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Before you buy a coffee maker, there are factors you may wish to consider before parting with your money. These range from the cost, to the special features and your own preferences i.e., is the coffee maker capable of meeting your expectations with the coffee you enjoy and the number of cups you consume? We take a look at the Aeropress and analyse how it makes coffee and is it suitable for your needs.

The Aeropress coffee maker is popular with coffee enthusiasts keen on retiring their good old French Press. The coffee maker can be described as a new-age portable coffee press. It utilises a rapid total immersion coffee brewing process, to make delicious, smooth, flavour-packed coffee minus the bitterness and high acidity associated with the French Press.

How does an Aeropress work?

The Aeropress is a product of creative and smart thinking design resulting in a simple product that works better or as good as the most complex coffee makers on the market today.

The coffee maker works by forcing hot water through ground coffee at high pressure. This simple process extracts maximum coffee essence from the coffee grounds. When done conventionally with a machine, this process could be described as complex and time consuming. Typical filter coffee makers make coffee by slowly dripping hot water into filters filled with ground coffee.

The Aeropress takes the best aspects of coffee making and simplifies the process by producing coffee that ranges between conventional and espresso coffee quality. It brews coffee under the perfect conditions (ideal temperature, total immersion & rapid filtering), resulting in great tasting coffee packed with beautiful flavours and low acidity.

The mechanism is simple – forcing hot water through ground coffee using hand pressure. The heat resistant chamber forms an airtight seal when the plunger is located and pressed down.

As a result of only 20-30 seconds of press time, the Aeropress will brew coffee minus the mess, bitterness, and high acidity levels associated with a French press. It has a microfilter that gets rid of grit, allowing particle-free coffee in seconds.

Step by step guide on using the Aeropress coffee maker

Using the coffee maker is incredibly easy. You just need hot water, ground coffee, and hand pressure to extract maximum coffee essence from your coffee grounds. The Aeropress components can be cleaned easily by rinsing under a tap. It is worth ensuring all seals are wiped and dried thoroughly.

After you’ve finished brewing, you’ll need to unscrew the cap holding the filter and push the plunger downwards to get rid of the coffee residue. Cleaning the Aeropress is as easy as rinsing the rubber seal at the bottom of the plunger. During use, the rubber seal wipes the chamber clean eliminating the need to clean the chamber.

Quick guide to using the Aeropress

Step 1:

Start by unscrewing the black filter cap and inserting the filter paper. Reattach to the main body, add the coffee grounds followed by the hot water into the cylinder.

Important: The coffee needs to be pre-ground. To get a concentrated brew use approximately 2.6g of coffee for every ounce of water. However, the amount of coffee you should ultimately use is entirely up to a person’s taste and preference. If you don’t have a coffee grinder, take a look at our picks in our article here.

Step 2:

Stir the mixture and leave to brew, fit in the plunger on top.

Step 3:

After allowing a few seconds, slowly press the plunger down, forcing the hot water through the coffee grounds and filter.

Step 4:

Remove the filter, wash, and enjoy your coffee.

You can make 1 cup of American/filter coffee for every pressing.

Potential problems with an Aeropress

Since the Aeropress is a coffee press that utilises manual hand pressure, you should place the coffee maker on top of sturdy coffee mugs only. Paper cups or weak mugs may not be able to withstand the manual force created when pressing the plunger down, to force the hot water through the coffee grounds and filter.

Pros and cons of the Aeropress

Pros

There are several things to love about the Aeropress. The most notable include:

• Better than the French Press – The Aeropress in our opinion makes better-tasting coffee minus the acidity and bitterness associated with the French Press. The Aeropress also makes coffee faster with less mess. 
• Versatile: Great for home use and on-the-go – The coffee maker is lightweight, sizable, and compact. The Aeropress also comes with a zippered tote bag that makes it portable and great for use when traveling, backpacking, camping, boating, etc. 
• Easy to clean – The Aeropress components can be cleaned easily. The clever plunger design coupled with an easy-to-remove filter, makes it extremely easy to clean. It only takes a few seconds to clean this coffee maker.
• Readily available filters – Although the coffee maker comes with 350 replacement filters, more can be bought from many retailers. 

Cons

• Size – The Aeropress may be too small for people looking to brew multiple cups of coffee instantaneously.
• Loss of air pressure or splatter if held/used incorrectly – The rubber plunger can lose air pressure, if held incorrectly. Pressing too fast can result in too much pressure, resulting in splatter. To get the best results, the plunger should be in an upright position and pressed slowly for a period of 20 seconds.

Is the Aeropress value for money?

The Aeropress costs the same, if not less than a French Press but offers more benefits, including the ability to brew different varieties of coffee. It’s also faster, easier to use, and clean making it valuable for persons looking for the fastest ways to make coffee at home or on-the-go in record time. The coffee maker comes with 350 microfilters. Once exhausted, you need to buy more filter papers. Click here to check price.

