You can always improve your skills and methods, but no matter how good the skills are, the coffee beans themselves are the biggest factor that affects the flavor of your coffee. If we use coffee beans that are not of good quality, there is no chance of tasting really good coffee.
As the soul of delicious coffee, we need to be more careful when choosing. Let's take a look at what aspects need to be paid attention to.
1. Choose the right packaging
First of all, the storage of coffee beans should be protected from light, ventilated and dry, so the packaging must choose opaque materials. Also, don't think vacuum packaging is better. Coffee beans continue to release carbon dioxide after roasting. If you choose vacuum packaging, there will be a lot of carbon dioxide inside.
Remember to choose a package with a one-way exhaust valve. The exhaust valve must be at the top of the package, so that when the beans release carbon dioxide, the air inside will be squeezed out.
2. Check the baking date
The first element is that the baking date is completely different from the "shelf life"! Although we feel that coffee can be stored for an unlimited time, you may not get sick after drinking coffee beans for a year, but it is definitely not that delicious.
Immediately after a coffee bean is roasted, its chemical composition begins to change. When the coffee beans begin to degas, the oil of the beans will begin to oxidize, which means that the flavor of the beans will begin to decline.
The freshness of coffee beans is a very subjective thing, but the recommended coffee beans are from four days to two weeks after roasting, but the way the coffee is extracted will also affect.
For example, if you like to brew by hand, it is recommended to start using it in the first week after roasting, and use it up as soon as possible, because the flavor and aroma of the coffee are perfect at this time. But if you like to make espresso, the beans can be kept longer, about seven to nine days before starting to use. A little longer is suitable for cold brew coffee.
3. Pay attention to the proportion of defective beans
Coffee itself is a commodity, and the entire industry chain is counted in sacks before it reaches the roaster. No matter how it is packaged, there will be a certain percentage of defective beans. Defective beans are manually removed during the first half of roasting, but this removal process also has different standards.
In general commercial beans, the defect rate can reach 30% to 40%, so the price is relatively cheap. The instant beans on the market are basically this kind of beans.
The defect rate of general boutique beans is also between 10% and 15%. They have fewer flaws and are all hand-screened. Removing defective beans can not only make the coffee more pure and stable, but also safer from a health perspective, because the defective beans are not necessarily beans, but may also be gravel or other debris.
The above standards are suggestions to help you find better coffee, but everyone has different tastes for coffee. Don't judge coffee with a good or bad mentality. What you like is the most important thing. The coffee you like is good coffee! Good coffee beans in the general sense are expensive, but cat shit coffee is expensive, and not everyone likes it.
