My Favorite Coffee Brewing Methods

I love to spice up my coffee drinking experience all the time. I do this by varying the regional coffee beans, roasting time, and brewing methods. All of these dramatically change the flavor profile of the coffee.

I usually like to brew my coffee with the French press because I enjoy the flavor and the convenience of leaving the coffee sit for 4 minutes while I do something else. I find French pressed coffee full of body on the pallete. I can feel the sediments slightly and this adds flavor and fun to the coffee drinking experience.

When I want a full flavor coffee with a clean taste, I like drip filtered coffee the best. The coffee flavor explodes in my mouth and tastes good the entire time that I drink it.

If I am feeling like a creamy cup of coffee, I tend to use my stove top mocha pot. The coffee flavor is intense-I don't like to drink it plain. I add frothed whole milk or cream to the coffee. This is usually best enjoyed with a piece of dark chocolate or a scone.

I have even tried the much raved about Aeropress. It's supposed to give an intense cup of coffee similar to espresso. The Aeropress is great for traveling because it is not messy. It literally squeezes all the water out of the grinds. The coffee is concentrated-water is added after pressing. What I don't like about the Aeropress is that it takes about twice as much ground coffee to produce a good cup of coffee. Many people will argue against my opinion. That is fine with me. It's just another gadget to me. I use it occasionally to get a variation in my coffee taste.

To really get the best cup of brewed coffee, remember to use filtered water since a cup of coffee is over 99% water. Bad water will produce a bad cup of coffee.

How To Find The Best Deals On Green Coffee Beans

Have you ever wondered how to find the best deals on buying green coffee beans? I surely have. Purchasing green coffee beans is no easy task if you are a coffee buyer. I don't mean your average joe consumer who roasts green coffee beans at home. I am talking about a person who travels to exotic coffee plantations and witnesses the entire coffee harvesting and processing experience.

Imagine yourself being chauffeured around in an open door jeep on rutted out dirt roads with heavily armed para military personnel guarding the local country side. People still live in small shacks with galvanized steel roofs. Chickens, goats, and other farm animals mill about freely. Barefoot children are the norm. This is not far from the truth as most green bean coffee is still cultivated on small farms in impoverished 3rd world nations.

When you are drinking your $6 a pound gourmet green coffee, remember that it may have gone on an "Indiana Jones" style adventure before it arrived at the local coffee roaster.

So, what about the best deals on green coffee that I first started writing about? Does it really matter whether you are paying $6 or $12 a pound for green coffee beans? I don't think so. On a per cup basis, green coffee beans are so inexpensive to the end user that most of us gourmet coffee connoisseurs hardly give it a thought.

On the flip side of over priced green coffee beans is poor quality beans. That is why I really on buyers such as Tom at Sweet Maria's for most of my knowledge on purchasing green coffee beans. I don't plan on flying into remote villages of Kenya to purchase my 2 pounds of green coffee beans per month. If you want a great deal on green coffee beans that have been on an adventure greater than "Indy", visit buyers like Sweet Maria's and others that are just as passionate. While I am not advocating paying $40-$50 a pound for exotic green coffees of the world, I don't recommend buy the cheap stuff just because it is cheap.