How to make Coffee

These are basic tops for how to make coffee using a standard drip coffee maker.  Read the tips for ideas of how to make your coffee experience more enjoyable.

Steps:

1. Buy the beans of your choice, if possible buy freshly roasted coffee from a local roaster.  Try to find the freshest coffee available because the longer the coffee sits after roasting the more the flavor will deteriorate.  (You should only buy enough coffee for 1-2 weeks)

2. Grind the beans. It is best to grind immediately before you brew, if you buy grinded beans be sure to use them as soon as possible.  Be sure to grind your beans fine for the ultimate taste in an automatic drip coffee maker, the ground beans should resemble the size of poppy seeds.

3. Put a coffee filter in the filter basket. Try to use a better filter as the generic filters are more likely to clog.

4. Measure out the coffee grounds. The standard is 2 Tbsp. for every six ounce cup of coffee or 1 1/4 cup of ground coffee for each 10 cup pot, but you should adjust it to your own personal.  Do not use too little coffee as over extraction of the grounds can lead to bitter coffee.

5. Add a very small amount of salt to the grounds - a few grains per cup. This will help avoid bitterness in the coffee.  Too much will make the coffee taste salty.

6. Measure the cold water, according to the amount of coffee grounds you used, using the lines on the coffee pot. It is very important that the water is cold.

7. Pour cold water into the water basin in the coffee pot.

8. Put the coffee pot back on the warming plate.

9. WAIT for the coffee to be fully brewed, if you "sneak a sup" early it will not only be rather strong, but it will increase the bitterness of the rest of the pot due to bitter flavors released during brewing.

10. Pour yourself a cup of coffee, add sweetener, creamer and flavoring if you prefer, and ENJOY!!