Alternatives to the Aeropress coffee maker

Aeropress GO

The Aeropress GO is a great alternative for people interested in an Aeropress specifically made for persons looking for a coffee maker they can travel with. The Aeropress GO comes with a drinking mug that works as a carrying case making it incredibly easy to enjoy a mug of coffee on-the-go. click here to check the price

Key Features

• Great design: The Aeropress Go stands out the most for its ingenious design that ensures everything you need fits inside the mug.
• Brew hot or cold brew coffee in seconds: The Aeropress Go makes hot coffee in a record 60 seconds and cold brew in approximately two minutes

Summary

In a nutshell, the Aeropress Coffee Maker is a notable alternative to the French Press which is known to occasionally produce poor tasting coffee and rather annoying to clean. The Aeropress offers more versatility, with where you brew whether it’s at home or on holiday. Making it the ideal travel companion for the coffee lover. Together with a handy travel bag this coffee press is easy to slip into any rucksack or suitcase. If you are interested in a worthy alternative to the French Press, this coffee press comes highly recommended. If you just need to make a few cups of coffee in a minute or so, buy yourself the Aeropress Coffee Maker here.

It is more than likely that you have seen or come across a moka pot somewhere on your travels. Whether in a friend’s kitchen, a hotel or even a museum, its iconic distinctive design is hard to pass by without wondering how it works and does it produce a great cup of coffee. With a number of moka pots on the market today, we will be taking a closer look at the range produced by Bialetti.

What is moka pot coffee?

The characteristics of moka pot-brewed coffee, like the product of any other brewing equipment or methods depend mainly on bean variety, roast level, fineness of grind, water profile, and the level of heat used. Moka pots are referred to as stove-top espresso makers because the early models were designed to sit on a stove to derive heat from the flame.

How does a moka pot work?

The moka stove-top espresso maker produces strong aromatic coffee. A typical moka coffee is extracted at a pressure of 1 to 2 bars (100 to 200 kPa), while a standard large Espresso machine extracts coffee at a pressure of 9 bars (900 kPa). Therefore, moka coffee is not strictly a typical espresso.

However, because of the simplicity of the Moka Express maker and its ability to produce quality cups of coffee, it became known as a stove-top espresso maker. It has become a staple in many households for decades due to the ease in using it and its affordable cost compared to an espresso machine. 

The moka pot is a stove top or electric hob coffee maker that brews coffee by making boiling water pressurised by steam pass through ground coffee. It was named after the Yemeni city of Mocha by its Italian inventor engineer Alfonso Bialetti in 1933. Its original design and many of its current models are manufactured from aluminium. Bialetti Industries continues to produce the same model under the name “Moka Express”.

The most notable and distinctive features of a Bialetti Moka Espresso are its iconic and distinctive shape and design and manufactured from aluminium in most cases. It stands to reason that this model represents the typical characteristics of the Bialetti product line.

The moka pot consists of three chambers. It brews espresso in accordance with the basic principles of physics. Its bottom chamber is designed to contain water, it’s middle chamber serves as the filter basket and the ground coffee receptacle. The top chamber receives and dispenses the brewed coffee. 

How to use a moka pot?

1. Temporarily separate the three components by unscrewing the top and bottom parts. The ground coffee receptacle lies between the two main parts.
2. Place cold water in the lower chamber below the valve level.
3. Place your freshly ground coffee granules on the ground coffee receptacle. To be sure that your coffee granules are fresh, you may use a hand-held coffee grinder. Use medium-fine ground coffee particle size. Overly fine particle size tends to clog your equipment. Coarsely ground particles tend to yield unseemly bitter-tasting brew. Head over to our article on grinders if you are looking for more information on this subject.
4. Carefully put in place the ground coffee receptacle and screw together the bottom and top parts. 
5. Prepare the stove, turn on the heat, and bring the brew to a boil. As water diminishes at the lower chamber, you’ll hear a gurgling water sound caused by steam mixing with rising water.
6. As all the brew settles at the top chamber, the equipment spews out aromatic water vapour and the boiling coffee pushes the equipment’s top cover. Remove the equipment from the stove. You may stir your brew before pouring your first cup and enjoy it.

Can I use a moka pot on an induction hob?

The early Bialetti Moka Espresso Maker was designed to be heated by a gas stove or over a flame. However, manufacturers have introduced upgrades to enable the current models to be compatible with electric or induction cooking.

A typical induction hob model efficiently heats cooking vessels made of or that sufficiently contains, a ferrous metal like cast iron or stainless steel. The iron in the pot’s body concentrates the current to produce heat in it. But if your pot doesn’t contain sufficient iron, heating will not be effective. Your cookware must support the magnetic field. An easy test to carry out is to use a magnet, if it sticks to your pot it should work with an induction hob.

