As I have blundered my way through life, I have found that one great truth applies to almost every aspect of both my business and personal life. Find someone who is passionate about their product and you will almost always find the highest quality, the best value, the most efficient service or the most creative work. For the most successful people I ever met, the means was the end. The fact that it usually made them rich or famous was a happy accident. I always look for a restaurant run by someone who loves to cook, wine from a wine maker who lives to make wine or products from companies where quality is a religion. So, when I met Chris Evans of Evans & King Microroasters, I knew I had found someone who is as passionate about coffee as I am about wine. Chris' company specializes in ultra-fresh coffees, roasted in small batches and placed in the consumer's hands in days, rather than weeks or months, after roasting. Our first exposure to his French Roast was love at first taste. It was dark and rich without a hint of the bitterness that so often accompanies dark roast coffees.

It doesn?t surprise us that so many gourmet coffee drinkers store their purchase incorrectly. We were guilty of the same crime, before our passion for the beans led us to further investigation.

These are the facts to keep your coffee at its best, for as long as possible:
Grinding, then storing, freshly roasted coffee, anytime other than immediately before brewing, is like ripping apart Moms fresh baked bread, placing it in a jar for a couple of days and wondering why it doesn?t taste as good as it smelled days before.

Always store coffee in a cool, dry, dark, airtight container. Never store your coffee in the refrigerator, due to harmful condensation build-up.


Only keep coffee in the freezer if you have purchased more than will be consumed within ten days of being roasted. If this is the case, only place the amount you believe will not be used in time. Dark roasts will be adversely affected more than light in the quality of flavor, but it beats the alternative.

Remember, coffee is technically stale ten days after being roasted and exposed to the air.

There are so many coffee grinding and brewing machines and devices in the market place today, it would take days to read an evaluation on them all. In our opinion, most fine coffees are best with one combination; a burr grinder with a press pot, also known as a French Press. Some may find this to be too overpowering a method due to the fact that it taps into all a coffee has to offer.

If a person desires the convenience of a drip coffeemaker, a gold tone or permanent filter is superior to any paper filter. Paper filters add, brace yourself, a paper taste and rob a coffee of flavor oils.

Any machine which allows the grounds contact with water longer than four minutes, isn?t fast enough - it allows over extraction, causing bitterness. For home use, we have found none better than a Bunn. The SCAA (Special Coffee Association of America) says two level tablespoons of coffee per six ounces of water is the proper ratio for brewing. Many will find this to be too strong, so add hot water afterwards or adjust accordingly.

A burr grinder produces uniform grounds and tends to stay cooler during operation. Blade grinders are inexpensive and work fine, when using drip makers.

The basics for a superior cup:
Always, we said always, use filtered or purified water of some type.

Coarsely ground coffee is best with the press pot, a medium grind for drip makers.

Only grind your beans right before brewing. Three minutes is the perfect time allowed for water and bean contact and four is the maximum. If the coffee maker you choose to use takes longer, brew less at one time to achieve a similar result.

Never leave a pot of coffee on the burner for longer than a few minutes. Ten minutes on a burner greatly alters the quality. Use a clean, glass lined, vacuum-sealed pot or thermos if need be.

July 3, 2001