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Essential Details for High-Quality Coffee: Key Factors That Influence Coffee Excellence

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Coffee has become an indispensable lifestyle element for most people, ranging from instant coffee and espresso to the increasingly popular brewing methods including pour-over coffee. Specialty coffee, in particular, has emerged as the favorite among modern coffee beverages. However, regardless of how these coffees are presented to people

Coffee has become an indispensable part of life for most people, from instant coffee and espresso to the currently popular various brewing devices and pour-over coffee. Specialty coffee, in particular, has become the favorite among modern coffee beverages.

However, regardless of how these coffees are presented, the quality of coffee cannot be overlooked. To have a high-quality cup of coffee, the following key elements cannot be ignored. FrontStreet Coffee is here today to detail these aspects.

Cleanliness of Equipment

The simplest way to improve coffee quality is to clean your brewing equipment. Natural coffee oils and fine coffee particles that accumulate on equipment can cause burnt, bitter, and sour flavors to transfer from dirty equipment to fresh coffee. Don't cook food in a dirty pot—don't brew coffee in a dirty coffee maker!

Freshness of Coffee Beans

Roasted coffee is highly perishable and must be handled carefully and stored properly. Whole bean coffee can maintain optimal freshness for up to 2 weeks, while ground coffee can maintain optimal freshness for less than 1 hour in the surrounding environment.

The increased surface area of ground coffee accelerates the rate of deterioration. Store coffee in a cool, dry place away from light, heat, moisture, and strong odors to maintain quality. Grind immediately before brewing in a burr grinder to preserve flavor and aroma; stale coffee loses aroma, sweetness, and tastes malty, papery, and mild.

Coffee Grinding

Grinding coffee reduces particle size, increases surface area, and plays a major role in developing aroma and flavor during the brewing process.

The grind size must match the brewing method and depends on the length of the brewing cycle. Short brewing times, such as espresso and pour-over methods, require extra-fine ground coffee for immediate extraction, while French presses and immersion brewers have longer brewing times and require coarser ground coffee due to the longer immersion extraction time. Burr grinders produce more uniform particle sizes than rotary blade grinders, which will produce richer, more complex coffee.

Drinking Time

Brewed coffee is highly perishable; coffee experts recommend serving coffee immediately after preparation. Keeping brewed coffee in a glass pot should only be maintained for 30 minutes or 60 minutes in a thermal carafe. Extended holding times allow aroma to dissipate, reducing the coffee's sweetness and acidity. Additionally, dissolved substances in coffee continue to precipitate in the liquid, causing the coffee taste to become flat, heavy-bodied, with increased sourness and bitterness.

Water Quality is Crucial

Water accounts for 98%~99% of coffee, so the water used for brewing coffee must be neutral, tasteless, at an appropriate temperature, and measured precisely.

Suitable water for brewing coffee must be free of any off-flavors. The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) recommends that the total dissolved solids in brewing water should be between 50-100 ppm, free of iron, colorless, tasteless, free of sediment, with a pH between 6.5-7.5.

Water temperature is particularly important in specialty coffee brewing. Hot water at 92°C~96°C is needed to fully extract the appealing taste and flavor from coffee. Water that is too cold cannot extract it sufficiently, while water that is too hot will scorch the surface of the coffee grounds, making the coffee taste flat and bitter.

The amount of water directly determines the ratio of water to coffee grounds. For drip coffee, the ratio of coffee grounds to water should be 64 ounces of water with 3.25-4.25 ounces of freshly ground coffee, which is the "golden ratio" for drip coffee. This ratio, combined with appropriate water temperature and purity, can extract 18%~22% of soluble substances from coffee, thereby keeping the total dissolved solids in coffee between 1150-1350 TDS.