Making the perfect cup of coffee.

It's all about the beans! ..and the water, and the grinding, and the freshness and,and,and..

I've owned and operated a coffee shop in Montreal for the past 3 years and have learned a thing or two about making the perfect cup of coffee. Let's start from the coffee selection and move towards the final drink.

We used only a high quality organic coffee. You simply can't squeeze a great cup from an inferior bean. If you want great coffee you must buy good beans. Beans should last a good couple of months if kept dark and dry, never pre-ground and never frozen.
We have noticed a change in flavor as quick as a few hours after grinding and won't even serve coffee that was ground the day before.

Water makes up most of the actual drink. As with the coffee if you want a great cup you can't skimp. We use demineralized coffee as it is the best for keeping the machine's pipes clean and offers a great taste. Stay away from distilled and tap water residue is the worst both for taste and your machine. If getting de-mineralized is tough for you then at least use a carbon filter on your tap water.

So after grinding your organic beans wait about 5 minutes, just enough time for some of the gas to exhale out of the grinds. This will smooth out the drink a bit. I won't give exact measurements of coffee per brew as this should be different for each of you. That being said most people do not put enough coffee into the filter, try upping your amount a bit.

That's it, simple enough. Buy good beans, never freeze, buy good water and use plenty of coffee.

Bruce Hollingdrake
Me Coffee - vintage coffee mugs and more.