(...continued from previous post)
...I woke up earlier than others (as usual) and got right to fixing breakfast. I am a bit irritable in the morning (who isn't?) but despite my temperamental demeanor, I love making breakfast. As a matter of fact, I usually think about what to fix for brekkie the night before. I just LOVE to cook! That's why I got into the Culinary Arts Program...unfortunately, it took me 4 years to figure that out after graduating from the University of Utah...but I couldn't be happier about my career change :)
But back to the issue at hand: breakfast. Wanting to use the mustard-mayo sauce I made the night before (as a way of getting my Dad to eat his broccoli, but alas, he didn't touch it :P), I made potato salad with peas and corn using the sauce. Sunny-side up and fruits completed the meal. Now on to the coffee.
I decided to give the Organic Colombian a whirl again. Did I screw up the water/coffee bean ratio? Was it the way I ground it? Was it the grinder itself? Or is this just a crappy bag of coffee beans?
I increased the amount of water, made the grind coarser, and tried it again.
We sat down to eat. Mom and I took a sip.
...Not as bitter as last night, but lacks body. Mom was again, disappointed. "I'll just put them in the compost," she said.
"Heavens, NO!!!!" I thought. Even if they weren't good, I was still planning on using the beans. I didn't like the idea of coffee farmers' fruits of labor going to compost/turning into worm food.
So I offered a few suggestions: Maybe it's the way I ground the beans. Maybe the coffee maker needs to be cleaned. Mom thought that this coffee "tastes like Arabica coffee, not Colombian", what she had mentioned last night. We checked the bag and sure enough, on the back, it said, "100% Arabica coffee beans". Mom got upset, because the label on the front read "100% Organic Colombian"....then I said, "...Are the two the same thing? Maybe the names are interchangeable..?"
After 30 minutes of online research, here's what I found:
1) There are only two species of coffee beans cultivated commercially: Arabica and Robusta. The names like "Colombian", "Kenyan", and "Kona" refers to the the geographical name of where these beans have been grown. In other words, it doesn't matter where they're grown, they're all either Arabica or Robusta (the majority of it would be Arabica however). However, the location of where they've been grown does affect the flavor.
2) Colombian coffee is supposed to have an acidic note, and shouldn't be overly bitter.
It was NOT the coffee beans. Which brought up the topics of proper grinding and brewing technique...
3) The best grinder is the burr grinder--the kind with a rotating handle and a mill. We have a blade grinder, with a pair of blades that whirls to chop the beans. Apparently the blade grinder generates heat as it turns, causing the grounds to lose its flavor.
4) Coffee to water ratio. Two level tablespoons (the Approved Coffee Measure) deveopled by the Coffee Brewing Institute per 6 oz. of water. Turned out that our coffee maker's 1 cup equals 5 oz. instead of the standard 6 oz. The manufacturer recommended 1 tablespoon per cup. So to make the "standard" coffee, I should use 5 level tablespoon for 30 oz. (6 cups) of coffee.
5) Wait until the last minute to brew coffee. I usually brew coffee the first thing after I get up, so it ends up sitting there for a good half an hour.
These are my findings. I still have a long way to go before I can brew that perfect cup of coffee.
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