A Guide to Gourmet Coffee

Article by Anthony Whittard

Even a Coffee Bean or San Francisco Coffee outlet frequenter won’t be able to master the art of appreciating real gourmet coffee unless they know the history and info about gourmet coffee. Oh, of course, you don’t have to an expert to enjoy and understand gourmet coffee, but knowing a miniscule amount will enhance enormously this wonderful beverage and a good deal more than the supermarket owner who sells coffee that is already losing some of its finer flavours and aroma. Your enhanced appreciation of the better taste that freshly ground coffee, aroma and positive heaven that gourmet coffee fans know gourmet coffee is uniquely capable of.

Gourmet coffee is nothing like wine. With wine, the longer you leave (some wine, anyway), the better the taste, the higher the quality and the pricier it is. But amidst gourmet coffee, freshness says a lot. If possible, get coffee beans that have been roasted no further than 1 week before. And if you’re going to learn how to appreciate gourmet coffee, the one and only to buy is Arabica coffee.

It’s pretty hard to obtain freshly roasted coffee beans on the shelves of the local supermarket. Chances are, the coffee beans they present and you’re consuming today have been roasted at least 3 months ago. One way to counter such a problem is to buy the whole bean in batches and grind them amid a home-coffee grinding machine as and when you need it. It’s really easy with the kind of machines available today, so, if you need to learn how to appreciate gourmet coffee, grind it when you need it.

Once you’ve purchased the gourmet coffee beans, don’t just leave them out there in room temperature. What you should do with gourmet coffee beans is to store them in an air-tight container in the fridge if you are planning to use it soon. However, if you’re going to keep it, put the gourmet coffee beans in an air-tight container and keep it in the freezer.

You need the best grinder for the better brew. Generally speaking, you can use about 2 tablespoons of gourmet coffee powder for 6 oz of water. Adjust the way you issue out your cup of gourmet coffee according to the way you like to drink your gourmet coffee.

With wine, the country in which the grapes are grown makes a difference. With gourmet coffee, not only does the country of origin for the gourmet coffee bean make a difference, the company that sells the gourmet coffee beans matters too. Buy only from reputable companies for gourmet coffee.

And one last thing about gourmet coffee is learn to enjoy it, develop the smell, love the taste, experiment with it and you’ll soon see the thing that is so special about gourmet coffee. If you’re hurrying off to do something in the morning, such as getting to work, forget about gourmet coffee! During the morning rush, just stick to instant coffee. Wait until you can sit down and really appreciate that superior experience with some quality time. After all, what is quality time if it is not sitting down having a heavenly cup of coffee?

I write Gourmet International for everyone who enjoys eating out (and drinking) in restaurants which you deem to be special – for whatever reason.

I started this site in August 2008 with the aim of bringing together your reviews of restaurants, bars, cafes, bistros, etc. which deserve to be mentioned for the quality of their fine food.