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I'm not sure there is a more dynamic duo in the world of digital marketing than coffee and PPC. Some may argue "whiskey" is in close running for the PPC favorite beverage, but I have to say that the beverage most beneficial to a PPCer during normal work hours (that phrase being key here) has to be coffee.
@dohertyjf @AkvileHarlow @joehall @PPCKirk If there's one thing that's true it's that online marketers know their coffee... and whiskey.
— Jesse Semchuck (@jessesem) December 28, 2014
Here's the problem. We have been trained by decades of poor quality beans and prep methods to think that bad coffee is just the way it is. It truly saddens me whenever someone comments that they don't like coffee when the "coffee" they are referring to is the 4 year old grocery store bag sitting in their friend's cupboard, "brewed" on a Mr. Coffee. So, what is good coffee (and why should you believe me)?
Second question first. I'm on a lifelong journey for the best coffee beans that started when I was hired on at Prima Coffee Equipment in Louisville, KY. I had worked at Starbucks while in college and thought I knew coffee. Wow, was I wrong! These people took coffee to a crazy new level for me. In fact, you may see a lot of links to them in this post. I still do some marketing work for them, but to be clear, I'm not getting anything from them for this post. The reason I link to them is because, really, they're the reason I now love coffee!
After I worked there for awhile, I began collecting coffee gear to use and attempting to learn it well. I even roasted for awhile in Louisville, but the move to Montana made me throw away the popcorn popper and I got a lot busier so haven't gone back to that yet.
I hope to get a Hottop Roaster someday to help with that. Admittedly, "liking" coffee doesn't make me a coffee expert any more than passing a Certification Test makes one a PPC expert (that correlation makes me smile). I like to say I'm on a lifelong journey because there are people who appreciate coffee and do it FAR better than me. However, here are some things I've picked up along the way that I thought would be fun to share with my favorite PPC people.
Step 1 - Buy Good Beans
There are several factors to be aware of in buying good beans. I'm just going to say it, if you're buying beans from the grocery store, this next section is for you.
Freshness - For some reason, we understand the value in fresh vegetables and fruit, but not in coffee. I guess that's because the fruit and veggies rot away in front of our eyes. Either way, coffee, like any other thing we consume, has a shelf-life on it.
With coffee, it is essential that you have it fresh. You generally want to wait 3-7 days after roast to begin drinking and then want to use your beans within 30 days. Mileage may vary, but that's a good goal to shoot for. If you are getting your beans from a good shop, they should have the roast date on the bag. If you ask them when the beans were roasted and they look at you blankly, it's probably time to find a new shop.
Source - There are different source questions to ask. One is that the good coffees tend to be auctioned off (supply and demand, people want quality and are willing to pay for it). This means that the farmers are generally being rewarded for producing a good crop, etc. Now, it gets a lot more complicated than this... I'm not saying you can save the world by buying good coffee. I am saying, it tends to reward the farmers in coffee-growing countries more than the bulk buyers that don't care about quality, but just want quantity and high profits.
The second thing to consider here is that different regions of the world produce different tastes in coffee for various reasons. African coffee tastes far different than Southeast Asia coffee. My favorite coffees are from Ethiopia because they generally have an amazingly sweet taste. Altitude also affects how a coffee tastes as it grows and is processed (as does different processing methods!).
Quality - This goes hand in hand with Source. Even a good farm will produce varying levels of quality. Coffee is a crop, so things like weather have a significant impact on it. This is why many specialty shops are constantly looking for that better bean. Just because a farmer did a good job one year, doesn't mean he will nail it again next year. The great shops are always cupping and looking for the best coffee out there.
Roast - It's time to dispel a rumor. Dark roast coffee is not good. It's not flavorful. It's burnt. Some people prefer their steaks blackened to a crisp. It doesn't mean that's the way a steak tastes great, it just means a few people like it that way. Just like with steaks, the problem is that roasting a coffee well enhances the flavor, whether good or bad.
So why is all cheap coffee over-roasted? Because if it was roasted properly, then everyone would wince (even more) after taking a sip. It would bring out the terribly quality of the bean. A friend explained it to me this way. If you take a $150 steak and a $0.25 McDonalds hamburger and burn them both to a crisp, they will pretty much taste the same. The way to create a uniform taste with bad coffee is to burn it.
