The Coffee Hound

There are a few things in life that I am truly passionate about and one of them happens to be good coffee. For me, walking into a coffee shop and smelling the freshly brewed java is close to an out of body experience. I used to have a button that said "Coffee is my only true friend!"

I'm probably not going to write anything that you haven't heard before about brewing coffee. Good coffee isn't that complicated if you have the right equipment and the right ingredients. I have a number of guests come to my house for the holidays and they say, "This is really good coffee - what did you do?" Let's see.... filtered water, freshly ground beans in the right amount and they were drinking my percolator coffee no less.

When it comes to making coffee at home, I'm a minimalist. I don't own a home espresso maker as I leave that to the coffee houses. Your home espresso maker can't compete with a good professional espresso maker. And I don't have one of those coffee machines that use the little plastic cups filled with coffee as they just make brown water. If you've ever seen the movie Bagdad Café, then you know what I'm talking about. I generally use two different coffee makers at home - a French Press or the Clever Coffee Dripper.

French Press coffee has been around for a long time and remains one of the best ways to make good coffee at home. The technique is simple and basic. Freshly ground coffee is directly infused with boiling water, allowed too steep for several minutes; a plunger presses the coffee to the bottom of the pot. A French Press produces a dark smoky brew that is full bodied because all the oils are intact. This is the closet you can get to espresso.

The Clever Coffee Dripper employs one new technique for brewing; it has a valve at the bottom of the cone that stays closed while the coffee is steeping. When you place the unit on top of a cup, the valve is released and your coffee is allowed to drain into your cup. It hits all of the important points for me - you control the grind, how much coffee goes in and how long it steeps (just like the French Press). Because it uses a regular #4 coffee filter, the Clever Coffee Dripper gives you full-bodied coffee without the sediment. Last but not least the Clever Coffee Dripper is a great deal easier to setup and brew with. I use it during the work week to drain the coffee into a travel mug so I can have a good cup of coffee while driving to work.

I like the medium to dark roasts as that's what coffee is all about. Flavored coffee doesn't really do anything for me; I want to be able to taste the roasted flavor of the coffee beans. Some of the best coffee that I have ever had was down in Costs Rica I would get up early in the morning and walk around letting my nose guide me. One day I found what looked like a large garage. A huge pile of green coffee beans were being raked and cleaned, a gentleman was attending to a large roaster and two ladies were brewing up the freshly roasted beans. The smells that were coming out of this place were truly amazing and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Needless to say, I ordered coffee and it was truly amazing. I can still remember drinking those two cups of coffee.

Alton Brown did an episode of his show Good Eats on brewing coffee a few years ago. He really did a good job of breaking down the whole process and what really matters when it comes to making good coffee. Cook's Illustrated web site has a large section devoted to brewing coffee that was featured in their September 2009 issue that also gives you some very good tips for making good coffee, even if you don't have all of the fancy equipment. Just do a few Google searches and you'll find all kinds of advice on how to make your coffee. Remember you don't need to spend a lot of money just spend wisely.

Here are a few coffee destinations if you're out and about. If you're ever in Ann Arbor, Michigan stop in and check out Zingerman's Bakehouse they brew up some really great coffee and their bakery goods are excellent as well. If you're in New York City be sure to stop into Jack's Stir Brew. They brew up some of the best free trade organic coffee that I've ever had. Another stop in New York City that I recently discovered was the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. Try one of their "Fair Shakes"; it's made with vanilla ice cream and 100% certified organic fairly traded coffee. You'll have to stand in line but I guarantee the shake (and burger) is worth the wait. Lastly, if you find yourself in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota be sure to stop off at Dunn Bros. Coffee; my favorite is the one by Macalester College. Try to stop by early on a Saturday morning when they are roasting beans as you just can't beat it if you're a coffee hound like me.

So let's get started.....

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Brewing good coffee is really not that difficult if you follow a few basic guidelines. Your main goal for brewing good coffee is to extract about 20 percent of the soluble solids from the coffee. Anything below this will taste weak and anything above ends up tasting harsh and bitter.

1. Buy your loose whole beans in small quantities. You want to finish a bag in two weeks or less after opening. Store the coffee in a zip lock bag away from heat and light. Some people will store their beans in the freezer if they need to keep them around longer but I'm not one of those people. I feel that your beans absorb any smells that are present in the freezer and the refrigerator is even worse.

