A quest that we have been on for many many years. Have we gotten there yet? We think so and hope you will too. Here’s what we found:

4 Essentials to a Near-Perfect Cup

1) Beans
Fresh. Expertly roasted. Highest quality. Hmmmm, Sound familiar? We hope so cuz that’s our message we’ve been a preachin’...use Buddy Brew Coffee of course!!?!

2) Water
Coffee is 99% water so only use the best filtered or bottled water. Tap water has minerals and chemicals that add their flavors (not good). You want to only be tasting your Buddy Brew Coffee. Believe it or not, your water temperature plays a big role in how your coffee will taste. If your water isn’t hot enough your coffee will be weak. If your water is too hot, your coffee will be bitter.

3) Grinder
If you’ve taken the big step of purchasing Buddy Brew Coffee do yourself a favor and get a grinder. A blade grinder will do but you really want to get a conical burr grinder. A blade grinder uses a whirly blade that chops your whole beans over and over again making the consistency super fine to kinda course. A burr grinder passes the whole beans over the burrs only once creating a perfectly consistent grind. Only grind what you need for immediate use. Ground coffee truly only last 24 hours at peak flavor and degrades substantially after 2 hours!!?!

4) Brewing your Buddy Brew Coffee
We have found through much trial and error that using a French Press (press pot) or an AeroPress produces the most flavorful cup of coffee in our opinion. Both of these methods prevent the pitfalls of automated coffee makers (continuous heat, water temperature). Please understand what we are saying here and make no mistake, everyone’s cup of joe is personal. You need to make the coffee how you like it. We are only trying to help you find YOUR perfect cup through our extensive and yes, somewhat compulsive quest to find “the perfect cup”. However you do it, don’t be afraid to explore as we have. It’s all about the journey not so much the destination. All that said, here’s our recipes:

a perfect cup

A Near-Perfect Cup - Our Recipes

At Buddy Brew Coffee we use either a French Press or an AeroPress. That is not to say auto-drip coffee makers are bad, we should know, we have had about 7 of them in our 12 year marriage, but rather, this is our preference.

FRENCH PRESS

1) Separate the beaker from the plunger.

2) We use a hot pot and an instant read thermometer to get our water to the exact temperature every time. We suggest between 190 to 200 degrees. We shoot for 195 degrees give or take.

3) We use about 2 tablespoon of coffee beans per 6 oz of water. Experiment with this using this as your starting point then go up or down on the amount of coffee depending on your tastes.

4) Grind your beans as the water is heating. Here’s the trick, move your grind selector about 1/2 way in-between to the automatic drip and french press setting. this is another area for experimentation. You want your grind as fine as possible while not creating too much “mud” or sediment in the bottom of your cup. The finer you grind the faster the extraction process. That’s why our french press method should only take 4 minutes max. Play with the grind setting. You will find what’s suites your tastes best.

5) Pour your freshly ground coffee into the beaker of the french press. Add your hot water. Do this slowly trying not to create an island of dry coffee. We add the water in a circular motion while also rotating the beaker the opposite direction. You will notice light brown foam begin to form. This good! It’s called crema and a sign of freshly roasted coffee. Any left over water pour into the mug you will be drinking from to pre-heat it. This will help keep your coffee at temperature a bit longer and not cool the coffee prematurely.

6) Gently place the top/plunger of the french press on top of the beaker slowly making sure not to depress the plunger but rather set it on top of the coffee.

7) Set your timer of 90 seconds.

8) Remove the plunger. You will notice all the coffee grounds are at the top of the beaker. Slowly stir these. As you do this most if not all will drop to the bottom. Replace the plunger as before. Do not plunge just yet.

9) Set you timer again, for another 90 seconds.

10) It’s time to plunge. Do this very slowly. You will feel some resistance. If you don’t, your grind may be a little too course. Plunging should take about 10-20 seconds give or take.

11) The water you placed in your mug pour out now. While holding the top of the french press pour what you have brewed into your warmed mug and enjoy!!

12) **WARNING** Don’t drink this cup to the bottom. Leave a little behind so avoid drinking the “mud” mentioned above.:-)

AeroPress

The AeroPress makes one the best and cleanest cups of coffee we have found. It essentially is making something close to espresso (they claim it is, we think it is darn close). You end up making Americano by adding water to suite your tastes. Here’s the steps to making enough coffee to fill a travel mug of coffee (16 oz).

1) Heat the water as described above, about 24 oz or so. Shoot for about 195 degrees. The AeroPress instructions say 180 degrees. We find this to be too cool and thus makes things too weak. Again, experiment with this. You will find what you like best.

2) Setup the AeroPress per their instructions.

3) Using their scoop (equals about 3 tablespoons) put 2 scoops into your grinder. Set the grinder to very fine and move it a click or 3 courser than espresso towards automatic drip. This will take some refining. Again finer the better. If you go too fine you will clog the AeroPress making it very difficult plunge.

4) Put the ground beans into the filtered part of the AeroPress. Place this on top of your travel mug.

5) Pour your hot water into the AeroPress slowly trying to prevent any dry coffee islands from forming. Fill the AeroPress.

6) Count to 10.

7) Using the AeroPress stirrer, carefully stir for 10 more seconds.

8) Place the AeroPress plunger on top and now plunge to the bottom. Your goal is to plunge for approximately 20 seconds. If it went too fast your grind was too course. If it took longer it was too fine.

9) Top off with your remaining hot water. Add cream and sugar (if you must) and you are good to go. Enjoy!

We will have videos of both processes added to our blog in the near future.