I'm a coffee master for Starbucks Coffee corp. I've completed numerous classes and passed the test, so I know a thing or two about coffee. I agree with just about everything that DRMOZE wrote above. Perc's are bad. Move to drip coffee or French Press if you want to really taste the coffee. Paper filters, while easy to use, do remove some of the esential oils that provide the taste of the coffee. To reference something that New_Zealand wrote above, the coffee that you find to be "bitter" has a higher acid content. You said other coffee's you tried were to weak. Coffee's grown in Latin America, see Starbucks Breakfast Blend and House Blend, are typically higher in acid content which can give a bitter flavor profile. It could also be how your brew. the biggest problem with people who come in saying their coffee is to bitter, is the grind. Imagine a bucket of sand, and a bucket of rocks. Water passes much faster through a bucket of rocks than it does the sand. So if your coffee is bitter, it's probably being over extracted. This is because the water is passing through the grinds to SLOWLY, thus pulling out more of the coffee. Use a coarser grind and I think it will solve your problem. If not, move to a bolder coffee from the African or Asian coffees. I recommend Sumatra (you can get this at any starbucks or grocery store for that matter. Kenya has great coffee as well as Yemen, suprisingly. Although yemen coffee can be a little unpredictable, as they don't have the growing and sorting standards most other countries do.) So, yeah, loose the perc, get a drip brewer or french press, and enjoy your coffee. I just realized that the last post on this site was over two years ago. Oh well. Hope someone reads this. Greg

I'm one of those who cannot make a good pot of coffee, because hubby and I are not coffee drinkers. If we have guests who want coffee, I usually have someone else make it or pull out a VERY old perculator which many of our friends and relatives seem to prefer. We have some good coffee stores and that is where I buy coffee. You can grind it then or buy the beans and grind at home. We have a keurig at work and there are two who especially seem to like it and use many different flavors. However most seem to prefer the old drip maker or the espresso machine. I do get the comment about a "good" cup of coffee. Occasionally, in a restaurant I might order a cup with dessert and there is one restaurant especially who has really good coffee. tina

Don't get me wrong - we adore Peet's, but their specialty has always been dark-roasted coffees. We get the French or Italian in a just-up-from-powdered-Turkish grind, brewed through Chemex filters. I long ago broke the Chemex glass pot and realized it's the filters and the cone shape that make the difference. A cheap plastic cone works just as well, but the Chemex bonded filters are a must. Compare side-by-side with a paper filter and you can tell the difference immediately. We filter into a vaccuum pot if we're not going to drink it right away; it holds it very well for about 4-5 hours. On the Left Coast we are passionate about coffee and Starbucks fans are regarded with smirks. As you enjoy medium roasts with a lower acidity than dark roasted coffees - and many people do, I do myself on occasion - I'm wondering if you have tried the national brands of Chock Full o'Nuts (which ranked quite high in a Fine Cooking taste test a few years ago) and....Dunkin' Donuts. DD is making big ripples in the San Francisco Bay Area with a report by a Millennial blogsite that was just published yesterday. They included DD for a joke in a taste test against three of the highest-regarded new artisanal coffee roasters (so new they are post-Blue Bottle, who has gone from coffee cart to Establishment specialty in less than 3 yrs). DD came in second - no small feat! I've had all three artisanal coffees, and they're very good indeed. The short column from Eater SF is linked below. (btw, PS to johnliu - we loved Stumptown on our 2010 swing through the PNW. Have heard good things about Catahoula in Richmond. Do you have access to Highwire in Oakland? They're doing some good blends over there) Here is a link that might be useful: DD embarrasses Bay Area foodies

I had a Keurig years ago and hated it quickly - the pods drove me nuts. It's nice for "quick and go" or dinner parties but my husband and I drink a lot of coffee so Keurig didn't work for us. We use a regular coffee maker now and go through 8-12 cups every morning. I've been dreaming of an espresso maker and while visiting Williams-Sonoma the other day a nice lady made me a cappuccino from a Nespresso machine and I feel in love. It was so quick and easy. But I didn't buy the machine that day because I didn't like the idea of using those pods.... Then I found the same machine at Best Buy for $150, it includes the milk frother (which retails for $65-$99) and a $50 gift card was included (so I got a waffle maker at no charge). http://www.bestbuy.com/site/nespresso-inissia-espresso-maker-titan/4277900.p?id=1219736143757&skuId=4277900 It's the best deal I could find and so far I love it!! I enjoy an afternoon cappuccino almost every day now. The milk froths so quickly along with the machine going - so in less than a minute I have a delicious drink. I will add that I use to be a Starbucks junkie - I went every day for a year. They knew my name, drink, etc... And then my "gold" card came in the mail and I quit going cold turkey lol. I still love SBs and the Nespresso hasn't made the exact latte but it's very close so I'm happy with it.