How to make the "perfect cup of coffee" (voted incredible)
Even if you DON'T normally like coffee, read this email anyway...
because I've had at LEAST 20 people that I know that don't normally like
coffee that tried "Geary's Perfect Cup of Coffee" and they actually LOVED it.
These were all people that don't drink coffee and say that they don't even like coffee, and yet they were hooked on my recipe for the perfect cup of joe, asking me if they could have another!
How to make what's been called "The PERFECT cup of coffee" (and yes, it's actually healthy too!)
My wife and I have a lot of friends and family come to visit us at our house in the mountains of Utah... after all, when you live near a beautiful ski resort, with fun mountain activities in both the winter and the summer, you end up with a LOT of house guests!
The origins of "Geary's Perfect Cup of Coffee" started simply with me experimenting with different methods of making coffee, from the brewing method, the bean quality, the grinding method, and what you add to the coffee. Time and time again, many of our coffee-loving friends that visited us would exclaim "Holy crap, that's the BEST cup of coffee I've ever tasted!"... but even MORE interesting was that our friends that DON'T drink any coffee agreed to try it when they visited and came away from the trip new-found coffee-lovers!
I know everybody has different tastes for their coffee... some people like light roast, some dark...some people like it black, and others with cream and some sort of sweetener... some like it very sweet, and others mildly sweet. What I will describe below seems to end up being voted as the "perfect cup" by the majority of people I've made this for... even some people that generally drink black coffee with no sweetener at all end up liking this better usually. It's a very mild sweetness, as too much sweetener can mask the true taste of a good cup of coffee.
I will say that you can do this best at home and not at a coffee shop, because most coffee shops don't have 2 of the ingredients I'll talk about below. Also, although it might seem that I have a lot of steps below, it really only takes less than 5 minutes to make this perfect cup of coffee at home.
Ok, here goes...
First, for the absolute best taste and also health benefits, we always start with organic coffee beans. Coffee is a crop that can be heavily laced with pesticide and herbicide chemicals, so organic is a must.
Next, I always opt for dark roast or medium-dark roast, as I've noticed that most people tend to prefer a darker roast (not everybody, but most).
Then, I grind the beans FRESH each morning in a simple little "bullet" grinder. Now I've heard that true coffee snobs will always use a "burr" grinder which assures that the grain size is consistent instead of random grain sizes...A burr grinder apparently gives the absolute best taste and is what all of the top 5 star restaurants use for their coffee. However, I've found that if the beans are good quality, even my simple little cheap bullet grinder seems to make the best tasting cup of coffee or espresso that you can imagine, so I haven't invested in a high priced burr grinder yet.
Next, I take the finely ground beans and I make a double espresso in a fairly cheap little espresso machine that we bought. I think it was only $40 if I remember correctly, so this definitely wasn't some fancy $2000 espresso maker. Honestly, this little $40 espresso machine puts out a really good espresso that seems to compare in taste to higher priced machines. I'm thinking of upgrading to a much higher quality espresso machine though, the breville barista shown here.
Instead of making a brewed cup of coffee, I use the double shot of espresso to make a "concentrated Americano"... to do this, I only add 1 inch of boiling water from my teapot to the mug after adding the double espresso to the mug. In a normal Americano that you get at most coffee shops, much greater amounts of hot water are added to the cup, which dilutes the espresso too much in my opinion. I know some people love to make brewed coffee from a drip maker or a French press or some other method, but from what I've seen, my version of the "concentrated Americano" using the espresso as the base seems to get the best taste votes from everybody that's taste-tested with me.
Don't get me wrong... a great quality strong coffee made in a drip or a French press can still be amazing...but my vote still goes to the concentrated Americano for superior taste.
Now for the additions...
I only add a little bit of coconut sugar, stevia, and full-fat grass-fed organic heavy cream to make what's been voted the "perfect cup of coffee".
