Tips to get the most out of your Bayside Beans coffee

Why does Bayside Beans only sell whole bean coffee?

Buying whole coffee beans and investing in a decent home grinder is one of the best ways to insure you are drinking fresh and flavorful coffee at home. Pre-ground coffee will start to lose volatile flavors and aromas in a matter of hours after being ground, while whole beans will stay fresh for several weeks if properly sealed. So, grind it right before you brew it, and only grind what you need.

How do I grind my whole beans?

Our recommendation is to invest in a decent burr grinder, such as the Baratza Encore, in order to achieve a consistent grind that is suitable for most styles of brewing. Coffee quality starts to go downhill after being roasted, even more so after being ground; so we encourage you to keep the coffee beans in their whole state for as long as possible before grinding. We offer some of the freshest coffee available due to being roasted within a few of days of when your order is placed, with the roast date labeled on every bag.

What kind of grinder should I use?

Any burr grinder like the Baratza mentioned above is suitable for most styles of brewing, but if you’re drinking espresso and have a decent espresso machine, you probably want to invest in a higher end grinder like Rancilio Rocky, capable of a finer and more consistent grind. But you probably don’t need us to tell you that, we are not even going to begin to be experts on espresso. Entire books, courses, etc., are dedicated to the art of espresso, which is way beyond the purview of this micro-roastery. However, we do recommend the Sumatra Mandheling & Global Blends as our first choice for espresso. But if you have a decent machine/grinder & capable of proper extraction, all of our varieties can be used successfully. Dark roasts were originally made mainstream for espresso in response to a lot of baristas serving under-extracted/bitter shots, so the roasts were made darker to dull the acidity. But, not surprisingly, that also dulls a lot of the other more interesting and fruity flavors, too. Which is why we choose not to offer a dark roast of the beans that shine best when roasted lightly, like Ethiopia Yirgacheffe & Costa Rican Terrazu, but instead recommend the beans that thrive when roasted dark, like Sumatra Mandheling.

A blade grinder, such as the Krups One-Touch coffee and spice grinder, costs significantly less than the burr grinders mentioned above, but won’t produce nearly as consistent of a grind. In our opinion, though, it’s still a better option than buying pre-ground coffee.

How should I store my Bayside Beans coffee?

We do not recommend storing your coffee in the refrigerator or freezer, as it is too moist of an environment. Instead, store your beans in an airtight container, away from sunlight, moisture, and drastic temperature changes. Our coffee is packaged and sealed into bags immediately after roasting. They have a one-way valve that allows the coffee to vent carbon dioxide, while not exposing it to oxygen that would shorten its life. The bags are resealable with a zipper, but we still recommend drinking within a week or two for maximum freshness and enjoyment once the seal has been opened.

How should I brew my Bayside Beans coffee?

This is a tough question that will have coffee purists debating endlessly. Frankly, we don’t care how you drink our coffee, and we are not here to shame you for your preferred method. Our varieties run the range of medium roasts (city to full city+) and suited for nearly every style of brewing. So, if French Press is your preferred method for brewing, go for it! Pour-over? sure! Just have an old drip coffee maker that has been in the family for generations? Hey, if that’s how you like your coffee, go for it! We’re confident you’ll love and appreciate the quality of Bayside Beans coffee, no matter how you brew it. Try the different varieties brewed different ways, and see how the unique characteristics of each geography present themselves differently. Our coffee is always delivered at its peak of freshness when its ready to be experimented and enjoyed.

At Bayside Beans we have tried dozens of different brewing contraptions that have come to market over the past two decades, but if we had to pick just one go-to machine, it would be the Technivorm Moccamaster. It has been cranking out cup after cup of consistent coffee every morning for over a decade, with no signs of slowing down soon. The other methods have their places, and I’ll go into a lot more detail on the pros and cons of many of them in a separate page. But the Technivorm is the indispensable workhorse of the Bayside Beans tasting room.

