Coffee Quality
Everyone has different choices particularly when it comes to coffee, based on preferred flavours, mouthfeel, level of brightness, aftertaste, and much more. These factors depend on estate location, brewing equipment, altitude, coffee varietal, harvesting techniques, and many more.
We have taken care of all the aspects of coffee quality that shall serve pleasure and taste great once it is brewed. The process of coffee cupping is very much similar to wine tasting, therefore our team of experts always have a say in the decision making.
If you're buying beans, ensure that coffee is from the fresh harvest, has appropriate density, moisture and water activity.
At Coffee Sutra, we store our coffee in seal packed bags in a fully air-conditioned store with utmost control over humidity and temperature.
As a brewer, you must check if the coffee is fresh, the date of roast, packaging and then comes the time to ‘cup the coffee to know about all sorts of flavours and aromas.
Grind Size
Always grind your coffee just before extraction to obtain maximum quality, rich flavours and mouthfeel.
Instead of a regular grinder, use a burr grinder, which helps adjust the grind size and is very convenient to use.
Grind size depends on the following factors:
- Brewing method: An espresso machine can filter and extract very fine grinds in just a few seconds, however, a drip method may take few minutes to filter that coffee.
- Brew Time: We put our grind coffee in a French press method for 5 minutes, whereas a cold brew method may take 12-14 hours. Similarly, an espresso shot is extracted within 25-30 seconds.
- Flavour Notes: Even while keeping your brew method, roast level and time consistent, you can produce the desired flavour by just experimenting with the grind size.
Coffee Sutra's Pro Tip:
The best way to get what you want is by exploring. It’s always good to experience a complex and flavourful cup even with pleasant bitterness instead of missing out on flavours and richness just to avoid bitterness.
Water
As a fact of the matter, brewed coffee constitutes approximately 98% of water, therefore water is a very important factor to obtain the perfect cup of joy. Use water that is not contaminated with undesirable odours and contains desired minerals that help in extracting the appropriate flavours and aroma.
This is what Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) suggests:
- Fresh, odour, and colour free
- Sodium 10 mg/L
- Required Ph value from 6.5-7
- Desired Alkalinity 40 mg/L
- Suitable TDS 150 mg/L (Acceptable range 75-250 mg/L)