This allows you to purchase in larger quantities (since quality is of no concern) and roast it all evenly maximizing your profits. So, the next time you are looking for a new shop, get an idea from the barista of their roast level. Don't just ask for light, ask what they mean by light roasted (even Starbucks "Blonde" roast is still fairly dark).
Sweet Marias - Using sight to determine coffee roast levelSo where should you buy your beans from? Find a good local shop in your area that holds the previous bean parameters in high regard. If you're trying to figure this out and want good coffee in the meantime, consider these excellent shops that ship to you.
- Intelligentsia Coffee
- Stumptown Coffee
- PT's Coffee
- Blue Bottle Coffee
- Sunergos Coffee
- Quills Coffee (the last two are my favorite shops in Louisville, KY where I used to live).
Step 2 - Brew Properly
The Science of Coffee BrewingTo put it into PPC terms, coffee needs certain parameters in order to work at optimal efficiency. If you want to get "perfect" coffee extraction (getting the best flavor out of the coffee), you need to control these parameters. If you don't control these parameters well, you will get over-extracted coffee or under-extracted coffee.
This will make your coffee taste burnt, or bitter, or other horrible tastes. When someone complains about bad coffee, it's usually going to be because the beans are bad and/or the coffee was not extracted well.So, if any of these parameters are missing, it falls apart. The key parameters of coffee are:
Temperature - In order to have optimal brewing, your water needs to be between 195-205 deg F (use a thermometer, or come about 30 seconds off of boil). The problem with most auto-drippers is that they heat their water to about 160 deg F. This prevents optimal extraction.
Water - Since coffee is primarily water, it's an important part of the puzzle. Bad tasting water will result in bad tasting coffee. I use a Brita filter pitcher to make my coffee. Also, the correct volume of water is required for good coffee. That will be covered in dosage.
Time - Time is a necessary component in brewing. If you brew too quickly, you can under-extract the beans. To slowly, and you will over-extract them. This is another problem with the majority of automatic drippers. If you are using a pourover or full immersion method, a good goal to shoot for is 3 minutes brew time.
Grind - As will be covered in the grinder section below, a good grinder is essential to good coffee. Avoid blade grinders because they grind incredibly inconsistent particle sizes. The reason this is important is because if you are brewing with too fine or large a particle you will affect the timing of the brew as well as the extraction.
If your grind is inconsintent, than some particles are being over extracted, some under-extracted and it's all just a mess.
Dosage - There are always different opinions on this, but the commonly understood "optimal" dosage for brewing coffee is 6g of coffee to 100 ml of water. This is where I have found a scale to be essential in brewing. You can get a digital scale for pretty cheap, and then you never guess again for dosage.
For a pourover, you can pour water directly on the brewer while it's sitting on the scale. This allows you to see as you are pouring exactly how much water you have to go. A great scale is the Jennings CJ4000 (an it's only $30).So how does one get a "good" cup of coffee?
Simple, one controls these (or as many of these) parameters as possible. Now do you see why poor Mr. Coffee won't cut it? Even if you use great beans, you're not getting the water hot enough for proper extraction, you're not getting the cup extracted in the correct amount of time which will result in a bitter or burnt taste, and you're not really getting an even extraction since the water is all trickling into the same spot in the grounds the whole time (often resulting in over-extracted grounds in the middle and under-extracted grounds on the outer edges).
Step 3 - Purchase the Correct Equipment
Ok, this is the section you're probably most interested in. "I'm a busy PPCer, just tell me what to buy." Well, to answer with that PPC motto: "It depends." For instance, here is the coffee gear I currently own:
- Hario V60 Dripper
- Bonavita Electric Pourover Kettle
- Aerobie Aeropress
- Rancilio Silvia Espresso Maker
- Baratza Encore Grinder
- Hario Mini Mill Hand Grinder
- Mypressi Twist Portable Espresso Maker
- BeeHouse Dripper
- Clever Coffee Dripper
- Yama Siphon Brewer
You don't need to own every piece of coffee gear there is out there in order to get a good cup of coffee, however hopefully you have seen from Step 2 that you do need some of the right equipment! Here are suggestions I have for the best gear in each category.
Grinder
Many smart(er) coffee afficiandos will tell you that a good burr grinder is the most important piece of equipment you can buy. This is because if your grind is not consistent you will have some grounds over and some under-extracted (since some are smaller and some are bigger).
