Yesterday, a netizen I met on Toutiao asked me, "Why is the coffee I make so bitter?"

I asked him to send me a photo of the beans, and I was shocked. Here’s what you can feel:

I asked him, what kind of beans are these?

He said he bought it on Taobao at a special price. I was really upset. I begged the Taobao merchant to leave the words "Yirgacheffe" alone. You can just use "Blue Mountain Flavor", "Mandheling Flavor", or "Cuban Flavor"!

In a previous article, "10 Practical Tips for Hand-Poured Coffee", we emphasized the importance of coffee beans in a cup of coffee. Let's review it again. We also recommend that friends who want to brew coffee at home buy less and better coffee beans !

Freshly roasted beans

A cup of coffee is also a food. Only good ingredients can make the food delicious, and good beans can make you have an endless aftertaste after drinking it.

Two points should be emphasized here: 1. Use high-quality roasted beans . Hand-brewed coffee is very versatile, and deep-roasted Italian blended beans can also be used for hand-brewed coffee. However, if you really want to enjoy the charm of hand-brewed coffee, it is recommended to use boutique beans with a cupping score of 80 or above, with a detailed bean history (origin, variety, processing method, etc.), and certain flavor characteristics. For details, please refer to this article Why does boutique coffee emphasize origin information? In fact, coffee lovers are quite happy. The price of half a pound (227g) of boutique beans on the market is about 100 yuan, which is much less than the cost of drinking tea and red wine. More expensive ones, such as Geisha, can also be tasted for two or three hundred yuan, and even the top ones will not be outrageously expensive; (Of course, there is also a kind of weird coffee in the coffee market, such as cat poop coffee, which can be described in four words: fake/expensive/unpalatable. It is used to fool rich people who don’t understand coffee. People who really understand coffee basically don’t touch it, so we never recommend it)

②Choose freshly roasted beans .

The higher the quality of the coffee, the more emphasis should be placed on the concept of fresh roasting. Because once the raw coffee beans are roasted into mature beans, the coffee flavor will continue to decrease. First the aromatic substances, then the good flavor substances, will all dissipate with the emission of carbon dioxide. Of course, we have all heard of the concept of "raising beans". Freshly roasted beans need a three to five day bean raising period before the overall flavor will be at its best. This best state will last for about 7-10 days. After that, the coffee flavor will decay even more. If you drink it again after a month, the flavor will be much bland! Therefore, when buying beans, you must choose a store that pays attention to fresh roasting, such as the " Afei's Store " WeChat store, and buy in small quantities, and try to drink them within two weeks.

The first suggestion for those who want to brew good coffee at home:

Buy small but good beans!

First, estimate the amount of beans you will use in two weeks.

For example, if you are used to drinking two cups a day,

One cup uses 15g of beans.

So the amount of beans used for two weeks is 15gX2X14=420g

Then two and a half pounds is enough.

If you buy too much, it will be a waste of good beans after the best tasting period.

(454g/lb, roasted coffee beans are often half a pound 227g per bag,

More expensive ones also come in 60g/100g packages)

Secondly, you can get two high-quality beans from different production areas and processing methods each time.

You can drink different coffees according to your mood during the day.

You can also drink them at the same time.

Taste the flavor differences of different coffees.

Our store only makes freshly roasted premium beans! If you need any, you can send me a private message.

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My name is Afei. I have been engaged in promoting coffee culture for more than 6 years. I have been to coffee farms in Indonesia, Yunnan, Taiwan, and coffee-consuming cities in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, and France.

I love specialty coffee and want to make friends who love coffee as much as I do. Welcome everyone to follow my Toutiao account and my new book "Fall in Love with Coffee in 3 Minutes", and share and exchange ideas on specialty coffee,

Latte art and store opening knowledge. Love coffee, let's get together. Share wonderful life with you every day.