Brew

We're so happy you purchased our coffee.

Here is some more information on how to brew it the best way possible.

The Beginning Basics

Water - Coffee is 98% water so using filtered water or reverse-osmosis water will go a long ways to helping your coffee taste better.  Although 100% reverse-osmosis water is not recommended because some amount of mineralization in your water will benefit the flavor of your coffee.

Storage - Keep your coffee stored in your Mad Goat Coffee bag at room temperature.  The opaque bag keeps light out and the one way valve allows CO2 to escape while keeping oxygen out, which will help keep your coffee from going stale.  Coffee is typically at peak flavor 3-10 days after it is roasted.  After that, the freshness and quality will slightly wane over the following days and weeks, but it is still good!  We recommend using your coffee within 1 month for best flavor, but even beyond that is still fine.  As long as it is kept dry, coffee never really "goes bad", although it will slowly grow stale.

Weigh - Investing in a digital scale and weighing your coffee may be the best and cheapest way to improve your at home coffee and make for more consistent quality.  Depending on your brew method, we recommend anywhere from a 1:15 to a 1:17 coffee to water ratio (depending on preference and brew method).  This means for every 1 gram of coffee you will use between 15-17 grams of water.  Scroll down for more information on each brew method, and remember, the right amount of coffee is whatever you like, feel free to adjust to your own taste!

Grind - For best flavor we recommend buying whole beans and grinding them immediately before brewing.  We also recommend using burr coffee grinders as they produce a more consistent particle size, while will improve flavor.  This picture gives a good idea of grind sizes for different brew methods.

Cleaning - Keep your equipment and containers clean!  This is both for safety reasons (prevent mold) and for flavor reasons (remove stale residue).  This low priced cleaner is a great one to keep around (https://prima-coffee.com/equipment/urnex/12-esp12-20-urnex).

 Brew Methods

Drip Coffee

Besides following the above steps, the key to good drip coffee is to make sure your coffee to water ratio is right, we recommend a 1:17 ratio for drip coffee.  You can either weigh your water before pouring it in your brewer or you can determine how much coffee works for the number of "cups" on your brewer. 

If you're grinding your coffee use a medium to a bit finer than medium grind setting (see chart above).

Also, many typical (cheap) coffee brewers do not get the water hot enough and therefore will not extract the full flavor out of the coffee. The water should reach 200-205 degrees F. to properly extract the coffee.  Look for brands that promote this, they will cost a bit more, but the improved flavor will be worth it!  One final detail is to not leave your leave coffee in a glass carafe on a "keep warm" setting.  The heat applied under the glass carafe will burn the coffee and produce a more bitter taste.

Pretty much any of the brewers featured on this page from Seattle Coffee Gear will perform great. (https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/coffee-makers/drip-brewers).

Pour Over

This brew method is an excellent way to bring out some of the more subtle flavors in your coffee, but it takes some time and focus to perfect.  We recommend a 1:15 coffee/water ratio for pour overs.  For pour overs, you can't wing your measurements, weighing is everything!  Weigh out your coffee and grind on a medium-fine setting (a bit finer than drip coffee). 

Our favorite method for producing a single cup is to use a V60 Hario pour over (https://prima-coffee.com/equipment/hario/v60-02) and use 20 grams of coffee to 300 grams of water.  For 2 people you can double this size (although in the V60 #2 about 40 grams is the maximum you can reasonably make).

Use water that is just under boiling, and a thin spout kettle will be best to control your pour.  To start pour enough water to saturate your grounds (about 2-2.5x the weight of the grounds) so if using 20g coffee, pour 50g water to start.  Let the coffee give off any CO2 (it will bubble) and if your coffee is fresh enough it should "bloom" and rise like a mushroom top.  

Wait for the coffee to finish bubbling and resume pouring your water, very slowly.  I like to take the remaining amount of water I need to pour and pour it in 2 even cycles.  Since we're already poured 50g of water, we have 250g to go.  So split that in half and pour 125g at a time.  Slowly pour the 1st 125g and pour in a circular and steady motion.  The water should gently leave the spout.  This pour should take 20-30 seconds.  Let sit for an additional 20 seconds and then repeat with the final 125g.  And you're done.  Once the water is finished flowing through your hand crafted pour over is ready to enjoy!

See the video below for further instructions on how to make a great pour over.

 

French Press

French press coffee is an easy way to make great coffee at home or on the go with minimal equipment and fuss.  Due to the longer steeping process and lack of paper filter, this method produces a rich and heavy tasting coffee. 

You'll of course need a french press pot for this method to work and we recommend the Bodum Eileen (https://www.seattlecoffeegear.com/bodum-eileen-french-press-coffee-maker).

For french press coffee (or other immersion coffee methods) we recommend a higher coffee to water ratio, a 1:14 ratio works great. so if you start with 25 grams of coffee you can use 350 grams of water.  The reason for the higher ratio is that more water gets left behind with the grounds, thus reducing your extraction.

Grind your coffee on a coarser setting  (see chart above) and put ground coffee in the press pot.  Add your hot water (200-205 degrees) and weigh your water out so your adding the correct amount.  Give it a few good stirs for a few seconds and then put the top on and let the coffee steep for 4 minutes.  After 4 minutes you can carefully press down the screen and your coffee is ready to pour and enjoy!