Lightly sweetened naturally, not artificially:
For the coconut sugar, this brand is my #1 top favorite, as it seems to have the deepest flavor, with a bit of a molasses flavor that really adds something special to a cup of coffee. Also, coconut sugar has a lower glycemic response than plain sugar, and it does contain some minerals and other nutrients too, so in terms of caloric sweeteners, it's one of the best. Once I open the container of coconut sugar, I usually add a bunch of stevia and mix the coconut sugar and stevia together. This way, I'm reducing the sugar calories that you get in each cup of coffee (it's only 3-4 grams with each cup of coffee, so nothing significant), but you still get the rich taste that coconut sugar provides.
A little Vitamin K2 with your cup of joe?
Whatever you do, if you care about your health, never ever ever use those crappy powdered creamers that are typically at hotels and gas stations. They are nothing but corn syrup and hydrogenated oils that will kill you. And never use those fake liquid creamers that most people seem to buy at home... you know, the fancy flavored ones that have tons of added sugar (usually corn syrup) and usually have hydrogenated oils too. Instead, we need to use REAL full-fat cream for the best taste, and surprisingly to most, the best health benefits too.
And forget about silly "half & half" that was popular because of the fat-phobic 1980's mentality... just use REAL heavy cream with all of it's glorious full fattiness! Real full-fat cream is what our grandparents used in their coffee...they didn't have "half & half", or even worse, 2% or skim milk...Yuck! Stop being afraid of fat! Fat doesn't make you fat (assuming you're doing other things correctly with diet and exercise).
One important distinction is to use organic cream, because the pesticides and other chemicals used in dairy farming will be found mostly in the fat portion of milk, so organic is important here too just as it is with the beans. Also, if possible, use a grass-fed cream -- Organic Valley brand has a pasture raised cream that I've found in many grocery stores across the country.
And as I was getting to before, there are surprisingly some important health benefits with real grass-fed cream, including possible benefits for reducing artery clogging...that's right, the vitamin K2 in grass-fed dairy fat has some evidence that it can help prevent arterial calcification. And that vitamin K2 in the cream, combined with the antioxidants in coffee make for a heart-healthy cup of joe!
I use about 1 Tbsp of pasture-raised heavy cream in each "perfect cup of coffee".
One last thing... I personally try to reduce my caffeine intake, so I strictly keep myself to only 1 cup of coffee per day. This keeps me to under 100 mg of caffeine per day (since we use espresso, which actually has less caffeine than regular coffee surprisingly), and I feel keeping this to 1 cup per day is important to prevent addiction to caffeine and some of the adrenal issues that can be caused from excessive daily caffeine.
That's about it!
At this point, grab those ingredients and you could be sipping the finest, richest-tasting, perfectly lightly sweetened, creamy and nutritious antioxidant-rich cup of coffee. This "perfect cup of coffee" recipe is actually so good that I've learned that I like to have it all by itself sometimes to appreciate the true flavors without any food masking the flavor at all.
Again, here are the characteristics of what's been called the "perfect cup of coffee" by even non coffee drinkers that visit us at our home:
Enjoy the best cup of coffee you've ever tasted!
Like I mentioned before, you can't really make this at coffee shops, because most shops don't have coconut sugar or organic heavy cream. But, what I usually do at coffee shops is simply order the double espresso with about 1 inch of hot water, and then add half & half (since they don't usually have heavy cream) and stevia. It comes out pretty good, but not even close to as good as "Geary's perfect cup of joe" made at home.
I have some more ideas on making truly healthy coffee at this article here... some of the ideas on that page are similar, and some are a bit different, including using coconut cream and cinnamon in your coffee too.
If you liked today's ideas on making the "perfect cup of coffee", please fwd this email on to any of your friends, family, or co-workers that also love coffee!
-Mike
These were all people that don't drink coffee and say that they don't even like coffee, and yet they were hooked on my recipe for the perfect cup of joe, asking me if they could have another!
How to make what's been called "The PERFECT cup of coffee" (and yes, it's actually healthy too!)