Be warned that copper or aluminium vessels are not suitable for induction cooking. The magnetic fields of these elements can’t produce concentrated current. However, any vessel made of those elements can be heated in an induction hob if placed on a suitable metal disk which functions as a conventional hotplate. Bialetti make a product that solves this problem, the Induction Saucer Adapter 

• A metal plate for the use of coffee makers and pots on induction hobs.
• It’s made of a thick steel body to enable optimum heat transmission for aluminium, non-ferrous metal, non-magnetic stainless steel, or small vessels that couldn’t directly activate the induction hob.
• This model measures 10.04 x 5.12 x 2.17 inches and weighs 10.6 ounces. It’s suitable for coffee makers up to 6 cups and small pots.

The introduction of the Bialetti Moka Induction Saucer Adapter has enabled all Bialetti pot models to be heated on an induction hob. This has enhanced the utility of the modified version of the Bialetti Espresso Maker.

Does a moka pot produce crema?

The Bialetti Company has not only maintained and enlarged its captive market. It upgraded its signature products like the Moka pot to maintain its valued customers. By enabling the regular Moka pot to produce the famous crema’, it introduced the Bialetti Brikka Espresso Maker 

The Brikka is a modified moka pot manufactured by Bialetti. It has a weighted-valve serving as a pressure regulator on top of its nozzle. This allows pressure to build up inside the water tank like what happens in a pressure cooker.

As pressure builds up more quickly, unlike in a standard Moka pot, the Brikka is able to drive water to rise through the ground coffee in a shorter time. But since the weighted-valve allows pressure to accumulate, the temperature rises to a much higher level before liquid bursts through the nozzle. This yields a coffee brew made at a higher pressure and temperature than the standard pot produces. This type of brew comes with a ’crema’; therefore, the brew could be considered a real espresso.

Should you buy a moka pot?

Moka pots can be found worldwide in various sizes, colors, and styles to suit all tastes and heat sources. There are some notable advantages and disadvantages. The gas hob version is nominally the cheapest while the induction hob model is the costliest.

Things to consider before purchasing would be;

• The cup quantities are measured in espresso shot sizes rather than a full cup. So a 4 cup vessel would produce four espresso shots.
• The Britta model from Bialetti would definitely be worth considering as this has been designed to produce a more traditional espresso like shot with a crema. Whereas the original Moka Express produces a shot of coffee without.

Pros and Cons of the Bialetti Moka Express?

Pros

• Makes a rich, thick, and strong coffee.
• The aluminium body efficiently retains heat.
• It’s convenient and easy to operate.
• It’s portable and light to carry.
• It’s easy to clean, having few parts.
• It’s purchase price is affordable.

Cons

• It requires a good burr grinder to produce a medium-fine particle texture.
• Unlike a smart coffee maker, you can’t automatically control brewing time and coffee quality (regular or strong).
• Its rubber seal and filters need to be replaced from time to time. A new rubber seal initially alters the coffee taste; you need to do a couple of simulated runs to prime the equipment. Although these parts are readily available. You can check the price on amazon here.
• The original moka pots were designed to be heated over a flame and weren’t compatible with induction hobs. However Bialetti now manufactures an adapter to rectify this.

Overall we hope you feel better informed about moka pot coffee and some of the key features of the models available from Bialetti. Aside from it’s iconic design the moka pot still remains a versatile and adaptive way to brew a cup of coffee, whether you’re at home, camping or at the beach.

We’ve said it many times in many of our posts – coffee is hugely subjective. Not everyone has the same preferences for each individual part of the coffee-making process. Therefore, there is no real right or wrong.

With that in mind, happy brewing and if you choose one of these moka pots, we highlighted, we hope it serves you well!

If you are following one of the latest dieting and fitness trends like the Ketogenic Diet or Intermittent Fasting, then you will be very interested in the question above.

Intermittent fasting involves following a schedule of eating and fasting, usually in a format of 16 hours fasting, 8 hours eating. While it is possible to follow an intermittent fasting eating routine while also following the ketogenic diet, the two are not mutually exclusive. With the Keto diet, your aim is to basically convert your diet to a high fat, low sugar, medium protein one.

It is important in either dietary plan that you follow the guidelines strictly or you will not get the benefits of the effects. For example, ketosis is a special metabolic process that occurs naturally when the circumstances are right. During ketosis if your body cannot melt glucose for energy because there is not enough, it then starts burning stored fats as well, causing you to lose weight.

If you are following either of these, there may be questions you have about your favourite beverage. While white coffees and those with lots of sugar and cream may be off the cards, are there any alternatives to black coffee (Which for some is simply bleak and unappealing)?

That’s what we are going to look at in the following post. Whether or not flavoured coffee beans will break a fast or not.

Break the Fast

Normally, drinking a coffee that had anything other than water in it would break your fasting period. Therefore, if you can only stomach milky coffees, it can be much harder to stick to these dietary plans. Although in certain circumstances, the use of a small amount of cream in a cup of coffee may not knock you out of ketosis or properly break your fast, as with sugar and milk, it is best avoided.

