The weather outside may be cold and
damp, but the aroma and taste of a warm
drink can brighten the dreariest moment.
water, you won’t like the taste of your coffee. Use
filtered or bottled water instead.
Even though it seems so handy to keep the
coffeepot full, brewed coffee should be transferred
to a thermos within 15 or 20 minutes. The heating
Brewing the perfect pot of coffee element of a coffeemaker can destroy coffee oils,
Heat, light, moisture and old age are the biggest leaving a bitter taste.
enemies of a good cup of coffee. Loose grounds Brew your own café mocha by placing a piece
will lose their flavor within a week even if stored in of chocolate in the coffee filter before adding the
a cool, dark place. Freeze so they will last longer. ground beans.
It should be noted that good water brews good
coffee, so if you don’t like the taste of your tap
Starbucks Four Fundamentals of Brewing Coffee
Since 1971, we’ve been passionate about coffee.
Over the years, we’ve developed the four funda-
mentals of brewing so you can enjoy a terrific cup
of coffee, wherever, whenever.
1. Water: Start with cold, fresh, preferably
filtered water, heated to just off the boil, to
extract coffee’s full range of flavor.
2. Grind: The coffee in Starbucks ground packages
can be used in all automatic drip coffeemakers.
When preparing our whole-bean coffee, refer to
the grind recommendations on the package.
3. Proportion: The classic recipe: 2 tablespoons
( 10 g) of ground coffee for each 6 ounces ( 180 ml)
of water. (Using less coffee makes for an over-extracted, bitter brew.) To adjust the strength,
simply add hot water after brewing.
4. Freshness: Since oxygen, light and moisture
are no friends to freshness, Starbucks coffee comes
sealed in a signature FlavorLock bag.
Brewing the
perfect pot of tea
There can be only one—
one pot reserved just for tea,
that is. Coffee leaves a residual flavor in a pot that tea can
pick up. As with coffee, the
water must be good. Pour
very hot water into the teapot
and set aside. Start with a
kettle, preferably glass or
enamel, of fresh, cold water
and bring to a rolling boil.
Meanwhile, pour the hot
water out of the teapot and
toss 1 teaspoon loose tea
or 1 teabag per cup ( 6 ounces)
of water into the warmed
steeping pot. Immediately
pour the just-boiled water
over the tea leaves, replace
the lid and cover with a tea
cozy or thick towel. Steep for
three to five minutes. Pour
the tea through a strainer into
cups. Provide additional hot
water on the side, in case the
tea is too strong.
Traditional accompaniments:
• Black tea is served with
milk, lemon or sugar. Remember
that milk and lemon react
adversely to one another,
creating curdled milk.
• Green tea is supposed to
be served plain, but we know
of many people who add milk
and sugar.
• Herb teas are enhanced
by honey.
