Coffee Brewing Tips

How to cold-water brew a cup of coffee:
Low Acid Coffee: Great for sensative stomachs.
This unusual coffee steeping method results in a less bitter-tasting brew with more aroma than other methods. For most of us, though, who like the naturally bitter taste of coffee, this isn't a method for you.
To brew coffee the cold way: Put a pound of fine to medium-ground coffee in a quart of fresh, filtered cold water (non-aluminum container, please). Let it sit for a full 12 hours.
Then filter the resulting extract (through a finely woven cloth or mesh screen) and refrigerate it. It will keep for weeks at a time.
To make coffee from the extract, pour "just off the boil" fresh water over it (all I can tell you is experiment with the proportions, to taste). Start out with 1 part coffee to 3 parts Hot Water. Drink and enjoy.

Selection of coffee to be brewed:
Infinite care goes into the growing, harvesting and processing of Jamaican coffee. Equal care goes into the skilful roasting, grinding and packing of the finished product.

As a result of this painstaking preparation it is possible for you to enjoy the finest cup of coffee in the world. But, all these efforts are wasted if your ground coffee is carelessly or improperly made.

It is easy to make good coffee always if the following simple rules are observed. Note that the taste of coffee is influenced by the quality of the water and the coffee/water ratio. Spring water gives the best brew.

Storage of coffee:
Proper storage is vital to the taste and aroma for which our Jamaican coffee is renowned.

The area in which all coffee, whether in green bean form, roasted whole beans or roasted and ground, is stored should be cool, dry and odourless. Coffee that is not vacuum-sealed tends to lose its aroma and absorb foreign odours from the area in which it is stored, example, if coffee is stored in an area that contains curry powder, pimento, etc., it will taste of the product when it is brewed.

In selecting coffee the purchaser must also consider how long the coffee has been on display. The package should preferably be vacuum-sealed and the date of packaging and/or expiry date exhibited. The ideal period for use after the package of ground coffee has been opened is within 5 days if stored in a sealed container and refrigerated.

Roasting:
For roasting, the roaster should choose bold, bluish/green beans of even size (if size of beans vary, the smaller beans will come to full roast before the bigger ones, and by the time these beans come to full roast the smaller beans would be burnt or over roasted.

Roast preferences:
Choose the roast of your preference, i.e. dark, medium, or light. The lighter roast produces a milder brew with light body and aroma. The medium roasted coffee brings out the fine properties of the coffee. The dark roast will have a slightly bitter taste.

The coffee to be brewed MUST also be of the appropriate grind to suit the brewing equipment.

How many cups per pound of coffee:
This will depend largely on the palate of the individual drinking the coffee. However, the recommended brew is one pound of coffee to 40-45 cups water.

Care of utensils used in brewing coffee:
" Always clean the utensil (Urn, Drip Pot, etc.) immediately after each use, using a long, thin brush and hot water.
" No type of detergent or scouring powder should be used in cleaning the coffee utensil as this can affect the taste of the coffee.
" Add a small quantity of hot water, brush sides and rinse with water until it runs clean. Urn is now ready for next batch.
" At the end of the each day, after the last batch of coffee is used, clean and brush utensil several times , then rinse thoroughly with hot water.
" For urns and drip pots, remove clean-out cap at end of coffee faucet and scrub pipe leading to centre of urn.
" Place fresh water in urn until next use and leave cover partly open.
REMEMBER TO ALWAYS EMPTY AND RINSE THE URN WITH BOILING WATER BEFORE USING AGAIN.
Coffee Tips:
After brewing, coffee should not be allowed to cool or become cold. The thermostat of the percolator controls the temperature and keeps the coffee hot. If brewed coffee becomes cold it should never be reheated, it should be stored in a sealed container, refrigerated and used to prepare an iced coffee beverage.

Spent grounds should be removed from the percolator or drip pot after the brewing process has been completed.

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