2. Try to grind your whole beans fresh every day if possible If this isn't doable, use a small air tight container that will hold no more than two days of ground beans. Coffee cells begin to break down within an hour after the beans have been ground. Freshness does really count!

3. I prefer brown paper filters because they have not been bleached like white paper filters which can add bitterness to the coffee.

4. Use filtered water, a standard Brita pitcher and filter will do the job quite nicely.

5. Make sure the water is heated to the proper temperature - you want to hit a range of 195 to 205 degrees. The best way to do this is boil your water then remove it from the heat and let it stand for 10 to 15 seconds before using, water boils at 212 degrees.

6. Use the right amount of coffee; generally 2 tablespoons of coffee for every 6 ounces of water is the rule of thumb.

7. Right grind for the right time - this seems pretty obvious but often gets missed. The coarser the grind the longer the brewing time. Generally your coffee should steep between 4 to 6 minutes.

8. Keep your equipment clean. Every time I brew coffee, I rinse with hot water and then wash once a week with hot soapy water. Over time, if you don't keep your equipment clean, the coffee will leave oil that becomes rancid which does not make a good cup of coffee.

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Coffee Roasts

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Light - beans are pale brown with a dry surface, coffee is light in body, fruity, bright, acidic in flavor.

Medium - beans are medium brown with a dry surface, coffee is less acidic, starts to taste richer and sweeter in tone.

Medium Dark - beans are dark brown with a slightly oily surface, coffee has a mild bittersweet aftertaste.

Dark - beans are shiny black with an oily surface, coffee has a well defined bittersweet taste with very few notes.

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French Press Coffee

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The Right Grind: Medium-coarse (a little coarser than couscous).

1. Preheat the pot with several ounces of hot water so that it can come up to temperature. After I've preheated the pot, I like to add this water to my warming carafe' so that it can come up to temperature as well.

2. Add 2 tablespoons coffee for every 6 ounces water.

3. Add 3 ounces of just boiled water for 30 seconds, saturating all the grounds allowing them to burst and begin the infusion process.

4. Add remaining just boiled water to fill the pot.

5. Place the plunger into the pot and depress just enough to submerge all of the coffee grounds.

6. Allow coffee too steep for 4 to 6 minutes - 4 if you like your coffee a little lighter and 6 if you like your coffee a little stronger and bolder.

7. Depress the plunger pushing all of the coffee to the bottom of the pot.

8. Pour out the boiling water in the warming carafe and add the just brewed coffee.

9. Allow the warming carafe to sit for a minute or two so that the sediment can sink to the bottom.

10. Pour yourself a rich, dark, full bodied cup of French Press coffee and enjoy!

***Homemade Depth Charge***

Here's an easy fun coffee drink that you can make at home. Brew up a pot of your regular percolator or drip coffee. While this coffee is brewing make an extra strong pot of French Press coffee. Then add a shot or two of the extra strong French Press coffee to a cup of your percolator coffee. Congratulations! You just made my Depth Charge coffee.

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Clever Coffee Dripper

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The Right Grind: Medium-coarse (a little coarser than couscous).

1. Place a #4 coffee filter into the cone and add 2 tablespoons of coffee for every 6 ounces of water. The cone will hold up to 12 ounces of water.

2. Add just boiling water to the cone, place the lid on top of cone to keep the water hot and allow too steep for 4 to 6 minutes; 4 if you like your coffee a little lighter 6 if you like your coffee a little stronger and bolder.

3. Place the entire unit on top of your cup so that the valve is depressed releasing the coffee into the cup.

4. Add cream, sugar as necessary to your coffee and you're done!

If you've gotten this far into the column I had to provide some kind of reward for sticking with me. Here's one of my favorite cookies that I like to have with my coffee. They are very easy to make and you can freeze the dough for up to three months.

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Sweepstakes Sunflower Cookies

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***Ingredients***

2 cups white sugar
3 cups unbleached flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup butter
1 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup roasted sunflower nuts

***Preparation***

Sift dry ingredients together. Cut in shortening and butter. Add vanilla, coconut and sunflower nuts. Shape dough into a log or roll, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough from refrigerator and cut into slices about a 1/4 of an inch thick. Bake for 10 minutes.