There is nothing better than the smell of freshly ground coffee. Not only is it a great way to start the day, it is also enjoyable at any time. Forget the instant granules that make stale and bitter coffee flavored drinks, once you go fresh, you won’t go back.

The Importance of a Grinder

To get the best out of a coffee, it has to be freshly ground. The rule of thumb with coffee is to remember the number 18. Green beans last 18 months before going stale. Roast beans last 18 weeks and freshly ground coffee lasts 18 minutes before going stale. Even the packets of ready ground will have gone off well before they were put on the supermarket shelf. To get the best out of your coffee, you will need a grinder and fresh beans.

Types of Grinder

The most popular type of grinder is a blade grinder. It is cheap and compact, which is ideal if you don’t have much space or are on a budget. There are no adjustments with blade grinders as they rely on how long you leave them on. A quick blitz will give you coarsely chopped beans, whereas a longer whizz will chop finer. Usually you will need to give these a good shake whilst using them to agitate the beans so they chop evenly.

Far better, but more expensive, is the burr grinder. A good conical burr grinder to start off with is the Bodum Bistro, which has 14 grind settings, from coarse to fine. The big advantage of burr grinders is grind consistency, which you will notice in the cup.

Pour Over

One of the easiest methods of making a good cup of coffee is the pour over. This takes its name from the way it is made by pouring water over the coffee. The Bodum pour over uses a metal filter, which fits onto its own glass carafe. You can also fit paper filters into the metal one to produce different characteristics in the cup. The metal filter lets more ‘fines’ through which gives a fuller body to the coffee, whereas paper filters produce a cleaner, brighter cup.

French Press

The popular Bodum French Press uses the immersion method, where coffee is submerged in water and left to steep, in the same way that you make a pot of tea. When it has reached your preferred strength, you press the plunger to push the coffee grounds to the bottom, leaving you with your coffee.

Brewing Outdoors

History often shows cowboys brewing coffee in a tin over a campfire. A far better way is to use a Bodum travel French Press mug and use coffee which you have pre-ground and then wrapped tightly in cling-wrap (unless you have a small hand-grinder), so it stays as fresh as possible. You can still use the tin over the fire to heat your water, but you will have a tastier cup as a result.

There are many Bodum coffee accessories for enjoying great coffee at a very reasonable cost, whilst still being of a high quality. You can never have too many coffee accessories. This means there are no excuses for not having great coffee at any time, even when in the great outdoors!