Maintain the Fast

In order to maintain your fast, while benefitting from that invigorating cup of coffee you like in the morning or those several cups you appreciate in your life, it is best to switch to straight forward black coffee. This is not to everyone’s taste, we understand. Which is why you may be interested in trying one of the many flavoured coffee beans there are these days.

Does flavoured coffee break a fast?

The good news is that, as nothing is generally added to the flavoured coffee beans during the brewing process, they are completely fine and will not cause you to break a fast. It will be just like drinking black coffee or black tea, with more flavour.

If the sweetness or flavouring was achieved in any other way, such as the addition of a special syrup or another additive, it would be the same problem you were facing as you were with adding cream, milk and sugar.

If you’re interested in trying a different flavoured coffee take a look at one of our top picks below, with such a large selection, they cater for every taste.

If you are as big a coffee nerd as we are at Best Coffee Beans, you probably already have a super-duper coffee grinder that you use religiously more than once a day. If you are new to coffee, you may not be at that stage just yet. Perhaps you have been using packaged ground coffee but are looking to make the change.

We don’t blame you, as the best way to get the freshest and most close-to-nature and purest tasting coffee is to grind your own coffee beans just before brewing your favourite form of the hot beverage. We’d go as far as to say you need to actually roast your own beans too, but that’s for a different post on a different day.

Whatever stage in your coffee experience you are currently at, there is always something you can learn, especially when it comes to grinding coffee beans. Although many other factors can have an impact on how a cup of coffee turns out, the grind is where it all begins.

Put it this way, you could have the best grinder, the best brewing method, the right temperature of the water and even the best and finest sourced beans known to man, but if your grind is lacking in any way, your coffee will not taste as good as it could. In fact, it may taste pretty poor.

Therefore, you must learn as much about how to grind coffee beans properly. That is why we have put together this guide for you.

As well as looking at how to use a blender to grind coffee beans (for those of you who don’t have access to a coffee grinder at present), we will also discuss how to grind coffee beans to produce the perfect French Press-brewed coffee, the best way to grind beans and other alternatives to using a grinder.

So, let’s get grinding!

Can You Use a Blender to Grind Coffee Beans?

The idea of using a blender to grind coffee beans to faithful coffee aficionados may sound like some kind of coffee heresy. However, the truth is that if you don’t have access to a grinder or are waiting for one to arrive or just don’t have the funds to invest in one, a blender is one of the best alternatives. A normal household blender works in very much the same way as a coffee bean grinder. It has a blade system and will chop the beans similarly. You may even have a blender that has a changeable blade with the option to use a special grinder blade, making it perfect for this application.

The problem with using a blender is if you run it constantly, rather than pulsing it, a heat cavity could be created which could start to cook the oils found in the coffee beans, which may give the coffee you make from that batch a harsh and bitter flavour. Another downside to this method is that you can only really use a blender to produce coarse grinds.

Method

• Either use the grinder blade or setting or another high-speed setting
• Measure out a small volume of coffee beans and place them in the blender and cover it
• Grind it to the consistency you prefer, or as close as possible
• Slowly add more coffee beans and grind them down until you have the right volume for the number of cups you wish to make, and it is at the preferred consistency

How Do You Grind Coffee Beans for a French Press?

One of the least expensive and easiest ways to make great coffee is with a French press. A French press is also known as various names such as cafetiere, coffee press and press pot among others. This is a special device that makes delicious coffee by dipping and steeping the coffee grounds into hot water and then pressing them out, so that when you pour out that decadently dark liquid, you have a refreshing and flavoursome coffee.

It is second really only to the drip coffee maker but is much easier to make drinks for many people at the same time, compared to AeroPress and pour-over methods. One of the major issues with this form of coffee, though, is the fact it can be oily and bitter, due to the coffee sitting over the grounds in the press for extended periods.

However, coffee made in a French press does not necessarily have to be oily or bitter. Particularly if you get the important aspects right, that is the appropriate temperature and right grind. While boiling water will scorch your fresh coffee grounds, tepid water will not fully extract all that delicious goodness.

Coffee that is too finely ground is really going to make it bitter and muddy.

So, how do you remedy these issues? By taking the water off the heat (or if you are using a kettle, setting it to the side) and leaving it to sit for a minute before pouring it into the French press, you will avoid it overheating the grounds.

Getting the grind right for a French press means investing in the right kind of grinder. Although there will be much debate over which is best, a blade grinder or a burr grinder, we would recommend a burr grinder. The reason being that although a standard grinder is ideal for producing grounds for a drip coffee machine and other methods, you need to have consistent and large grains for a French press. If they are too small, they will slip through the filter and leave you with unpleasant sediment in your cup. They will also be over-extracted which will make your coffee taste very bitter.

What is the Best Way to Grind Coffee Beans?

Although there are various types of coffee out there and they all use different types of grind and brewing methods, the basics end game of grinding coffee beans is the same no matter your beverage preference. You are aiming to break down those beautifully roasted coffee beans enough to allow the flavours and oils held within them to be extracted to make a delicious drink.

