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Aeropress Masterclass Part One - Water temperature 0

In this series I'll work through all the tiny things that I've noticed about brewing Aeropress coffee over the last 3 years of brewing with one.

Because I consider it to be the most stable variable I'm beginning with water temperature. Once you've got your preferences for water temp it's pretty much set and forget. Unless, like me, you want to change it just for fun.

What do bananas and coffee have in common? 0

And so with this new information, we can now answer a question. How long does coffee last? Huh? Yes, I think we can answer this question with bananas.

So. How long does coffee last?

As long as you enjoy drinking it. Everyone has a preference for how old they like bananas. Some people like them green and crunchy. Others like them black and mushy. I like them yellow. But if you want to eat the green bananas then go for it.

It's the same with coffee. Some reject coffee after 2 days. Others like their coffee roasted in Italy 7 years ago. I prefer my coffee within 25 days of roasting. And that is when I recommend you drink it.

(You'll find roast dates for our coffee on the back of the bag)

Quick-start Aeropress 0

So you've got an Aeropress? Great! Now what?

Here's a quick run down on how this bad boy works.

Coffee - Water - Brew - Press - Drink

Decaf is not a four letter word 0

Scorned by caffeine junkies.
Shamefully ordered by the pregnant and elderly. Decaf is a waste of time.
Or at least that is what we’ve been led to believe. 
But I feel sorry for decaf. Its bad reputation is undeserved.

To defend it I would like to address 2 myths about decaf.

Myth 1 - It’s full of poisonous chemicals.

One way to decaffeinate coffee is to wash it in the solvent benzene. This is not all that great and benzene may even be poisonous. But decaf sold by coffee roasters concerned with quality is usually decaffeinated using the swiss water method.

This is a far less intrusive process and adds no sinister substances to the beans.

Here’s how it works:

If you didn’t watch the video here’s a breakdown for you.

• Beans get soaked in a special 'green coffee extract' (GCE) intended to prevent flavour compounds escaping the beans.
• The caffeine is absorbed into the GCE.
• Tumble dry the coffee beans.
• No sinister chemicals. Just flavour-filled coffee beans ready for roasting.

Myth 2 - It doesn’t taste good.

The ultimate coffee purist is the decaf drinker. So much do they love the experience of coffee that they’ll drink it even if they don’t get a caffeine hit out of it. I understand many hold the opinion that decaf is an inferior flavour and not worth the trouble. This is because it is not being made well.

It’s treated poorly by most, who do not show it the care and attention it requires to blossom. Decaf is a little harder to work with and because people order it less often it is usually not fresh enough to taste like coffee any more. But if the right care is given to it you’ll hardly know the difference in flavour.

Why not try our Organic Peruvian Decaf

PH of Cold Brew Coffee 0

When a company does a ‘scientific’ study on the benefits of their own product I tend to be a little sceptical.  According to Toddy, (a company that sells a fancy gadget to replace a jar) cold brewed coffee is 67% less acidic than regular coffee. The only evidence they provide is their own word that they’ve done a scientific study.

So I thought I’d conduct a scientific study of my own.