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Tips
Welcome to our coffee tips guide! Whether you're a seasoned barista or a casual drinker, there's always something new to learn about brewing the perfect cup. From selecting the right beans to mastering your technique, our tips will help enhance your coffee experience and bring out the best flavours. Join us as we explore the wonderful world of coffee!
How to tamp your coffee :
Though it may seem like a very simple step in the preparation of your espresso, a well tamped puck is important for a finely finished espresso. What you are aiming to do, is to evenly distribute the grounds within your portafilter.
We want the water to travel through your puck evenly when it leaves the espresso machine, for this reason it is important for us to stop any paths of least resistance from forming in the puck.
Make sure your dose size is the correct amount for your portafilter basket. Level out the coffee grounds; you can use your finger here to do this. You want to evenly distribute the coffee, while avoiding pressing into the grounds or leaving any empty space on the sides of the basket; this would lead to an uneven puck.
When tamping, you should have a straight wrist, think of the tamper as an extension of your arm, so that the tamper makes contact with the coffee bed evenly. Put the tamper into your coffee bed, and twist your wrist. If you’re concerned about coffee grounds around the edges, you can give your portafilter a quick, gentle tap with the handle-end of your tamper.
To bring these dislodged coffee grounds back into the puck, carry out another tamp but with less force than your original tamp. Don’t forget to twist!
Make sure to wipe clean the rim and edges of the portafilter, you can use your hands to do this – this will protect your grouphead from being marred unnecessarily.
Your Go-To Guide, Coffee Tips & Tricks
Here are some little tips just to help give your customers or yourself to help towards your coffee experience.
We get ask a few questions about coffee so thought it was best to add on here some of most asked questions and answers.
What's the 15-15-15 coffee rule?
Unroasted coffee beans last about 15 months
Roasted coffee beans last about 15 days
Ground coffee lasts about 15 minutes before it begins to lose its peak flavour and aroma
There can be a list of things that can effect the flavour of your coffee with that being:
Coffee bean quality - This is why here at beans and machines we always offer high quality fresh beans which offers better taste for longer. this is obviously a very important factor, so remember its always good to keep those coffee taste buds satisfied .
Espresso Timing - To brew your espresso it should ideally take 25-30secs
Storage - Storing your beans is very important, your beans are best kept in a air tight container, away from any light or moister and preferably in a dark space.
How long can you store your beans? - Freshly roasted coffee beans will remain peak for around 6weeks, however they will remain enjoyable for up to 3months if not longer.
Ground coffee - does have a shorter life span than whole beans, because of the smaller coffee granules which will oxidise faster.
Having the right grinder - We only put forward and offer the grinders we trust, and feel are the most reliable, because lets face it when your grinder goes wrong then, things could go down hill quickly.
Filtered Water - Filtered water really helps with the amazing taste of coffee, it removes impurities that can negativity affect the taste of your coffee.
Measure your coffee - It is always handy to have some scales next to your grinder to check if your are using the correct dosage, this method is also beneficial towards your water dosage too, helps towards constant results.
Cleaning your equipment - Cleaning your machine & grinder after use, can help prevent some major problems we have experienced in the past with our machines. Not only does this effect how the machine works, it also massively effects the taste of your coffee.
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Coffee Facts
And some may shock you!
Coffee is a fruit!
Coffee cherries are fascinating! The beans grow on bushes, nestled in vibrant berries. It’s a fun fact that makes enjoying coffee feel a bit—after all, it’s a tasty way to get some fruit servings!
3 Top Producers
Brazil proudly takes the crown as the world leader in coffee bean production, celebrated for its incredible flavour! Right on its heels are Vietnam and Colombia, both essential players in the global coffee scene.
Finland consumes the most coffee.
It has been said that over in Finland the average person is said to drink 12kg, which works out as 1,680 cups of coffee YEAR.... WOW!
The first webcam was created to check a coffee pot.
In the early 1990's at Cambridge University, Researchers Quentin Stafford-Fraser and Paul Jardetzky created the camera system to check the coffee pot in the "Trojan Room" from their desks, saving them from fruitless trips when the pot was empty.
Fancy getting a little bit scientific?
Something to get your brain going, the chemical name for caffeine is 1-3-7 Trimethylxanthine - (Yes it took us a few attempts too)
There are 2 types of coffee beans
Robusta & Arabica - Robusta is more acidic and buttery where as Arabica has less acidic and more smooth tasting.
The most expensive coffee in the world
The most expensive coffee is produced in Thailand and Maldives made from feeding Thai Arabica beans to elephants and the resulting coffee cherries after passing through the elephants digestive system it is harvested from their dung, the process reduces bitterness and adds a chocolatey flavour - 1kg will set you back £2,298.00 and for a sachet of coffee £115.00 ( 2 8oz cups) Production is limited with only a few hundred pounds produced each year - hence the cost.
Worlds largest cup of coffee was 26,939.22 litres!
On December 10, 2022, Tonic World Centre S de C.V. in Guanajuato, Mexico, up the world’s biggest cup of coffee, holding a whopping 26,939.22 litres! This giant cup measured 3.5 meters across and stood 3.05 meters, and they used 300 kg of coffee to make it!
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