One key is freshness; if you can, go find a local roaster, and ask 'em for what they've got that was most recently roasted (the half-life on coffee after roasting the stuff is fairly fierce). You probably want to start with a lightly roasted arabica from central America, if the stars align and you can manage to find some that's fresh.
As an alternate solution, the Italians have been doing freaky things with preserving coffee in various ways. You might try the medium roast coffee from the good folks of the Illy coffee company; look for the silver tins with red accents.
Another key is keeping all the stuff clean; coffee oils can build up on things and lead to nasty coffee.
As far as preparations go, one good way to do it is get a cheap filter basket, park it on top of a carafe, put in a tablespoon of grounds for each cup of coffee (8oz of water, more or less) and then drip through water that's a bit off the boil (boiling water will make it bitter - let it cool a bit).
On the other hand: all of that might be a pain in the ass.
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-20 12:12 am (UTC)As an alternate solution, the Italians have been doing freaky things with preserving coffee in various ways. You might try the medium roast coffee from the good folks of the Illy coffee company; look for the silver tins with red accents.
Another key is keeping all the stuff clean; coffee oils can build up on things and lead to nasty coffee.
As far as preparations go, one good way to do it is get a cheap filter basket, park it on top of a carafe, put in a tablespoon of grounds for each cup of coffee (8oz of water, more or less) and then drip through water that's a bit off the boil (boiling water will make it bitter - let it cool a bit).
On the other hand: all of that might be a pain in the ass.