The beans

Coffee grounds lose flavor very fast. Therefore, in order to brew really great coffee you're going to have to grind your own coffee beans. Fortunately this is a very easy process. If your coffee maker doesn't have a built-in grinder, then you'll need to go out and buy a coffee grinder. Coffee grinders come in all prices, ranging anywhere from $10 to over $100. You don't need to buy an expensive coffee grinder, cheap grinders work just fine. But regardless of how much you spend on a grinder, my first tip is this: Invest in a coffee grinder and grind your own beans.

Roasted Arabica beans. The best! When purchasing roasted coffee beans, there are two types of beans you can choose from: Arabica and Robusta.

Robusta beans are what you typically find in your everyday supermarket brand of ground coffee. Robusta beans take less time to harvest which means they're cheaper than Arabica beans. They also contain more caffeine, and according to most coffee connoisseurs, have less flavor then Arabica beans.

And I agree. When choosing a coffee bean, I highly recommend buying Arabica beans over Robusta beans. They simply taste better in my opinion.

In particular, I love Hawaiian Kona beans. They're my hands down favorite. But you should experiment and use whatever you like best.

After you purchase your beans, put them in an airtight Ziplok bag and store them in the freezer. Storing beans in the freezer will help preserve their freshness. That said, coffee brews better when your coffee grounds are room temperature, so if possible, let your coffee beans sit out several minutes before you grind them.

And only grind as many beans as you're going to use. Again, coffee grounds lose flavor very fast, so you should only grind what you are planning to brew at that moment. And never reuse old coffee grounds.


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