Coffee Essentials

Coffee Essentials

What do you think of when you hear the word "coffee?" Do you instantly think about the regular price of coffee shop lattes and make you wince? Maybe you haven't quite figured out that home espresso machine and your last three Americanos have been less than delightful. Perhaps you're not so much of a coffee snob but you do enjoy the occasional cappuccino and would like to make those occasions a little more frequent. You might be brand new to drinking coffee or make coffee for a living - but regardless, high quality coffee is an essential for starting your day. However, high quality coffee starts with high quality equipment - and we have lots of it, here at Kooi Housewares!

These Coffee Grinders Have Grounds for Investigation...

We know not every coffee grinder is built the same - indeed, depending on the beans, the roast, and even the drink you're making, your coffee grinder can impact its taste. Some coffee grinders are made only to grind enough for single serving cups, while others are designed to help you quench the cravings of a crowd. Some, like the Baratza Encore, are known for being a prestigious at-home coffee grinder, built to do your bidding for any kind of beverage, while others are made for specific brewing methods, like French press, which requires coarsely ground beans, while espresso requires a finer grind. At Kooi Housewares, we like to give you the best of both worlds with a Manual Hand Crank Coffee Grinder and an Electric Conical Burr Grinder by Oxo.

The Oxo Conical Burr Coffee Grinder is a powerhouse coffee machine that's equipped with nearly 40 settings to take the pressure off of learning how to get the perfect grind. Instead, simply experiment with the provided settings, and when you're sold on one, your grind can stay consistent for as long as you like. This electric coffee grinder produces coffee grounds as coarse or fine as you need for any type of brew and its DC motor helps preserve the flavor of your beans, so they taste as fresh as it did at the roasters' factory. The Manual Burr Coffee Bean Grinder on the other hand, gives you even more control of your grind with a hand crank that helps you customize your coffee grind to perfection. Since it doesn't require electricity to operate, it's great for bringing on camping trips or on the road when you're craving freshly ground coffee. Plus, there's no plastic anywhere on the manual grinder - it's crafted solely from metal, wood, and ceramic materials.

Don't Just Settle On Your Kettle

Making French press, Aeropress, and pour over coffee requires boiling water before brewing it, requiring extra equipment than a regular drip coffee maker or espresso machine does. And while it might be tempting to snag the first kettle you see to get the job done, the price you pay really does make a difference. Our favorite electric kettle is Oxo's Adjustable Temperature Electric Kettle, which minimizes the effort required to get water boiling at your convenience. Just as the name gives away, this electric kettle allows you to customize and adjust the temperature to which the water boils with just the turning of a knob, from anywhere between 170 °F and 212 °F - over 50 degrees of range! Though it can easily boil water for a single serving of coffee or tea, the kettle has a capacity of 1.75 Liters, so it can satisfy a crowd that's craving coffee! Oxo designed this kettle to keep water hot at its set temperature for 30 minutes, before automatically shutting off to preserve energy. The carafe is made of borosilicate glass and the removable water filter is stainless steel, making it easy to clean. The kettle is also cord-free and thus can be transported anywhere for maximum convenience.

However, in case you're more of a traditionalist or can't spare an extra outlet in your home for a kettle, Escali's RiteTemp Gooseneck Stovetop Kettle is the one for you. This stainless steel kettle has a color-coded thermometer, including a usage guide with helpful markers, indicating the ideal temperatures for brewing white and green tea, black and herbal tea, coffee, heating milk, and kid-friendly sipping. With a 1.2 Liter capacity, it boasts impressive capabilities - not only because of it's size, but also because it's compatible with many types of cooktops, including gas, electric, ceramic, and induction. Its heat-resistant handle, snug-fitting lid, and gooseneck spout are all strategically designed to make it user-friendly while providing superior function. Whichever kettle you go with, you'll have a winner to further explore the world of coffee

Time to Pursue Cold Brew!