Therefore, the basic rules of grinding coffee are:

• Only grind coffee beans when you are ready to use them
• Choose the right type of grind for the type of coffee you are making
• Use a high-quality coffee grinder

Picking the Best Grind Size

As noted above, you need to pick the right grind size of your coffee beans for the type of brewing method you are going to use to make the coffee. To get this right, it helps to understand the different grind sizes and what they look like and also the types of brewing methods they should be used with.

• Coarse – this grind consists of chunky and very distinctive pieces of coffee beans. This is best used for coffee made with a vacuum pot, percolator, French press and plunger pot.
• Medium – this grind has a very gritty consistency with noticeable flakes. It has a similar appearance to coarse sand and is best used in drip coffee machines that have flat-bottomed filters.
• Fine – this grind is a lot smoother and similar if a little finer, than table salt. It is ideal for use with espresso Moka pots and drip coffee makers that use cone-shaped filters.
• Extra Fine – this is a grind that looks even finer than granular sugar, with none of the individual grains being particularly discernible from one another. This grind works best with both steam and pump-style espresso machines.
• Turkish – this grind is basically powdered without grains at all, similar to flour. Blade grinders are not able to do it and the only type of brewing method this can be used with is the Ibik coffee machines.

To summarise, the best way to grind coffee beans depends on the type of coffee you want to drink.

How to Grind Coffee Beans Without a Grinder

There is no doubt about it if you can, you should, invest in a coffee grinder to make your coffee. However, as we have already shown, there are ways you can grind your beans without a grinder. Further to using a blender, some other great methods include:

Pestle and Mortar

You will probably be more familiar with the use of a pestle and mortar for grinding down herbs and spices into fine powders to use in cooking. Pharmacists have also been known to use these useful tools to grind down medicines. The grind is produced by a practical and effective mix of rolling and hammering. If you don’t have a grinder to hand but you have a pestle and mortar, you can grind coffee that’s suitable for espresso.

How to Do it

1. Place a small number of coffee beans into the mortar. The reason you start with a small amount is to make it easy to produce a consistent grind
2. Use your strongest hand, the one you most commonly use, to hold the pestle and keep the other on the mortar making sure it is secure and stays as still as possible
3. Now push the pestle with a great amount of force into the beans. Be sure to get into all the corners to produce a consistently even grind
4. Keep adding beans to the mortar and crushing them until you have the right volume of coffee for the number of cups you intend to make
5. You then need to roll the grounds in the pestle, while continuing to grind them until you have a finely textured grind

Rolling Pin

We promise you, we are not joking here, but thanks to its shape and design, a rolling pin is an ideal tool to use for grinding and crushing coffee beans. It can also help to produce a very uniform and even grind that is ultimately very fine. You will need to use a lot of upper body strength to achieve it though. If you are looking for a medium to maybe even a fine texture, with practice and hard work you can achieve it with a rolling pin.

How to Do it

1. Take a parchment bag or plastic bag and place the number of coffee beans you wish to grind down into it
2. Lay the bag onto the counter or a cutting board
3. Use the rolling pin like you would a hammer, smashing at the beans and then start to roll over them. You should hear a crushing/crunching noise as the beans are pulverised
4. Continue to roll the pin in a backwards and forwards motion over the beans until the correct consistency has been achieved

Hammer

You probably think we are crazy, but at a push, if you are somewhere where there is no access to a coffee grinder, blender, pestle and mortar or even a rolling pin, but you do have a hammer, you may still be able to make coffee. A hammer, meat tenderiser and even mallet can be used to basically crack and crunch the beans right down. Obviously, you need to be cautious when using a hammer, especially if you are working on your kitchen worktop so that you don’t damage it. With this method, you will produce a very coarse/medium-style grind.

How to Do it

1. Again, take a plastic bag, parchment bag or even just 2 pieces of parchment paper
2. Use downward force by hammering down on the coffee beans and crushing them until you have achieved the appropriate consistency
3. To achieve the most consistent grind, it is best to try and crush the beans moving from one side to the other, using the same amount of force

Knife

Okay, so we might be really stretching things a little, but if you really have no access to any of the other tools and equipment we’ve already mentioned, you could use a butcher-style knife. As it has a much wider blade than normal knives, it offers a bigger surface area to work with and can be used to produce more force to crack into those coffee beans and really crush them. Although you will find that this method of bean grinding produces a medium/medium-fine kind of grind, if this will be your first-ever time using a butcher knife, we would suggest you give one of the other methods a try.

How to Do it

1. Place the coffee beans you intend to grind onto a sturdy chopping board
2. Position the knife flatly on top of the beans
3. Press down with the palm of your hand so that the wide side of the blade cracks into the beans and crushes them

Summary

Now that we have reached the end of our ultimate guide to grinding coffee beans, we hope you have a better idea of what you can and should be doing to achieve the perfect grind for that delicious cup of coffee that can get your day off to a great start.

