There are many variables to making good coffee. This is a brief series of posts about this topic.

#1. The bean: Beans are grown all around the world in tropical latitudes. Like wine, beans come to us as a single origin or a blend of two or more beans. Only good beans can make good coffee, so buy the best you can afford. There are many flavors from the different beans and your favorite coffee will be a personal taste. Here are a couple of things to consider after you purchase your coffee:

• Freshness: Storing beans is as important as choosing your beans. Roasted whole benas will go stale within one week if open to the air and ground coffee within hours. Airtight containers will extend the freshness and for longer storage, airtight in the freezer may keep freshness for months. Best is to purchase coffee often..


• Roasts: Coffee beans are roasted to different levels to bring out the best flavor of a particular bean. City roast (light), French roast (medium), Italian or Espresso roasts (dark) refer to how long the bean has been cooked and not the type of bean. The bean, not the toast, determines the amount of caffeine the coffee has. When compared to europeans, americans overtoast their beans.

I intend to put additional posts on here explaining some more of these concepts. Like for instance, how can you tell if the bean that you're buying is a good bean or not?