Getting tired of that drip or pour over coffee routine you've got going? It might be time to switch things up a bit... while brewing coffee hot makes it flavorful and comforting on a cold morning, what's one to do in the summertime when you wake up sweating? (sorry for the vivid image, but we had to!) When you need a cold sip or an extra boost of caffeine compared to your regular hot cup of coffee, cold brew is the thing for you. Cold brew has more concentrated coffee flavor and usually a higher level of caffeine content. It's made by allowing water to steep with coarsely ground beans, which are the key to a great cup of cold brew since the coarse grind size prevents the coffee from becoming too acidic. The steeping process happens for anywhere from 12 to 24 hours or longer, meaning that this technique of coffee brewing is the most time intensive of them all, although it's also incredibly hands-off comparatively. Both lighter roasts and darker roasts of coffee beans can make great ground coffee for cold brew, which allows it to be easily customizable based on consumer preferences.

Our favorite cold brew maker is Escali's London Sip Cold Brew Coffee Maker. It produces strong, smooth cold brew coffee that's fresher and far cheaper than ordering it from Starbucks. Using the cold brew coffee maker is uber simple too! Start by assembling the London Sip cold brew coffee maker by putting the ring into the top of the carafe and sliding the 304 stainless steel filter into the ring. For those that desire an extra level of filtration to their coffee grounds, Oxo's Cold Brew Coffee Maker Paper Filters can be added into your cold brew maker filter insert and prevent excess grounds from seeping into your finished beverage. Then add your ground coffee to the filter insert. The recommended ratio of coffee grounds to water for cold brew coffee is 1:8 (for every cup of coffee grounds, add eight cups of water). Pour your water through the filter so that it contacts your coffee grounds as it fills up the glass carafe of your cold brew maker. It holds 1.5 Liters / 50 ounces of water (soon to be coffee!) so you'll have plenty to keep the family happy in the morning! Once you've finished adding water, simply set aside the cold brew pitcher in the fridge or on your countertop to steep for a minimum of 12 hours (24 hours is recommended for best results). Once the cold brew is finished steeping, the filter can be removed and the coffee grounds thrown out, while the cold brew can be stored and served in the carafe until it's gone.

Score! Here's How to Keep Your Coffee Store

Storing your coffee beans in the bag they came in is less than ideal - pulling it out of the cupboard, undoing the clasp, and unrolling it, not to mention plunging your hand into the depths of the unknown finally gets you a scoop (or five) of those treasured beans. We know it's working for you at the moment (or so you think), but is that really a process you want to keep up every morning? It might be that you don't want a mocha in your mug every day either or you only pull out the caffeine stash for company - so those coffee beans might get used up slower than they do in the average home. Besides the fact that the bag isn't convenient, it's not doing any favors for their freshness either. Before your sips start to taste a little stale, switch to these quality coffee containers - the Coffee ProKeepers.

These "brewtiful" storage boxes create an air tight seal with their silicone seal and snap-lock lids that prevents coffee beans from losing their freshness and flavor. They're designed with a UV-blocking tinted color to prevent sunlight from spoiling your coffee beans or grounds, in effort to give you the most flavorful cup of coffee every time you brew. The smallest version is the Coffee ProKeeper, coming in at 1.5 Quarts of storage capacity. The next step up is the Coffee ProKeeper+, providing a little more room with 2 Quarts of storage. And if you really have to stock up (or you get green coffee in bulk to roast it later), the Large Coffee ProKeeper+ is the way to go since it has nearly 4.5 Quarts of space. Each container is completely dishwasher safe, including the 1 Tablespoon plastic coffee scoop they each come with. They also have lids that open wide to provide easy access to your store. Your coffee storage will never bean better than with these ProKeepers!

Like Your Caffeine? These are the Best Coffee Essentials You'll Ever See

These coffee supplies really are the cream of the crop - but of course we think that! You won't know for sure until you try them yourself... so go on, espresso yourself through your coffee equipment! Check out our full collection of coffee accessories here.