How To Brewing A Great Cup Of Coffee

Oct 31, 2025 11:13 PM

Three Keys to a Great Cup of Coffee

As with wine, the taste of coffee depends on the quality of the fruit and the way that fruit is transformed into a beverage.

As with freshly baked bread, fresh roasted coffee has a very short shelf life, a maximum of five days, regardless of packaging. By definition, over 95% of all coffee sold to consumers is stale.

Making a cup of coffee is a science, but a simple science governed by the laws of nature. Adherence to the "three keys" is the only way to enjoy coffee at its best, sweet with distinctive flavours derived from the country of origin. The three keys to quality coffee are:

1. Quality Green "Arabica" Coffee

The best coffee beans produce the best cup of coffee.

2. Fresh Roasted Beans

High-quality coffee beans are a lot like high-quality grapes; they're a crucial ingredient, but by no means guarantee a high-quality end product.

Great-tasting coffee also relies on how soon the coffee is brewed and consumed after roasting. For coffee to be fresh and best, it must be consumed within five days after roasting, three hours after grinding, and fifteen minutes after brewing. The first sign that coffee is stale is a bitter taste.

Related Post: 5 Ways to Value a Cup of Coffee

3. Proper Brewing

Temperature and time of brewing are the extraction of coffee flavour oils from the roasted grounds using water. The best temperature for optimum extraction is water just off the boil (195°-205°F/ 90°-96°C).

This temperature will extract the full range of flavours from fresh roasted beans. Time is a function of the brewing method and grind size.

There are many ways to brew good coffee. Steeping and espresso are two of the best methods. Learn more.

What Makes One Coffee Bean Different From Another?

Coffee acquires unique taste characteristics from its geography - soil, water, air, flora, etc. While entire books have been written about varietals and the art of Cupping Coffee, coffee taste can be described and generally characterised by the continent of origin.

Africa

High acidity / low body

Coffees from Africa are distinctly bright (similar to citrus), and sweet (fruits and floral), with a dry wine finish. Countries to note are: Ethiopia, Yemen, Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Uganda.

South Asia

Low acidity / high body

Coffees from Asia are rich and full-bodied, with heavy earth and spice flavours. Countries to note are: India, Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, and Papua New Guinea.

Latin America

Medium acidity / medium body

Coffees from Central America, South America, and the Caribbean possess a full spectrum of tastes from fruit and earth to nut, vanilla, and chocolate.

They are intensely aromatic. Countries to note are Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Cuba, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.

A General Overview of Coffee Tasting

Green (unroasted) coffee beans have very little taste. Coffee taste as we know it is created during the roasting process.

At 400°F/205°C, simple sugars and carbohydrates inside the green bean begin to caramelise, creating over 800 different flavour components (water-soluble coffee oils).

The two main tasting sensations in coffee are acidity and body. Acidity is the sweet tingling sensation on the tongue, not the bitter or sour taste associated with stale or low-quality beans.

The body is the weight of the coffee as it rests on the tongue, and the mouth feels it. Both body and acidity vary depending on the country of origin, ranging from Africa (high acidity / low body) to South Asia (low acidity / high body).

Coffee tastes (or flavours) are characterised by: (1) fragrance & aroma, (2) taste & nose, and (3) aftertaste. Ted Lingle, in the Coffee Cuppers Handbook, describes the characteristics as follows:

Fragrance & Aroma

Fragrance reveals the nature of a coffee bean's taste, floral, spicy, etc. It is evaluated by vigorously sniffing/smelling a sample of ground coffee.

The intensity of the fragrance reveals the freshness of the sample. The aroma is examined by taking long, deep sniffs of brewed coffee. It reveals the aromatic character of the coffee, fruity, herbal, nut-like, etc.

Taste & Nose

Taste is examined by forcefully slurping brewed coffee into your mouth. This brisk aspiration spreads the fluid over the entire surface of the tongue, allowing all of the sensory nerve endings to simultaneously respond to sweet, salt, sour or bitter.

The nose is examined at the same time as the taste. Aspirating coffee over the tongue also aerates it, which causes a portion of the organic compounds to change into gases, which are then drawn into the nasal cavity. The nose tends to reveal flavours like caramel, malt, brown sugar, etc.