Coffeegeek - Don't Skimp on the GrinderAnother question you have to ask yourself about the grinder is, what will you primarily use it for? If espresso, you need a good espresso grinder. Theoretically, you need a grinder for both espresso and manual brewing, however if you're like me and NOT independently wealthy, you can find some decent grinders that "do" both.
PPC Grinder Recommendation
So, you just want good coffee. You don't want to spend a ton of money on it, what grinder should you get? I would suggest the Baratza Encore (or any of the Baratza brand). That is what I own. It is affordable and does a pretty good all around job.
Espresso Machine
Because Espresso is complicated, it is not as easy as buying a $30 machine from Target. Have you ever noticed that those machines don't pull shots that taste the same as your favorite coffee shop? There's a reason, and it's not all the girl behind the counter.
In order to work, espresso essentially "replaces" brew time with pressure. This pressure is essential to the espresso process and this is mainly why you can NOT buy a cheap espresso machine. You need a good, long lasting machine that will consistently pull 9 bars of pressure for your shots (and that also successfully heats things up to that perfect temperature.
Again, many people know a whole lot more than me so I will refer you on if you want more information.Coffeegeek - How to Buy an Espresso MachineHome Barista - How to choose an espresso machine and grinder at the "right" price
PPC Espresso Machine Recommendation
If you're like me, you love good espresso, but you don't want to spend a fortune on it. When it was time for me to invest in a good machine that will last me my whole life, I did a ton of research. There are lots of good machines out there, but the best starter espresso machine out there IMO is a Rancilio Silvia. It has a MASSIVE following so there is a lot of support out there and it is relatively affordable, keeping you under the $1K cost level.
"Regular" Coffee Brewing
Here is the most popular section. Most people are initially not as interested in the grinder portion or the espresso machine. I wanted to give the brewing section first so we could learn how essential it is to have brewing in which the parameters are tightly controlled.
In order to do this well, manual brewing is almost a must. However, there are a couple of brewers with SCAA approval that allow for greater control over the parameters than normal auto brewers.
Pourover Brewersmanual pourover brewing controls temperature, brew time, and even ground extraction. It allows the preparer to have tight control over all of these factors, resulting in an excellent cup. There are several different ways to brew with pourover out there, I prefer the Hario V60 for taste, but it can be tricky. If you want a great pourover brewer to get started, you really can't go wrong with the Chemex.
Prima Coffee - A Beginner's Guide to Pourover Coffee
Pourover KettleIn order to do pourover brewing well, you will need a pourover kettle. This is a kettle with a long gooseneck that allows you to control the pour timing. I suggest combining an electric kettle experience with a pourover kettle. Bonavita makes a great one (I have used mine for years) and it is very affordable.
Full Immersion
Full Immersion brew methods allow for the most even grounds extraction since all of the grounds are, well, evenly steeped in water! The negative of this is that the water will cool over the 3 minutes of brewing. Some companies have tried to take this on by insulating the brewer.
The most common immersion brewer? The french press! I'm not a huge fan, since it allows tons of silt and junk through the metal filter. My favorite immersion brewer (aside from the siphon, see below) is the Clever Coffee Dripper.
Siphon BrewersThis is my favorite on sheer looks at taste, however it is also the most difficult to brew with. They tend to look like science projects (or like something illegal is going down). I currently have one set up on my bookshelf to look cool until the next time I use it.
The thing with a siphon brewer, is that it really brings coffee brewing to perfection. It incorporates full immersion brewing, but allows for maximum control over the temperature through the entire brewing process. It really is fun to watch and brew with if you ever get the chance.
PPC Brewer Recommendation
Time/Budget Saver
Don't have a lot of budget or time? I can relate. I suggest either the Clever Coffee Dripper or the Aerobie Aeropress. Both are pretty easy to brew with, are easy to clean up, and make a great cup of coffee.
Auto Dripper
If you really want good coffee, but not the experience. Then go with the Bonavita Brewer. This is your basic automatic dripper in which many of the parameter issues like water temp, ground saturation, and brew time have been fixed. This is the perfect machine for the busy PPC person/office who also wants great coffee.
Step 4 - Dive into the Specialty Coffee Culture
So now that you know all there is to go know about brewing coffee, learn far, far more with these resources. Welcome to the addiction... errr... I mean, club!
Want to share your love of coffee with fellow PPCers? Tweet it out!
post on coffee!
"A Beginner Coffee Guide for the Tired PPC Pro"
— Kirk Williams (@PPCKirk) December 30, 2014
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