Kant was a great lover of coffee, he used to say that “friendship is like coffee, once it is cold it never returns to its original taste, even if it is reheated”.
If you are a good coffee lover, you will agree that there is nothing like a freshly brewed coffee, but there are other factors that influence the taste of a good cup of coffee… do you want to know what they are?
The first thing to consider is the quality of the bean. Choose a 100% Arabica coffee, from a quality origin, grown, harvested and processed in small batches. If the coffee bean is of good quality, the coffee that reaches your cup will also be of good quality.
After a good selection of the bean, roasting is the key. A proper roasting allows you to accentuate the main characteristics of body, taste and aroma, thus achieving that quality coffee. Consuming a freshly roasted coffee also enhances the organoleptic qualities of each bean and reduces the bitter taste found in commercial coffees. Our coffee is roasted by artisan roasters, who not only know the origin of the coffee they sell, carefully select the beans and roast them personally, but will also recommend the type of coffee that best suits your tastes.
As important as choosing a good roasted coffee, is to grind it at the moment we are going to consume it. In this way it will preserve its aromas and taste and will not lose any of its characteristics. It should be taken into account that the grinding has to be adapted to the type of coffee machine we are going to use, so filter coffee machines need, for example, a thicker bean than Italian ones.
And yes, the coffee maker you use also has an influence… If you like your coffee strong and short, we recommend using an espresso machine, but if you like your coffee long and soft, you will need a filter coffee maker to appreciate all its nuances. Italian mocha machines also offer a concentrated and intense coffee, although not as dense as espresso machines. However, if you like to experiment, the plunger coffee maker, used correctly, will allow you to make slight variations in the taste of your coffee.
Although many people do not think this is important, water is an essential element in making good coffee. Expert baristas are keen on using mineral water, but did you know that the same coffee will change its taste depending on the water you use? A water with less minerals will extract more flavours from the coffee than one that contains, for example, more minerals.
In Italian mocha coffee machines, we will get a better coffee if we add the water, already hot, up to the screw, without pressing the coffee, with the lid up and we remove it from the heat once it starts to bubble to cut the cooking.
And to finish… The cup! The materials of the cups have characteristics that can influence the temperature and taste of the coffee we are going to drink. The ideal cup? In vitrified ceramic and with a rounded bottom that helps the coffee to fall gently and to preserve the cream, a fundamental element to maintain the aromas and to form a thermal cap that delays the cooling of the coffee. Normally, the cups we buy follow different schemes and beauty and aesthetics are more important.
A last point for the most demanding palates, the ideal temperature to serve that great coffee is between 76 and 82 degrees. In order to maintain this temperature, it is advisable to pre-heat the cup so that we can enjoy all the aromas and nuances that the coffee we have made, for a longer period of time.
In Cafes Balancilla we want to make it easy for you. We pamper every phase of the coffee making process to provide you with the best possible raw material so that you can prepare that great coffee you are longing to savour. Because we love coffee. Because we know you love coffee too