↓GETTING STARTED IN COFFEE
Because cold brew
doesn’t have the same
chemical composition as
hot coffee, it brings out
different flavors.I can have the coffee
people grind the beans
for me, right?AS SOON AS beans are roasted, they start
letting out carbon dioxide. When they’re
exposed to air, oxygen replaces the CO 2 ,
slowly turning the aromatic coffee oils
inside the bean rancid. When you buy
beans, they’ll usually come in a bag with
a small one-way valve on the front, which
slows that process—look for whole beans
that have a roast date within the past two
weeks, and they’ll last about another month.
(Beware of coffee packages without this
valve: That usually means the grounds
inside have essentially been pre-staled.)
Ground coffee goes stale within days,
though, since that degassing process is
accelerated by a larger surface area. It really
is much better to grind the beans yourself.
Invest in a burr grinder—and buy your fam-
ily some earplugs.Is Starbucks’
coffee good?ACTUALLY—YES. Remember, before How-
ard Schultz became an ultrarich potential
presidential candidate, Starbucks was
the original specialty café. You won’t find
niche, super-small-batch beans there
today, largely because the company set
its prices a long time ago; if you ignore all
the flavors, foams, and various nondairy
milks and just stick with a plain cup of drip
coffee, Starbucks will run you just about
$2.50. You could easily pay twice that much
for a pour-over at an independent coffee-
house. But the other part of what makes
Starbucks decent is the same reason your
favorite greasy-spoon diner has a shock-
ingly good cup of joe: Brewing big helps
smooth out any measuring errors. Even a
one-ounce mistake can make a huge dif-
ference in a small batch; as you scale up, it
gets less obvious.
Can I cold brew
at home?THE SIMPLEST WAY to make your
own cold brew is to grind your coffee
coarse—as you would for a French-press
brew—and soa k it in room-temperat ure
water (not cold, despite the name) over-
night and then strain out the grounds.
A good ratio is one pound of coffee to a
gallon of water, which will make a cold-
brew concentrate that you can store in
your fridge for several days. Decant into
your favorite mason jar and dilute with
cold water to drink.- POUR-OVER
GRIND: Medium-coarse
TIME: 2.5 to 3 minutes
HOW TO DO IT: Measure grounds
into paper filter in brew basket. Pour
a little hot water and let the grounds
bloom (expand as they release CO^2 )
for 15 seconds. Pour water slowly,
never letting the filter empty out.
WE RECOMMEND: Hario V60,
$16 to $25 - AUTOMATIC BREWER
GRIND: Fine
TIME: 5 to 6 minutes
HOW TO DO IT: Insert paper or per-
manent filter, measure out grounds,
pour unheated water into reservoir,
hit button. Wait.
WE RECOMMEND: Bonavita 8-cup
Connoisseur, $160 - FRENCH PRESS
GRIND: Coarse
TIME: 3 to 4 minutes
HOW TO DO IT: Measure grounds
into beaker. Pour hot water and
stir. Replace lid above water level.
Wait four minutes, then plunge.
WE RECOMMEND: Bodum 3-cup
Chambord, $30
Is it okay to put cream
and sugar into great coffee?DEFINITELY. Just ma ke sure you’re using good-qua lit y milk
and sugar—if you’re dumping in Coffee-mate (or worse,
skim milk), why even bother with the rest of it?Three
Basic Brews
52 June^2019
CAVAN^IMAGES/GETTYIMAGES(LEFT)