Coffee Brewing Tips:

Here are some additional recommendations to get the most enjoyment out of your Bayside Beans coffee as well. Coffee is, after all, simply ground coffee beans steeped in water, but the goal is to achieve a good extraction of the flavors and aromas that we want from the ground beans. Therefore, it’s important to focus on the details, both during the roast, and during the brewing process. We’ll take care of the roasting, but here are some tips to get the most out of your coffee experience:

Use high quality ingredients. You can leave the coffee to us, but you’ll need to supply the water. Not surprisingly, bad tasting water will produce coffee with undesirable off-flavors. If the pH is too low, the coffee might taste flat and unpleasant. If the water is very hard where you live, try using filtered or bottled water and see if you notice any difference. If you want to know exactly what is in your water, we recommend sending a sample to a company like Ward Labs for a complete analysis. Knowing what is in your water is an important step towards knowing how to use it as an ingredient.
Use the right amount of coffee. The industry standard is 2 tablespoons of ground coffee for every 6 oz of water, or 55 grams of coffee per liter of water. However, there are a lot of variables, such as the method you are using to brew, and even your preference in coffee strength. Some people may just prefer their coffee stronger than others, and that’s okay. We are not here to shame anyone. Start with 55g/l and adjust to your own liking. Head to the Specialty Coffee Association website to learn more about those standards, there are helpful best practices guides for every style of brewing.
The right water temperature. The ideal temperature range to steep ground coffee is between 195-205 degrees Fahrenheit. This is where manual methods like Frech Press and Pour-over shine, because you have total control over the temperature of the water. With an automatic drip coffee pot, on the other hand, you’re at the mercy of the machine to be able to consistently hit that ideal temperature range. This is one of the reasons we recommend investing in a higher quality machine like the Technivorm, it is much better at consistently maintaining those ideal temps.
The right grind consistency. Different methods of brewing coffee require a different coarseness of grind in order to achieve proper extraction. Grinds for French press brewing should be course, espresso grinds should be very fine, and any method that uses a filter (drip, pour-over, cold brew, etc.) should be somewhere in the middle. Burr grinders are easily adjustable in this regard, which is why we feel they are worth the investment over cheaper blade grinders. Usually, the more you pay for a burr grinder, the better it will be at producing a consistent grind. The goal is to dial in the grind size for your setup to get ideal extraction. Experts rely on expensive coffee refractometers to measure extraction, or you can taste and adjust to your liking.

The right extraction time. Or, in other words, how long the coffee spends steeping in the brewing water. If the coffee steeps too long, it can over-extract and end up with bitter off-flavors in your cup. If it doesn’t steep long enough, you’ll leave precious flavor and aroma compounds behind. The ideal time to steep a French Press is 2-3 minutes. For most brewing methods you don’t have much control over this and will need to adjust the coarseness of the grind instead. Cold brew can often steep for 12 hrs. or more.

Experiment with different brewing techniques and have fun! We all have different palates and taste foods and beverages differently, so don’t be nervous to experiment and adjust your brews to your preferences. There’s no one right way to brew coffee, but there are boundaries you probably want to stay within in order to get the most out of your coffee beans and avoid the undesirable off-flavors. We are here to provide you with the highest quality and most versatile selection of beans to choose from, and guidance for enjoying the most out of them. Read through the descriptions in the shop and drop us an email or Facebook message if you have any questions or want recommendations.

Keeping your coffee machine clean

If the machine you use to brew coffee is filthy, you won’t be able to produce high-quality coffee no matter how hard you try. It is important to keep your machine working the way it was designed, no matter what type of machine it is. Follow the recommendations of the manufacturer to keep it working like new. If you live in an area with hard water, be sure to use a descaling product periodically to keep the hard water deposits from building up.

Having said that, my favorite all around product for cleaning my coffee machines is a product called Beer Line Cleaner, or BLC, made by National Chemical. We ran it through our tap system back in our beer brewing days, and found it works great on the coffee machines to remove any type of buildup or deposit as well. It is powerful stuff though, so be sure to follow the manufacturer’s mixing instructions to avoid damaging yourself or your equipment.

More tips coming soon!

in the meantime, check out our news page to find out what we’re up to at the shop, and the roasting information page to learn about the roasting process. And feel free to reach out through any of the channels below if you have any questions or want to chat.