How to Make the Best Coffee Period!

I'm not a foodie, but I love good coffee, and I can never get it better than I can make it. I feel, I have a no nonsense method which doesn't cut corners but is still quick, easy, and less expensive than buying an inferior cup at Starbucks or Dinky Donuts. So, let's make coffee. I could use one right about now!

Step 1: Start With Good French Roast

I use a fair traded french roast bean. This is about 10$ a pound. Cheap compared to buying individual cups. Notice the dark color and, here's what's important, it actually looks and feels sticky and oily.

Step 2: Grind Fine

The finer the grind the better the flavor. An auto drip pot with a gold filter will do a good job on sediment.

Step 3: I Think This Is a Table Spoon

It doesn't say. It's a coffee scoop. I make my scoops heaping. I err to the side of more grounds. Something a Keurig machine is pretty stingy about.

Step 4: "Gold" Filter

I don't think it's really gold, but it filters beautifully, and doesn't involve throwing away a sopping paper doily filled with hot, wet, spent grounds each time. You can compost spent grounds, btw.

Step 5: One Scoop for Five Ounces of Water

Plus one extra scoop at the end! Be generous.

I love the water from my well in the woods. Cold and clean. So much better than NYC tap. I can taste the difference at my parents place when I follow the same recipe. Water makes a difference. We do leave the pot setup at night and just hit power in the morning. So, room temperature H2O is OK.

Step 6: Auto Drip

I like this Bona Vita because it doesn't have an annoying unset blinking clock. I really like how easy automatic drip makes everything. It pours hot, slow and methodically while I put on long underwear, etc.

Step 7: Thermal Carafe

This is GIGANTIC. Use thermal energy to keep coffee hot ALL DAY. (I'll show you my travel mug in a second). Heating elements kill coffee in minutes. They're what gave auto drip machines a bad name.

Step 8: I Love the Cap on This Carafe

Complete seal. Easy Pour.

Step 9: I Use a Thermal Travel Mug

Screw on cap is idiot proof. This product has fallen off my Suburu multiple times and not spilled. Grande size stays hot AND FRESH all day. (Unless I finish it by 9:00 AM!)

Step 10: But Nothing Beats a Nice Pottery Mug

It tastes better when you're not drinking out of metal or paper. This one was made by my friends from Z-Pots in beautiful Brookline, VT.

Step 11: Can't See Bottom

Needless to say.

Step 12: Accutriments (Pollutants)

Coffee snobs call these things pollutants but I like organic half and half. Stacia like's this Turbinado sugar. Normal half and half and sugar won't hurt the taste. There's one kind of half and half that goes bad quickly, though. Beware of the kinds that come in plastic containers.

Step 13: Color Is Important

Light brown color shows me that it's to my taste!

Step 14: Yup, It's Good

Not too difficult. I have saved time and still had great success, grinding a pound at a time on the big grinders at the coop. I'll use it quickly though. Coffee stores well in the freezer for longer terms. You can buy french roast beans in the bulk section of any good supermarket.

Most important is the dark and oily quality of the bean, the fineness of the grounds, a high ratio of grounds to water, and thermal storage.

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