How do you make coffee an experience?

Part of the charm of planning something early is that you start to fantasize about what the experience will be like. As usual, we had been discussing our calendar for several months but in the end it was finally time to open the first door. At the bottom of the article you can read a description of the beans that we found particularly exciting.

The coffee advent calendar is a very nice phenomenon that has existed since 2016. The idea behind the concept is to highlight micro roasteries that focus on specialty coffee from small, sustainable coffee farms.

So what is specialty coffee? All beans are ranked on a scale between 1-100, and those that end up above 80 may use the title special coffee. Of all the coffee produced, approx. 5-10% in that category.

As always, a chain is never stronger than its weakest link, and in Sweden's case it is often about how we roast and prepare the coffee. The roasting is often vigorous, which kills the little experience that a slightly worse bean has left. In other words, our tip is: Go a little outside the box and try light medium rust or even light rust. We promise that you will have a completely new experience.

The second problem is the preparation itself. The most common method is to use pre-ground coffee in a brewer that cannot maintain the correct temperature. There are a variety of methods but for specialty coffee we would like to highlight pour-over.

The method gives very good results without having to invest a fortune in equipment. However, there are a few things that are extra important regardless of which method you choose:

1. Buy a good coffee grinder. There is no upper limit to how much you can pay for a grinder, but a very affordable grinder to start with is the Wilfa WSCG-2. It is not enough to make espresso but works great for all forms of filter coffee.
2. Be careful with the temperature. The water should be between 93-95 degrees and if the equipment you are using does not have a built-in thermometer, you can use an ordinary kitchen thermometer with advantage.
3. Clean the equipment often. Lime deposits and old coffee grounds are a sure way to spoil the coffee.

Below is a simple way to make a pour-over, but there are many other variations if you want to highlight specific aspects of the flavor palette. In the instructions, we use some special equipment, but it works just as well with an ordinary plastic filter holder and an electric kettle. However, keep in mind the three points above.

Here follows a list of the beans that stood out in some way in this year's calendar. Below are not necessarily the tastiest varieties but the ones that gave us the greatest experience.