1. Respect the bean. To really appreciate good coffee, approach it with a respectful attitude. Only a small fraction of total worldwide coffee production is good enough to create premium brewed coffee.

2. Respect the coffee farmer. Coffee farmers in many countries are now getting a higher price for specialty coffee, thanks to internet auctions and the demand for outstanding coffees. In order to confirm that your coffee is grown in a sustainable way and that the farmer is receiving a fair price or wage, either learn more about where your coffee came from or rely on third party certification such as that provided by The Sustainable Agricultural Network for Rainforest Alliance Certified™ coffees.

3. Use freshly roasted coffee. Coffee flavor peaks 2-5 days after roasting and then declines, no matter what packaging method is used. If the roasting date is not declared on the label, find out when your coffee was roasted in order to confirm that you are using freshly roasted coffee.

4. Store roasted coffee beans at room temperature in an airtight container away from sunlight. Oxygen is the enemy of roasted coffee: it creates off flavors by oxidizing coffee oils. Repack your bulk purchase of roasted coffee beans into individual 4 oz. or 8 oz. mason jars, with each jar holding the coffee required for one day. That way the exposure of the coffee to oxygen is minimized.

5. Measure coffee amounts by weight, not volume. The density of roasted coffee beans varies greatly by coffee type and by roast style, which means that volume measures are not consistent. An inexpensive digital gram scale is enough to assure accurate weights. We recommend using 10 grams of coffee for every six fluid ounces (178 ml) of water when brewing coffee.

6. Use a grinder that creates uniform particles. This is done to insure that the brewed coffee is neither over extracted, resulting in coffee flavor that is too strong, nor under extracted, resulting in weak coffee flavor. Uniform grinding is much easier with a burr grinder than with a rotating blade grinder.

7. Use freshly ground coffee. Each roasted coffee bean contains hundreds of thousands of individual cells that hold and protect coffee flavor. Grinding the coffee bean breaks up these cells and exposes the coffee flavor to the air, resulting in loss of flavor. Use the ground coffee within minutes of grinding.

8. Use good quality water. Dissolved chlorine and oxygen are driven off when water is boiled prior to coffee brewing. Start with cold water and heat it to boiling before using it to make coffee. Ideally, water for coffee should contain 80-85 ppm. of hardness, higher than most municipal water supplies in Maine. However, tap water that contains a low level of minerals is preferable to distilled water.

9. Serve coffee immediately after brewing. Hold brewed coffee in an insulated carafe for no longer than thirty minutes. Never reheat cooled coffee.

10. Take time to savor the brewed coffee. Premium brewed coffee changes as it cools, revealing subtle and unique flavor notes.