We have looked at using a blender, how to get the best out of that French press, why a burr grinder is best and alternatives to a grinder. We’ve discussed why the grind is so important and how it really comes down to the kind of coffee you are aiming to make

There are numerous brands and styles of coffee out there. They are all designed to appeal to different tastes, preferences and the equipment customers have in their homes. You are probably familiar, for instance, with the fact that there is instant coffee and ground coffee.

Furthermore, it is likely that, because why else would you be here, there different roasts and grinds that can impact the flavour of the resulting drink.

Even if you are just new to coffee, the above may on some level make common sense. One thing that may have perplexed you, however, if you have spent time strolling up and down the coffee and hot beverages aisle of your local supermarket – what exactly are espresso beans and how are they different from standard coffee beans?

After all, are all coffee beans not just from the same plant?

There is Actually No Difference

The short answer is that yes, you are absolutely right, all coffee is derived from the same beans. Most of which are either Arabica or Robusta. There are other confusion sources online that make the claim that although the coffee beans are the same for both forms of coffee, the difference is in how they are roasted.

It’s Not The Roast

The thought process behind this theory is that the beans destined for those shots of espresso that perk you up first thing in the morning or refuel you when you suffer your afternoon dip have a much darker roast.

However, it is important to understand that rather than being a determining factor as to whether beans are suitable for making into espresso or not, it is more of a recommendation.

The producers or suppliers have indicated that they are ‘espresso beans’ because what they mean is, they have a flavour that will suit the ultra-fine grind and method used to make espresso.

The Grind – The Real Difference Between Coffee Beans Ideal For Coffee and Espresso

Now that we have discussed the misconceptions and misunderstandings, let’s look at the real difference between coffee beans best for drip coffee and those best for espresso – the grind.

You are probably familiar with the fact that on the labels or coffee beans and grounded coffee that the grind is indicated. Generally, proper, authentic espresso can only be made using very finely ground coffee beans.

So, What Have We Learned?

Well, we have learned that while there may be coffee beans marked up as being either ‘coffee beans’ or ‘espresso beans’, this is not a proper distinction. The only difference between coffee beans and those best for use in making espresso is the grind. The roast and anything else all come down to personal preferences and taste.

Don’t let the clever advertising and marketing fool you. While those labelled as espresso beans may work well being used to make espresso and may produce that dark, earthy and very potent flavour you are looking for, you can use either/or for both drip coffees and espressos.

Beyond the store or website where you bought them, if you have a growing fascination with all things related to coffee, you may have wondered where coffee beans come from.

Before we go any further, it is worth noting, just in case you weren’t aware, that there are two types of coffee beans used most commonly in the industry. Arabica and Robusta, each of which come from different varieties of coffee plants.

What Do Coffee Beans Grow On?

We’ve already noted that coffee beans grow, unsurprisingly, on coffee plants. However, what does that actually mean? What do the plants look like and how do the beans form?

These are forms of bushes or shrubs and if you have never seen them before, the best comparison we could offer is that they look similar to grapevines and berry bushes. They are known to grow very tall. Not as towering as Redwoods and the like, but taller than most human beings.

In terms of their structure and colouring, most coffee plants in general have deep, dark green leaves that have a waxy texture. There have been varieties where the leaves have had ore yellow or even purple tones to them.

It may seem easy enough to understand that there are two different types of coffee plants and coffee beans. However, as there are many different varieties of Arabica and Robusta plants, it is not as cut and dry as it may have sounded at first.

Let’s take both individually, to get a better understanding of their origins.

Where Do Arabica Coffee Beans Come From?

Arabica coffee beans are the ones you are probably most familiar with. That is because they are the most commonly used and favoured of coffee manufacturers in general, but especially independent roasters and retailers.

Although varieties of Arabica coffee bean plants are grown in different locations around the world, they are grown lots in what is often referred to as the coffee belt.

The coffee belt is a collection of countries that sit along or close to the equator and have conditions where coffee bean plants can grow and really thrive. Arabica coffee beans are important because they are used in the more expensive and better-quality coffees.

For instance, the Bourbon variety of Arabica, mainly grown in South America, is one of the best when you are looking for a tasty coffee bean that will deliver packs of flavour. There are some who call it the coffee world’s pinot noir.

There are other varieties like the Bourbon-Typica group that features many of the most popular Arabica forms. You will also find what are known as Introgressed Arabica, which have traits that have been brought over from different species, like Robusta, but are considered to be Robusta. The reasons these exist is normally to help combat coffee leaf rust and other crop killers

Another form of Arabica coffee plants you will find are F1 Hybrids, which are the resulting plant of two incredibly different parents.

Where Do Robusta Coffee Beans Come From?

The other most commonly used, though not as popular as Arabica, is the Robusta. There are two main types of Robusta plants, the C.C. Nganda and C.c. Robusta, that are both borne of the Coffee canephora plant. They are mostly grown in Indonesia and Africa, but Vietnam also produces a lot.

