Since it’s morning, coffee is what’s on the brain. A coworker informed me a few minutes ago that he had made coffee in the kitchen in our office, making a “blend” from 2 of the 3 kinds on hand – “dark” and “medium”. Sure, the kinds of coffee have some impact on the tastiness – we think of “dark” roasts to be “stronger” than “light” (colored) roasts . But my experience has convinced me over time that the ratio of coffee molecules to water is the most significant factor – if you use a “dark roast” or “the good stuff” (like Boca Java as opposed to Folger’s), you’re not necessarily going to get a better cup of coffee – you have to get the proportions right.
It’s beyond the scope of this article to talk about all the nuances of that it means to “get the proportions right” – several factors are in play, including the coarseness of the grind, the volume of coffee and water, the extraction time, water temperature, etc. But in general, the “more coffee” you use in the batch, the stronger it will be. For me, it’s always better to err on the side of “more”, that is, if you’re going to mess up, mess up on the strong side.