NIBBLES

mends using filtered water but not distilled or reverse-osmosis water. You want some of those tasty minerals to stay in the water so the brew doesn’t taste flat.

Measure for measure: Chances are that you, like me, are not using the right amount of coffee per pot. “One of the most important things is the bean-to-water ratio. The ideal is 1-to-16: One ounce (by weight) of beans or ground coffee to 16 ounces of water,” he says.

If that sounds too fussy, you really only have to weigh and measure once. Weigh the beans and then pour them into a scoop or container you use every day and remember the level.

Measure the water to see if those lines on the side of your coffee maker’s reservoir are accurate. Hoffman recommends using Ball canning jars to measure water because the marked measurements are very precise.

Right-sizing your batch: Right away, Hoffman eyed the capacity of my filter and how the water saturated the grounds. He recommends opening up the top and watching. “Your coffee filter can only handle about 60 grams of coffee, which

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means about 40 ounces of water,” he says. “Your filter may not be big enough to handle enough ground coffee to make an entire pot. You may be better off making half a pot of coffee at the right strength.”

What about roast?: Once you find a local coffee roaster you like, try small quantities of medium and darker roasted varieties to see which tastes best to you. “Medium to darker roasts are going to be a little more forgiving because they are a little more soluble. That means it is easier to extract the flavor if you’re having water temperature issues or the grind isn’t quite right,” he says.

Hoffman promises the effort is worthwhile: “The more precise you are at brewing at home, the more different these coffees will taste. You find that the Sumatra has a little more body and a little more oomph than that Guatemala, which is a little fruitier,” Hoffman says. Discerning those subtle local flavor distinctions is what drove him to become a coffee nerd in the first place, he says.

I took my equipment home and in the days that have followed, I’ve been pleased by the new improved flavor and my newfound drip ability.

Left Hand Brewing Co. has gone where no brewer has gone before … into the 25th century. A sticker from the Longmont brewery is clearly visible on a recent episode of Star Trek: Picard in a scene where Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) eats lunch at a San Francisco restaurant.

Boulder’s Peak State Coffee — the first whole bean coffee infused with functional mushrooms, that is, mushrooms that have medicinal properties — won Naturally Boulder’s recent 2023 Pitch Slam as the most promising Colorado natural foods company.

Words To Chew On

“As soon as coffee is in your stomach, there is a general commotion. Ideas begin to move, similes arise, the paper is covered. Coffee is your ally and writing ceases to be a struggle.” — Honoré de Balzac (1799-1859)

John Lehndorff hosts Radio Nibbles Thursday mornings on KGNU. Comments: Nibbles@BoulderWeekly.com