How Are Coffee Beans Produced?

Coffee beans start their life in fruit form. Arabica plants have white blossoms that produce the special coffee fruits, referred to as cherries, that have a similar colour and size to cranberries. The cherries grow in clusters along the various limbs of the coffee plant and are harvested between October and January. Interestingly, there are two main techniques used in harvesting coffee cherries.

• Selective Picking – harvesting only ripen coffee cherries by identifying them and picking them by hand. As this is a very time-consuming technique, it is only used for the high-end Arabica beans and the coffees they produce.
• Strip Picking – a much quicker method where all the coffee cherries from plants are removed, either by hand or with the help of a machine.

How long does it take to get to the point they can be harvested? A new coffee plant will take roughly about a year to start flowering. That is only the beginning as more patience is required. It can take anything from another two to three years for the plant to start bearing its fruit.

The spectacular thing is that once a coffee plant has reach full maturity, and as long as it is placed in a well-shaded area, it can live for as much as 30 to 40 years. There have been some that have lived even longer.

Summary

In addition to everything else you’ve learned from this site, if indeed you have taken the time to read through any of the posts, you now know a little bit about where coffee beans come from.

Although this information may serve any useful purpose when it comes to selecting and buying coffee beans, we do hope it made you smile and means you have more facts added to your mental library for those all-important quiz nights.

When you drink ground coffee, the last thing you really worry about is how long it lasts. It tends to have a very long shelf-life because it has been produced that way. You buy a jar and either keep the coffee in the jar or fill a canister in your kitchen and just take it as and when you need it, without any worry really.

However, when you start grinding your own coffee beans, how long coffee beans last becomes a more important consideration to make. Perhaps you’ve noticed that coffee bean packets and containers you buy from the shops or online have a roast date label.

While this is not an expiration date, it does give an indication of when the coffee stops being fresh. Let us give you an example. You know that milk has gone off because of how it smells, looks and tastes. It is very easy to tell. With coffee, it is not quite as easy. If you smelled coffee beans that were roasted roughly six months ago, there may not be any tell-tale scent or aroma that gives away that it’s bad.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t ways you can tell. After all, one thing that all coffee experts agree about is that it changes.

To properly answer the question posed in the title, it really is when the coffee stops tasting good. What does good coffee mean?

Freshness

The freshness of coffee is determined by the roast date. The general rule of thumb is that the closer you are to the day the beans were roasted, the better and fresher the coffee will be. This is because, as well as preparing the coffee to be brewed, roasting also slowly starts the process of the coffee becoming stale, thanks to the natural process of oxidisation. Therefore, time really doesn’t have anything to do with it. Well, it does to an extent, because the amount of time oxygen has to really work on those delicious coffee beans, the more they will become stale.

It’s the subject of stale, that again coffee experts can’t seem to agree on. What is stale is very different in different people’s minds. The roaster’s guidelines, if you haven’t roasted the beans yourself, is one of the best indicators. It is normally between two to four weeks after roasting that coffee beans are no longer at their best.

Other factors that can come into play with how long that freshness lasts for is the processes used by the roaster, like their packaging for instance. There are lots of different kinds of bags and packets used in the industry, including the popular triple-ply foil bags that protect the contents from the fresh air and oxygen, while a special valve on it allows unwanted carbon dioxide to escape.

Another technique used by companies like Lavazza is nitrogen flushing. This preserves the coffee beans by flushing out oxygen to stop it from, temporarily, going stale. It only works temporarily, of course, because as soon as the bag is opened and you expose it to any amount of the fresh air, oxygen will start reacting with the beans and start the process of making them stale.

How Can You Tell If Coffee Beans Are Fresh?

Now that we understand a little more about coffee beans freshness, you may want to know how to tell if coffee beans are still fresh or not. You are right to try and use your nose to sniff inside the bag to determine the freshness of the beans.

While your tongue is only capable of really tasting five different flavours – umami, bitter, salty, sweet and sour, your tongue can tell the difference between hundreds of thousands of different compounds and it can feed the information to your brain to process it.

However, taste and smell are closely linked. That is why when you are unable to smell that distinctive coffee aroma, you figure the flavour is gone and the coffee is stale.

Which is fair enough, as the flavour is ultimately very important. However, the freshest beans don’t always mean the best-flavoured beans.

How Long Do Coffee Beans Keep Their Smell?

As we’ve just discussed how important your nose and sense of smell is for determining how fresh or not coffee is, you may wonder how long do coffee beans actually keep their smell? Again, this really comes down to the time they were roasted and how you store them.

As coffee breaks down over time and oxidisation takes effect, so too does that lovely and enchanting coffeehouse aroma you enjoy your home is filled with whenever you buy beans.

If they have been stored in a fully airtight container, you may find that your coffee beans retain a lot of their smell for as much as three months, rather than three weeks if you didn’t bother to keep them stored properly.

