1. Boiling causes bitterness, so never boil coffee. It should be brewed between 90°C and 96°C.
2. Do not reheat coffee. Make it fresh each time you serve it, and make only as much as you plan to drink.
3. Coffee holds its flavor best at 86°C.
4. Use freshly drawn, cold water. Water is 98 percent of every cup; consider using a water filter or bottled water if your water tastes peculiar.
5. Do not reuse grounds. What remains are the unpleasant bitter components of the coffee.
6. Use the correct grind for your coffee maker. Too fine of a grind will cause over-extraction and bitterness, or clog your brewer. Too coarse of a grind will cause watery coffee. For drip brewers, the appropriate grind should allow the coffee to finish dripping in two to four minutes.
7. We recommend using 10 g (2 tablespoons) of ground coffee for each 180 ml (6 fluid oz) of water. Keep these proportions consistent, regardless of the quantity you make. You can adjust proportions to taste, but remember that skimping (i.e., grinding finer and using less coffee) makes for a thin, bitter brew.
8. Coffee can be kept warm over a burner for only about 20 minutes before the flavor becomes unpleasant. An air pot or vacuum server will keep coffee hot and delicious for much longer periods of time.

:: the right brewing equipment ::
We recommend the coffee press method as the best way to brew coffee by the pot. Popular among lovers of fine coffees, it is a modern variation on the traditional open-pot style. Hot water is simply poured over coarse-ground coffee and allowed to steep for two to four minutes. A stainless steel mesh filter is then "plunged" down to the bottom, neatly separating coffee from the grounds.

The brew is rich and thick and considerably more flavorful than drip coffee since paper filters remove flavor nuances and add taste of their own. The espresso brewing method, which uses pressure rather than gravity t brew, is becoming increasingly popular. These brewers require more skill than drip brewers, but the results, whether in the form of a concentrated espresso or a rich, foamy cappuccino, make the effort more than worthwhile.

Drip coffee makers, whether manual pour-overs or sleek, automatic electric models, continue to be among the most popular and convenient brewers. Permanent metal mesh and synthetic filters are increasingly available for these units, making a noticeably richer cup possible. Other excellent (albeit somewhat less common) brewing methods include traditional Italian stove-top coffee makers, vacuum brewers and cold water extractors.

:: careful storage protects freshness ::
All coffee, whether it is whole bean or ground, deteriorates after roasting, but proper storage will help to extend the flavor / life of your coffee. The bag is lined with a special polypropylene film that protects the beans from air and moisture. For coffee that will be consumed within two weeks, store in an airtight container and keep in a cool, dark place.

For coffee to be kept longer than two weeks, store in the smallest practical airtight container in your freezer. Do not return it to the freezer once it has been removed since moisture condensation will hasten flavor loss. Remember, fresh air is coffee’s worst enemy. Whole been coffee retains its flavor much longer than ground coffee since less surface area is exposed to air. A home coffee grinder will help provide fresh coffee flavor every morning.

:: no1 coffee myth - "If I grind finer, I can use less" ::
This myth is probably the cause of more bad-tasting coffee than any other common brewing practice. There’s only so much goodness in a given measure of coffee, grinding too fine just extracts the bitter-tasting components of the coffee. Marketing myths to the contrary, no one in the history of coffee brewing has come up with a way to get more than forty 180 ml cups of coffee from one pound. All this is simply a matter of chemistry.

When you brew coffee, you’re trying to extract just the right percentage of the ground coffee into the brewed beverage. Too little extraction means you don’t get your money’s worth out of the coffee, too much means bitter oils that should have remained in the filter basket end up in your cup. The ideal chemistry for a cup of coffee is 18 to 22 percent solubles. How do you brew such a cup? The "magic formula" is: 10 g (2 tablespoons) of ground coffee per 180 ml of water.

:: grinding for maximum flavour ::
Each coffee maker is designed to brew using a specific grind. In general, the faster the brew cycle, the finer the grind (e.g., very fine for espresso) and the slower the brew cycle, the coarser the grind (e.g., the plunger pot, where grounds steep for about four minutes).

When you buy beans, ask which grind is recommended for your coffee maker. They will be happy to grind a small sample of beans using our commercial grinders for you to use as a point of reference when grinding at home.