beans that are sealed in an airtight bag. After you open the bag, reseal by forcing as much air out as possible out and putting a clip on the top. Freezing coffee beans is a good way to slow down oxidation.
3. Grind Your Own Coffee Beans
Ground coffee spoils much faster than roasted whole beans. Grind your own coffee just before you brew it. There is a dramatic difference in the taste of fresh ground coffee.
4. Use Spring Water
Coffee is 98% water. If the water doesn’t taste good, the coffee won’t either. Chlorine in tap water kills the subtle tastes in coffee. Either use water from a high quality filter or use bottled water.
5. Brew Coffee at 200 Degrees
No matter what method you use for brewing coffee, the brew water should be between 195 and 205 F. Most automatic coffee makers brew coffee below 195 degrees, particularly after they have been used for awhile. Put a meat thermometer in the water going into your coffee brew basket. If it is not between 195 and 205 degrees, you are missing out on the best part of the coffee flavor.
6. Use a French Press
one of the best ways to brew coffee is in a French press. It isn’t as easy as setting the automatic drip brewer to go off when you wake up but the coffee will be remarkably better (also you won’t have ground coffee that has been exposed to air all night) French presses are an elegant way to serve coffee and will knock out your visitors who will realize how really cool you are.
7. Keep Your Equipment Clean
Coffee beans are full of oil. Coffee oil in contact with air will go rancid. Coffee brewers and, grinders collect coffee oil. Unless you clean them regularly the coffee will taste fishy and sour like rancid coffee oil.
Our goal at Hula Daddy Kona Coffee is to deliver the finest Kona Coffee that can be grown. All of the Hula Daddy Kona coffee beans are grown on our Hawaiian coffee plantation in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. We store, roast, and ship all of our beans directly from the plantation. We do not buy beans from anyone else. All of our beans are home grown. Let us know how you like our coffee.