Summary

Therefore, to summarise the answer to the question posed in the title and outset of this post, there is no exact or average time length that you can expect coffee to last for. The only set in stone guarantee you have with coffee is that thanks to it being so volatile, it will change when given the right circumstances and environment.

The best way to ensure your coffee beans last as long as possible and you continue to enjoy fresh-tasting and richly flavoured cups of coffee the further you get away from that roasting date and the day you bought them, is to store them properly.

You will know coffee is no longer fresh and it may be time to buy some more beans if it doesn’t taste the same. Therefore, ignore any best before dates or guidelines you’ve read online, and trust your senses. When your nose, brain and sense of taste are all working together, there is no better way of testing the quality of your coffee.

When it’s stale, though, start afresh, because you deserve to start your day and accompany the many events with a beautiful tasting coffee.

What really is the point in having a below-average cup of coffee that’s not fresh and has lost a lot of its deep and earthy flavours? That’s right, there is no point to it at all.

To have the best cup of coffee possible, you need to make sure you use the freshest beans possible that have been ground just before using them. Unless you like just buying beans as and when you need them, you will probably want to buy more than just a few days’ worth of coffee beans.

That presents you with the problem of how to store them properly. A quick search online shows that there is a lot of debate over this subject. (To be honest, most things related to coffee do seem to spark a lot of heated discussions, differing opinions and outright arguments. Well, coffee aficionados are very passionate about their favourite beverage).

To clear up the confusion, we are going to break the subject right down, so that you know exactly what to do with your coffee beans to lock in that fresh and full-bodied flavour for as long as possible.

Ensure They Are Kept Cool and Airtight

The elements you really need to protect your coffee beans are light, heat and moisture. That is why we would suggest you store them in an airtight, opaque storage container at room temperature. Although you may want to display them so you can marvel at how beautiful they are, it’s important to remember that along with heat and moisture, light can harm the flavour your coffee produces. Therefore, you shouldn’t use transparent containers.

Ideally, keep them in a cool and dark location. That cupboard you have close to the hob and oven is likely to be too warm most of the time, whereas that nice space on the side of the worktop is also not the best place as it will put your coffee beans in direct sunlight and will be too warm during the summer months.

Although many coffee bean packages will suggest you keep the beans in them, they are not really designed for long-term storage. Which is why you should invest in the aforementioned airtight and opaque containers. We know they are not always the most attractive, but you will be glad you did when you can enjoy fresh coffee for longer.

Should You Keep Coffee Beans in the Fridge?

As freshness has an important influence over whether a cup of coffee is a great one, just a reasonable one or a terrible one, you will want to maintain that freshness as long as you can and may feel that storing it in the fridge or freezer is the best way to do that.

The problem with that is not just the temperature, as many people disagree on whether coffee should be stored in these cooler parts of the home. The problem is actually the fact that coffee is superbly hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs moisture, as well as flavours and odours from the around it.

You will find that, contrary to whatever the product description suggests, that the many of storage containers allow small volumes of oxygen in, which is why you’ve probably found food stored in your freezer for a long time has suffered from freezer burn.

Therefore, if you do intend on trying to store coffee beans in your fridge, or even your freezer, you should only do so if the container you use is completely airtight.

When you freeze coffee beans, each time you need some, try to take just enough for a week’s worth of coffee and then put the rest back into the freezer without letting condensation forming on the still-frozen coffee.

There is no change to the brewing process when you are using frozen coffee beans.

Always Purchase the Right Amount of Beans

As you are probably aware, coffee beans and indeed the ground form of coffee starts to lose its freshness as soon as it has been roasted. With that in mind, you need to make sure you regularly purchase small batches of coffee that have been freshly roasted. So that you are only ever buying enough for one to two weeks.

Remember what we said about the elements that can have a bad effect on your beans? Any exposure to the air is bad for coffee beans. Even if you have your heart set on keeping them in a more aesthetically pleasing and easier to access container, it is wise to only keep as much as you need for the next few days, perhaps dividing it into smaller portions.

You can then put the unused and bigger portion that has still to be divided up into a storage container with an airtight seal.

Although we are talking about coffee beans right now, the point above is particularly important when you are buying coffee that has been pre-ground. This is due to the fact the coffee has increased exposure to the oxygen in the atmosphere.

When you buy whole beans, you need to just stick to grinding as much as you need just before brewing and then you completely eliminate the chance of the air contaminating or ruining the flavour.

Summary

As you can see, although it may seem like a bit of a throwaway question, the subject of how to store coffee beans properly is one that everyone has an opinion about. People who are passionate about anything will get involved in heated debates and arguments. We are those kinds of people.

However, at Best Coffee Beans, we are fully committed to only giving you the best and most accurate information we can with regards to coffee and everything related to it, including storing beans.

In our opinion, as outlined above, it is best to avoid sticking them in the fridge. If you have to, though, make sure you follow the guidelines we have set out for you.

Ideally, though, you should invest in some high-quality opaque containers with an airtight seal.