Coffeewarehouse - Coffee Tips

1. How do you store coffee?
2. How hot should the water be?
3. How much coffee should I use in a plunger?
4. What is crema?
5. What is espresso?

1. How do you store coffee?

Air, light and moister will cause roasted coffee to deteriorate. Therefore coffee needs to be stored in a dark, cool, airtight environment. We recommend using the black airtight, resealable bag, which we deliver your coffee in. These bags contain one way valves to bleed all excess air out of the bag.

Do not store your coffee in the refrigerator or freezer. This will only deteriorate your coffee.

Grind your coffee beans when you are going to brew coffee. Grinding your beans will increase the coffees deterioration as it increases the coffees exposed surface area. We recommend you purchase a grinder like the Isomac Inox.

2. How hot should the water be?
When pouring onto ground coffee - let the water boil and then rest a minute or two before pouring. Boiling water tends to burn coffee and therefore ruin the taste.

3. How much coffee should I use in a plunger?
Generally similar to tea - one heaped dessertspoon per person and one for the pot.

4. What is crema?
crema is the cream that forms on the top of an espresso and is gold/brown in appearance and should be dense. It is formed by the dispersion of oil and air contained in the coffee.

5. What is espresso?
Espresso is the coffee produced by forcing very hot water through finely ground coffee under pressure for a controlled time.

Cappucino Tips
- cups should be heated before use
- milk should be warmed
- traditionally coffee should never be too hot to drink straight away
- crema on a coffee merely denotes that the coffee is fresh and the grind is correct
- cold cups break the creme
- conical shaped cups are preferred
- never reheat coffee - make a fresh one
- always try sugar in an espresso and even a little bit takes off the harsher edges. In Italy, over 80% of espresso drinkers will add up to 2 teaspoons of sugar to their coffee
- the higher the fat content of milk - the more dense the froth
- generally, milk is the correct temperature when the stainless steel jug is almost too hot to touch
- if poured correctly, the crema of the coffee will form a ring on the edges of the froth in the cup
- the use of full fat milk will enhance the intensity of the coffee flavour

Vibiemme Domobar Milk Frothing Guide

This guide explains how to froth milk with the Domobar. Click here to read it.

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