My wife and I have a lot of friends and family come to visit us at our house in the mountains of Utah... after all, when you live near a beautiful ski resort, with fun mountain activities in both the winter and the summer, you end up with a LOT of house guests!
The origins of "Geary's Perfect Cup of Coffee" started simply with me experimenting with different methods of making coffee, from the brewing method, the bean quality, the grinding method, and what you add to the coffee. Time and time again, many of our coffee-loving friends that visited us would exclaim "Holy crap, that's the BEST cup of coffee I've ever tasted!"... but even MORE interesting was that our friends that DON'T drink any coffee agreed to try it when they visited and came away from the trip new-found coffee-lovers!
I know everybody has different tastes for their coffee... some people like light roast, some dark...some people like it black, and others with cream and some sort of sweetener... some like it very sweet, and others mildly sweet. What I will describe below seems to end up being voted as the "perfect cup" by the majority of people I've made this for... even some people that generally drink black coffee with no sweetener at all end up liking this better usually. It's a very mild sweetness, as too much sweetener can mask the true taste of a good cup of coffee.
I will say that you can do this best at home and not at a coffee shop, because most coffee shops don't have 2 of the ingredients I'll talk about below. Also, although it might seem that I have a lot of steps below, it really only takes less than 5 minutes to make this perfect cup of coffee at home.
Ok, here goes...
First, for the absolute best taste and also health benefits, we always start with organic coffee beans. Coffee is a crop that can be heavily laced with pesticide and herbicide chemicals, so organic is a must.
Next, I always opt for dark roast or medium-dark roast, as I've noticed that most people tend to prefer a darker roast (not everybody, but most).
Then, I grind the beans FRESH each morning in a simple little "bullet" grinder. Now I've heard that true coffee snobs will always use a "burr" grinder which assures that the grain size is consistent instead of random grain sizes...A burr grinder apparently gives the absolute best taste and is what all of the top 5 star restaurants use for their coffee. However, I've found that if the beans are good quality, even my simple little cheap bullet grinder seems to make the best tasting cup of coffee or espresso that you can imagine, so I haven't invested in a high priced burr grinder yet.
Next, I take the finely ground beans and I make a double espresso in a fairly cheap little espresso machine that we bought. I think it was only $40 if I remember correctly, so this definitely wasn't some fancy $2000 espresso maker. Honestly, this little $40 espresso machine puts out a really good espresso that seems to compare in taste to higher priced machines. I'm thinking of upgrading to a much higher quality espresso machine though, the breville barista shown here.
Instead of making a brewed cup of coffee, I use the double shot of espresso to make a "concentrated Americano"... to do this, I only add 1 inch of boiling water from my teapot to the mug after adding the double espresso to the mug. In a normal Americano that you get at most coffee shops, much greater amounts of hot water are added to the cup, which dilutes the espresso too much in my opinion. I know some people love to make brewed coffee from a drip maker or a French press or some other method, but from what I've seen, my version of the "concentrated Americano" using the espresso as the base seems to get the best taste votes from everybody that's taste-tested with me.
Don't get me wrong... a great quality strong coffee made in a drip or a French press can still be amazing...but my vote still goes to the concentrated Americano for superior taste.
Now for the additions...
I only add a little bit of coconut sugar, stevia, and full-fat grass-fed organic heavy cream to make what's been voted the "perfect cup of coffee".
Lightly sweetened naturally, not artificially:
For the coconut sugar, this brand is my #1 top favorite, as it seems to have the deepest flavor, with a bit of a molasses flavor that really adds something special to a cup of coffee. Also, coconut sugar has a lower glycemic response than plain sugar, and it does contain some minerals and other nutrients too, so in terms of caloric sweeteners, it's one of the best. Once I open the container of coconut sugar, I usually add a bunch of stevia and mix the coconut sugar and stevia together. This way, I'm reducing the sugar calories that you get in each cup of coffee (it's only 3-4 grams with each cup of coffee, so nothing significant), but you still get the rich taste that coconut sugar provides.
