How to Make a Good Cup of Coffee

How to Make a Good Pot of Coffee

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These are tips for making a superior pot of coffee using a standard drip coffee maker (presuming you already know the basics). Try these suggestions at home or at work. If you're on the go, however, you may want to read How to Make Good Hotel Room Coffee instead. Remember, that your standard drip coffee maker pot really only makes about 6 cups (coffee mugs) of coffee. The design is set up for tea cups which only hold about 5 or 6 ounces. So keep that in mind when measuring coffee.

Steps

1. Clean the coffee maker at least once a month. A thorough cleaning will remove hard water deposits (scale), leftover coffee oils that become rancid, and other impurities (which can affect the flavor of the coffee) from the internal components. All you do is run a mixture of water and vinegar (or denture tablets, or baking soda) through the coffee maker, then run just water for a few cycles. The whole procedure is outlined in detail in How to Clean a Coffee Maker. For the pot itself, check out How to Clean a Blackened or Burnt Coffee Pot.
   
2. Make coffee from the bean. Any coffee connoisseur will tell you that fresher is better. The longer that coffee beans sit around after roasting, the more the flavor deteriorates, so buy freshly roasted coffee from a local roaster. Or better yet, learn How to Roast Your Own Coffee. You can even Roast Coffee in a Popcorn Popper! Green beans are stable for over a year (if stored in a cool, dry place) and you can roast a few days' worth at a time. When it comes to grinding, you can buy a grinder specifically designed for coffee, have them ground when you buy them (presuming you're not roasting them yourself) or consult How to Grind Coffee Beans Without a Grinder. No matter how you do it, use the coffee as soon as possible after it's ground.
   
   • The ground coffee should not look like coffee colored baby powder, but rather like poppy seeds.
     
   • Using a blade grinder can make a lot of very fine powder in even a coarse grind that can clog the filter and cause grounds to overflow into the pot.
     
3. Pay attention to water temperature and quality. The best coffee is achieved when the water is between 190-200 F when it hits the coffee grounds. Many automatic drip coffeemakers cannot heat the water to that temperature when it starts out cold. If your coffee maker produces coffee with bitter or weak flavour, try adding room temperature or hot water. On the other hand, if you have a coffee maker that's known to make burnt-tasting coffee because the water is too hot for infusion, wet the coffee grounds first with 1/4 cup of the cold water. This temporarily prevents the grounds from exposure to too hot temperatures. It is best to use filtered or bottled water. Some people prefer using distilled or deionized water, which contains no minerals at all.
   

Video

This video provides some basic tips on making better coffee, with a focus on the beans.

Tips

• Many electric coffee pots do not heat coffee to an adequate and consistent temperature. Make sure to do some research before buying a coffee maker. Do not assume that the most expensive coffee maker at the store is the best.
  
• A large (10-cup) capacity coffeemaker will often make a poor-quality brew for smaller amounts. If you usually only make one cup, buy a smaller coffeemaker (4-cup, for instance).
  

Warnings

• Be careful not to grind the beans too fine or they will clog the filter and back up the coffee machine.
  
• Do not let the brewed coffee sit for too long. Coffee becomes increasingly bitter the longer you let it sit. Half an hour is pretty much the longest you should let it go without drinking it. Additionally, coffee maintains freshness better in an insulated carafe than a glass carafe on a warming plate.
  
• A SMALL pinch of salt is said to remove the bitterness of coffee, especially that which has sat for a long time & been reheated.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Make Good Hotel Room Coffee
  
• How to Clean a Coffee Pot
  
• How to Make Coffee Using a Cloth Bag Filter
  
• How to Use a French Press or Cafetiere
  
• How to Clean an Electric Coffee Mill Thoroughly
  

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