Are you a coffee enthusiast? Do you know what type of coffee can give you the best cup of joe? Expensive ground? Definitely no; whole beans are the correct answer here. Nothing can’t beat the flavor and aroma of a cup of coffee made from whole beans!
If you’re looking for how to make whole bean coffee, this post is the right place for you. Keep on reading to get what you’ve desired!
Why Should You Use The Whole Beans?
The Whole Bean Coffee Tastes Fresher Than Ground Coffee
Why do you have to use whole beans when you can have all sources of the coffee ground? In particular, the primary factor that you should buy this type of coffee is because you are able to keep your coffee tasting fresh for a longer time!
It can stay good for more than a year with proper storage. Still, once you get the beans grounded, there might only be 2 to 3 months left before all those great flavors go stale!
Coffee Beans Deteriorate After Grinding
Did you know that the majority of the bean’s aromatics dissipate after 15 minutes of grinding? This happens mainly due to oxidation and carbon dioxide loss.
Many of the aromatic compounds will evaporate once they come into touch with oxygen. While roasting, carbon dioxide is held inside the coffee bean, and it is emitted once you ground the coffee. These are the reasons why the beans’ aromas vanish within a short period of time. For a better-tasting cup, grind the beans immediately before the brewing process!
How To Make Whole Bean Coffee?
Equipment and Ingredients
- Boiling water
- A measuring cup
- A small mason jar ( recommended size: about 1 pint)
- A small pan
- A strainer
- A spoon and mug
- Your whole bean coffee of choice
Instructions
Step 1: Measure the coffee beans
To prepare one cup of joe, take out roughly 1/2 to 3/4 cup of coffee beans from the package. We would highly recommend you to use a measuring cup, as it will provide much more accuracy. Or else, you can utilize an electronic scale which will also work perfectly fine. After finishing measuring, you take those coffee beans and transfer them to the mason jar.
Take note that the coffee beans will not settle perfectly in your measuring cup, and some may prefer to drink a bigger cup of joe in the morning than others. Thus, there will be some variations.
Step 2: Fill the jar with boiling water
For this step, you need to pour some water into your pot and heat it until the water starts to boil. Then, take it off the stove and pour it immediately into the jar. You only need the jar to be about 3/4 full.
Reminder: Never do this step with your measuring cups, or else you will risk damaging them.
Step 3: Immerse the jar in the pot of simmering water
Next, place your jar in the saucepan once you have done step 3. The water level in your saucepan should be the same as the water level in the mason jar. Also, the water still has to be boiling during this time.
Step 4: Cook for an hour at a low temperature
After immersing, you will have to wait for the mixture inside the jar to boil. This does not mean that you just stand there waiting and stare at it until it boils; you can prepare some food during this waiting time!
When the mixture in the jar has reached a boil, allow it to simmer for one hour. Then, stir the coffee beans in the jar occasionally using a spoon. As the coffee cooks, you might see that the water begins to resemble coffee in appearance.
Step 5: Pour the coffee through a strainer
After simmering the coffee for 1 hour, bring out your filter and coffee mug. Next, put the filter directly on top of the coffee mug.
The next step you have to do is take the jar out of the pot. We suggest using hot pads, an oven mitt, or something else so that you don’t burn yourself with the heat.
After that, strain the liquid. When the coffee settles in your coffee mug, the filter will catch the beans.
Step 6: Enjoy!
Once the straining step is finished, set everything aside except for the mug. Subsequently, make your coffee exactly as you want it! This is the moment when you can add cream or sugar as you like. Now, enjoy your morning cup of joe once it’s cooled down to the proper temperature.
What If You don’t Have Much Time? How to Make Whole Bean Coffee in That Case?
If you are a busy person that does not have enough time for a long-brewing process, ground the beans before making it!
In fact, it only takes you 30 seconds or less to ground enough beans for a cup of joe with the help of an electric grinder. The brewing process will last under 10 minutes!
Espresso indeed is the quickest, with only 20-30 seconds; next is pour-over and AeroPress within 2 to 3 minutes, and finally, French press and drip with 4 to 6 minutes.
Additionally, there are a few different ways to brew coffee without using a coffee machine.
Cowboy Coffee
Have you ever heard of cowboy coffee? As straightforward as it can be, Cowboy coffee only requires you to combine ground coffee and water in the pot, heat them, and wait for the magic to unfold.
There are many ways to approach this brewing process, but we’ve offered you the most basic here:
Equipment and Ingredients
- Medium pot
- Stovetop, or fire, etc.
- Finely ground coffee
Instructions
- Heat your water pot until the liquid boils.
- Take it off from the stove and allow the pot to cool for around 30 seconds.
- Pour in the coffee. For 8 oz of water, use 2 tablespoons of coffee grounds (you may change based on your preferences).
- Stir it up and wait 2 minutes for the grounds to soak together. Stir it again, then set it aside for another 2 minutes.
- To settle the coffee grounds, wet your hands under cold water and flick over the coffee surface.
French Press
A primary difference between the thermos and the French press is the filter inclusion. To get the same effect as pushing the grounds, simply filter before serving.
Equipment and Ingredients
- Metal strainer
- Steeping container or thermos
- Coarse coffee ground
Instructions
- Boil up the water and then leave it there for around 30 seconds for a proper temperature.
- For 8 oz of water, add three teaspoons of coffee to a steeping container.
- Allow the water to steep in 4 minutes after pouring it over the grounds. To speed up the extraction, stir the mixture for every 2-minute
- Using a strainer, pour the resultant beverage into a carafe or cup for serving.
Frequently Asked Questions Of How To Make Whole Bean Coffee
1. How long does whole bean coffee last?
After roasting, whole bean coffee will keep its freshness and flavor for around 4-6 weeks. We would recommend you brew the coffee within this timeframe to have an ideal result.
However, the answer is not fixed when mentioning how long you can store coffee until it’s no longer safe to consume.
Based on our experience, if stored correctly, whole coffee beans can survive for 1 to 2 years before their oils or go rancid. They can even last longer if you freeze them!
Still, please be mindful that the longer you store them, the more taste they’ll lose. Although a 2-year-old coffee pack of coffee beans is unlikely to harm you, it may not taste very good.
You can also check out this article “how long does coffee last” for information about other types of coffee as well.
2. What can I do with coffee beans without a grinder?
Yes, coffee beans can be ground without the use of a grinder. A food processor or a blender is a great option if you don’t want to ground them manually.
For beans hand-grinding, you can opt for the hammer, rolling pin, hand mincer, or a mortar and pestle. You will be able to make the grind as coarse or fine as you like with any of these ways.
3. How many coffee beans do you need for a cup of coffee?
Generally, a cup of coffee contains around 7-10 grams of coffee. So, we took out our scale and started adding beans until the scale reached 10 grams.
The result we got was 76 beans in all, with roughly 1/8 of a gram of each bean, in those 10 grams.
Conclusion
We hope this post gives you some ideas on how to make whole bean coffee, with some useful tips that help upgrade your morning cup of joe! Needless to say, the only thing better than waking up is waking up to freshly ground coffee!
Thank you for reading!
Related articles: How to make an Americano
Almost 20 years already spent committed to coffee and more than 3 years of experience as a barista at Starbucks. Madelyn Doyle graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutritional Science from the University of California and finished the Coffee Skills Program at the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA).