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I am one of those people who absolutely have to have their morning cup of coffee; without it I am absolutely useless. Due to the high volume of java that I consume, last year I purchased a premium coffee maker for myself, and it has undoubtedly saved me an exorbitant amount of time and money. The last few weeks, however, I found that the machine wasn’t brewing as quickly as it usually did and that there was an odd aftertaste to my brew.
After doing some research, I found that coffee machines can develop calcium deposits over time. Not only does the calcium affect the taste of the coffee, but it can also retard the brewing process. Luckily, there is a quick fix; I purchased a premium descaler product online and my machine was running like new in no time.
If you are just starting out as a coffee drinker, then your palette has not developed repugnance for bad coffee. Coffee drinkers know the difference between quality and quantity. Like wine, beer or chocolate, there is a process to making coffee that starts from the original ingredients and continues with the producer’s specific preference for how to proceed.
The most important part of production is the environment and climate in which it was grown. Coffee grown in rich nutrient will be much better than coffee grown in bad soil; beans that are taken care of on the vine is tastier coffee. In order to ensure the best tasting cup of coffee in the morning, it is also crucial to take good care of your coffee maker. Use a decalcifier to eliminate calcium buildup, which will alter the flavor and slow down the brewing process.
For over 50 years Marie During-Keller has been manufacturing Durgol, the premier cleaning product for coffee makers and espresso machines. As anyone with who brews their own coffee will tell you, it doesn’t take long for calcium deposits to buildup in the machine. When this happens, it will take longer to brew a cup of coffee and the decrease in quality is palpable.
Durgol solves this problem and, through continued use, will prevent future buildup. Many other cleaners have an acid or vinegar base and can contain additives that linger in your machine. Durgol, on the other hand, not only will not leave an acidic smell, but also works up to ten times faster than its rivals.
Coffee and cappuccino makers fixtures seem to be a fixture in nearly every American household. While most people drink coffee for the rich taste or a quick caffeine fix, there are, in fact, a plethora of health benefits associated with coffee.
~Caffeine reduces risk of skin cancer: Sorry, venti quaffers, this prevention method is topical. Lotions containing caffeine (both from coffee and green tea) have been shown to prevent the occurrence of cancerous tumors on the skin. This is obviously one of the better health benefits of coffee.
~Have a smile with your morning brew! If you’re a caffephile, you don’t need the results of a recent Johns Hopkins study to affirm that a cup or two a day increases your sense of well-being and happiness.
~Caffeine may reduce chance of Parkinson’s Disease: A 30-year study has shown that non-coffee drinkers have a higher chance of developing Parkinson’s Disease than their coffee-drinking counterparts.
~Most Americans get their antioxidants from coffee: That doesn’t mean it’s the best source of antioxidants, just that it’s the most consumed. But, it’s true, coffee is very high in antioxidants.
~Coffee may cut colon cancer in women: A 12-year study on Japanese women found that drinking 3 or more cups of coffee per day may actually halve the risk of developing colon cancer. They found no beneficial effect from green tea on the colon – in this case, it was strictly a coffee thing.
With everyone looking to cut back on their unnecessary expenditures, one luxury that’s increasingly getting the boot is a person’s morning cup of coffee. Swinging by a coffee house every morning can become a very expensive habit. Just think how much you’d save even over one month if you satisfied your caffeine craving at home rather than frequenting your local café. And this doesn’t even take into account the impulse buys when you’re at that coffee shop. (Pumpkin spice banana bread, anyone?)
If you want to save money but don’t think you can give up your gourmet coffee, there is a compromise. As people become more self-sufficient, espresso machines have become more and more frequent, and so has the sale of various gourmet coffees. Once you make an investment in an expensive machine, it is important to keep it in pristine condition. Constant brewing will create calcium deposits, which is why it is important to invest in an espresso decalcifier as well. With the help of some gourmet coffee syrup and a bit of practice with the espresso machine, you’re well on your way to making your very own (much more economical) luxury coffee
Coffee Machine Emergency: Time for a Descaler
I woke up last Friday morning excited for the day. That evening, my husband and I were planning to host a dinner party. We had invited all our friends and even a few neighbors we had only met in passing. In short, it would be a night to show off our skills and entertaining guests and accommodating them as well. The house was already spotless – I had made sure of that the night before.
All that remained to be done was to select some background music for the evening, buy the ingredients for dinner and then head to work. At least that’s what I thought. On the way out the door, I poured some coffee and found – much to my chagrin – that something terrible had happened to the taste. Knowing that coffee is a popular after-dinner drink, I figured I would have to solve the problem sooner rather than later.
As it turned out, the hard water in our house had been slowly causing mineral deposits to accumulate inside the coffee boiler. Not only did that buildup affect the taste of the coffee, souring it significantly, but it could have a disastrous impact for the inner workings of the machine as well. Luckily, my husband had bought some Durgol descaling solution online a few months prior, and we had some leftover in the pantry. It seemed that our dinner party could still be a flawless one after all.
If specialty coffee drinks were a fully furnished home, espresso would be the rock-solid foundation. Without that rich, full-bodied flavor underlying the sweetness of cappuccino, mocha and others, you’d just have a lot of style and no substance. Many people believe they know the secret to making the perfect espresso, and there’s no doubt that it takes time and dedication. Depending on your patience and level of commitment, you can even start from scratch.
Blending is a process many coffee lovers take for granted. Believe it or not, producers and wholesalers take care to blend different types of coffee beans to achieve an optimal balance of pleasing aroma, sweetness and other factors. Roasting is yet another step that most coffee consumers don’t trouble themselves with. It’s a common misconception that espresso should be roasted extra dark. In truth, this method will result in a bitter brew more often than not.
The next step is grinding the beans – an end that can be achieved in one of two ways. A typical grinder heats up the espresso, in effect dulling its taste and aroma. That’s why many coffee connoisseurs prefer a conical burr grinder that grinds consistently without creating friction-based heat. Tomorrow we’ll continue with this step-by-step outline, all the way to ridding a coffee maker of mineral deposits with a descaler.
Establish a Coffee Machine Maintenance Schedule
Like all consumer appliances, every make and model of coffee maker is different. Overarching rules about maintenance and cleaning are just that – general tips. Once you’ve owned and used a particular machine for several months or years, you’ll get to know it inside and out. Most importantly, you’ll be able to detect the slightest variation in taste and compensate for it immediately.
If you live in an apartment with a roommate, spouse or significant other, it’s best to coordinate your coffee machine maintenance schedule. Leave each other notes on the fridge if and when you took care of the cleaning. It’s a good rule of thumb to descale coffee makers once every few months. Some people also invest in a container of canned air – the tool many people use to clean keyboards – for dusting the coffee machine.
As we alluded to above, you’ll develop an ability to taste it when the coffee maker acquires a lime scale buildup. This is caused by an overabundance of mineral content in the water, but it’s not necessarily a cause for concern. If you know that your household has hard water, that just means you’ll need to decalcify it more often using either vinegar or a specialized product like Durgol.
Although we’ve discussed ways to reduce the buildup of calcium and other minerals in the integral parts of an espresso machine, it’s time to revisit those cleaning techniques. Bear in mind that even if it were possible to prevent mineral deposits from forming inside the machine, you wouldn’t want to. That’s because the same water conditions that promote buildup also make coffee more flavorful. For this reason, all coffee lovers are stuck with the task of periodically descaling their machine’s boiler.
Before you begin, make sure you have all the tools required for the task: a large plastic container and a high-quality decalcifier such as Durgol. Take the water reservoir out of the machine, drain it of any liquid and fill it with warm water. Add the decalcifying agent to the reservoir and stir until it dissolves. Replace the reservoir and turn the machine on. Place the plastic container below the steam wand in order to catch any drippings.
Open the steam valve to allow all of the Durgol to drain into the container. This process should take a few minutes at the most. The liquid that has collected in the container should be thrown out. Rinse the water reservoir and fill it with regular water for brewing. Now run the machine through a “rinse cycle” without any decalcifier or coffee. By the time you’ve collected all the water in the plastic container, your machine is clean and clear.
Most coffee enthusiasts have had to deal with the inconvenience of calcium or limescale buildup in their espresso machines at one time or another. This is a problem that’s annoying yet necessary. Paradoxically, the best-tasting espresso is derived from water with at least some alkalinity and hardness. Those are the two factors that contribute to mineral buildup. That’s not to say that you should make coffee with bottled mineral water, but you shouldn’t use acidic “arctic” water either.
If your home has slightly hard water, it’s not cause for concern – at least from the standpoint of brewing coffee. By using an espresso decalcifier once every so often, you can eliminate mineral buildup without sacrificing full-bodied taste. When coffee is made with low-pH water, the flavor is overly crisp and harsh. In other words, it tastes noticeably acidic.
Alkalinity describes the coffee’s resistance to becoming acidic. Water with high alkalinity will neutralize the acids in coffee. It’s important to distinguish between coffee with alkalinity – which is desirable – and alkaline coffee. Alkaline water has a pH value between 7 and 14; it will taste chalky and dull. When you’re brewing a pot of coffee or a shot of espresso, you’ll want to use water that is neither too acidic nor alkaline.