A little Vitamin K2 with your cup of joe?
Whatever you do, if you care about your health, never ever ever use those crappy powdered creamers that are typically at hotels and gas stations. They are nothing but corn syrup and hydrogenated oils that will kill you. And never use those fake liquid creamers that most people seem to buy at home... you know, the fancy flavored ones that have tons of added sugar (usually corn syrup) and usually have hydrogenated oils too. Instead, we need to use REAL full-fat cream for the best taste, and surprisingly to most, the best health benefits too.
And forget about silly "half & half" that was popular because of the fat-phobic 1980's mentality... just use REAL heavy cream with all of it's glorious full fattiness! Real full-fat cream is what our grandparents used in their coffee...they didn't have "half & half", or even worse, 2% or skim milk...Yuck! Stop being afraid of fat! Fat doesn't make you fat (assuming you're doing other things correctly with diet and exercise).
One important distinction is to use organic cream, because the pesticides and other chemicals used in dairy farming will be found mostly in the fat portion of milk, so organic is important here too just as it is with the beans. Also, if possible, use a grass-fed cream -- Organic Valley brand has a pasture raised cream that I've found in many grocery stores across the country.
And as I was getting to before, there are surprisingly some important health benefits with real grass-fed cream, including possible benefits for reducing artery clogging...that's right, the vitamin K2 in grass-fed dairy fat has some evidence that it can help prevent arterial calcification. And that vitamin K2 in the cream, combined with the antioxidants in coffee make for a heart-healthy cup of joe!
I use about 1 Tbsp of pasture-raised heavy cream in each "perfect cup of coffee".
One last thing... I personally try to reduce my caffeine intake, so I strictly keep myself to only 1 cup of coffee per day. This keeps me to under 100 mg of caffeine per day (since we use espresso, which actually has less caffeine than regular coffee surprisingly), and I feel keeping this to 1 cup per day is important to prevent addiction to caffeine and some of the adrenal issues that can be caused from excessive daily caffeine.
That's about it!
At this point, grab those ingredients and you could be sipping the finest, richest-tasting, perfectly lightly sweetened, creamy and nutritious antioxidant-rich cup of coffee. This "perfect cup of coffee" recipe is actually so good that I've learned that I like to have it all by itself sometimes to appreciate the true flavors without any food masking the flavor at all.
Again, here are the characteristics of what's been called the "perfect cup of coffee" by even non coffee drinkers that visit us at our home:
- Use organic whole beans and grind FRESH each day (this really only takes 30 seconds to grind, so why not grind fresh for absolute best tasting coffee ever)
- I like to use a dark roast or medium-dark roast (most people seem to like this flavor best)
- I use a mini espresso machine and add about 1 inch of boiling water to the mug after the double espresso is done to make a "concentrated Americano"
- For sweetener, I lightly sweeten with a small spoonful of coconut sugar mixed with stevia (I mix some stevia into the coconut sugar container instead of measuring each time)
- For cream, I use approx 1 Tbsp of grass-fed organic heavy cream (this works better than half & half; after all, you know that you shouldn't be afraid of fat as grass-fed cream is a healthy fat)
Enjoy the best cup of coffee you've ever tasted!
Like I mentioned before, you can't really make this at coffee shops, because most shops don't have coconut sugar or organic heavy cream. But, what I usually do at coffee shops is simply order the double espresso with about 1 inch of hot water, and then add half & half (since they don't usually have heavy cream) and stevia. It comes out pretty good, but not even close to as good as "Geary's perfect cup of joe" made at home.
I have some more ideas on making truly healthy coffee at this article here... some of the ideas on that page are similar, and some are a bit different, including using coconut cream and cinnamon in your coffee too.
If you liked today's ideas on making the "perfect cup of coffee", please fwd this email on to any of your friends, family, or co-workers that also love coffee!
-Mike
posted by Mike Geary at
12:45 AM
