I start by cleaning the coffee maker with a vinegar solution. Run fresh solution through a couple of times, followed by water a few times. Clean the caraf, if needed with ice cubes and a few tablespoons of salt. Shake the ice and salt until clean, rinse well.
I get coffee, I try to use all kinds, from our local coop grocery store and grind it either at the store or at home if I'm feeling energetic. The unused coffee I keep in the freezer, although the refridgerator would work as well. Depending on the strength of the coffee, I'll use three level to rounded coffee measures for my 12 cup coffee maker. To make 2 cups I would use 1\2 measure, or 1\6th of the full pot load. I use filtered water for brewing, which reduces the calcium buildup and any off-flavors.
I hope this is useful. Norm

Norm gave you specific measurements for coffee to water ratio. I would simply say if you want a flavorful, robust cup of coffee, you need to use more coffee than the average American because we are a nation of weak coffee drinkers. Experiment with using more coffee, while avoiding overfilling and having the water leak out the top of your filter basket.

For the best coffee, get the best coffee beans and a french press. Try a really good robust coffee such as an italian roast or my fave from starbucks (Sulawesi). A french press is around 20 bucks.

Here's our "recipe":
1/2 cup whole beans, ground fine - Starbuck's French Roast, Italian Roast, Sumatra or Sulawesi
6 cups water in drip filter drip coffee maker (our Krups does fine)
Makes 2 generous servings of strong, fragrant, flavorful (not bitter) coffee.
A french press doesn't seem to keep the water hot enough for me, plus I could live without the sediment in the bottom of the cup, but each to his own preference. But so long as it's good rich flavorful coffee, I will happily drink it!

LOL AB... yes it does get too cold too quickly. When I traveled all the time, I bought one of the thermal cups from starbucks that's like the steel travel mugs? except it has a press built right into it for road trips.

My husband got so sick of paying for starbucks drinks, that he finally bought me a new expresso machine for christmas and all the "accoutrements". I'm drinking way too much espresso, as evidenced by this late night post. But I'm stillllll hooked on Sulawesi. It's my fave of their coffees, closely followed by Sumatra.

I wonder if anyone will be reading this, but............! I finally bought a burr coffee grinder (Mr. Coffee $30). It took ten or more runs to get the right size granules and the right amount for my normal two-cup morning. Right now I'm using Starbucks with tap water (well). It does taste fresher. I have a few more comments about the grinder in case anyone asks. I'll keep my basic Mr. Coffee 10 cup maker and try bottled water and different coffees for a while. Anway, I'm still working toward that excellent cup of coffee. Regards.

To save expense on filtered water, you can purchase a Brita water filter that is a pitcher that you put replaceable filters in every 2-3 months. I put the pitcher in the fridge and use it for drinking water and coffee/tea.

Check out various coffees from various roasters. Some coffee roasters think Starbucks coffee is burnt. I've tried some from other roasters that do small batches locally and found if you ask at the counter they can recommend something that is less bitter. You could try a Sumatra.

Karen

Thanks for the reply, Karen. I have iron in my well water which I'm sure affects the taste. I'll look for a Brita the next time out and see if it may meet my need. Also, with two people recommending Sumatra it seems to be a good next try. What is a french press? Cindy (a few notes back) made reference to one. Regards.

Good Morning, Folks - I have a question, or two, for Cindy and Karen, I bought some Starbuck Samatra beans. I don't have a french press like Cindy. I do have a burr grinder. Would you tell me how much coffee (tablespoon, teaspoon, ounce?) that you use for each cup of coffee (8; 12 or whatever?) Do you use fine, medium, or coarse grind. I have a Mr. Coffee drip unit). I have yet to buy a Brita (sp?) filter but should soon. Thanks.

As mentioned above:
6 cups water
1/2 cup whole beans, ground fine
Makes 2 generous servings (largish coffee mugs) in drip coffee maker.

I use about 1 tbsp of coffee per 1 eight-ounce cup of water (yes, i like lisa douglas style coffee).

A french press is basically a glass carafe, with a press & screen. You put in the coffee (courser grind than an electric or drip coffeemaker). Then add the boiling water. Let it sit exactly 5 minutes, then press slowly. The screen filters out the grounds and pushes them to the bottom of the carafe, and you are left with the drinkable coffee on the top.

Local starbucks or gourmet shops sell french presses. Usually they look like a glass coffeepot. Starbucks also makes the "travel press" that's basically a thermal mug with a press built into the lid.

If you try the sumatra and like it, don't forget to give the Sulawesi a whirl too.

I'm honestly not sure what grind you need for a drip maker.

I usually use one coffee scoop of coffee grounds per 8 oz. cup of water. The coffee scoop is equal to 1 Tbsp.

When I was looking at coffee makers recently, I noticed that some said it made 12 five ounce cups of coffee. You may want to test your carafe to see if the lines on the side of the pot are 8, 6, 5 or ? oz. cups.

Usually, I just have the beans ground to automatic drip size, but I'm not sure if that is fine, medium or coarse. My coffee pot is a grind and brew so when I grind beans at home I just use the setting on the pot. There again, I don't know if they would be ground small, medium or coarse.

I think a good coffee roaster would be able to advise you on the size of the grind.

Good luck in your search for a good cup of Joe!

Karen

1 tbsp of ground coffee per cup of water is the conventional "recipe" but makes for a very weak and watery cup of coffee. As Tommysmommy said, "we are a nation of weak coffee drinkers" (and in this sentiment, I voluntarily include Canadians).
I just determined that a 2 cup measurement of water equates to "3.5 cups" on my Krups coffeemaker. (Why this is, I have no idea.) Thus 6 cups by the Krups scale is about 3.5 actual cup measurements.
So, our recipe is 1/2 cup beans, ground fine, to ~ 3.5 cups of water. See the difference (3.5 tbsps of coffee vs. the ground equivalent of 1/2 cup of beans)?

2 T whole beans for 8 oz water. Beans should be freshly ground, water should be filtered. I balance a cheap filter basket with paper filter over a Thermos bottle and pour boiling water through. Any kind of clean coffee maker will work equally well as long as it gets the water hot enough. I clean my Thermos by filling it with a bit of dishwasher powder and hot water. Sumatra and Sulawesi are excellent choices, but freshness is paramount. If you really want a good cup, it's possible to roast your own beans.

Howdy, Folks. Thanks for the extremely helpful information. It takes a while for one to go through a bag of coffee. So far I've tried Starbuck's French Roast, Verona, and Summatra. Some of you commented about Summatra and you're right. It was the best of what I tried. French Roast was second. I'm anxious to try the Sulawesi so I'll probably have a couple of bags of beans in the refrigerator for a while. I put the coffee bags in zip bags. I suppose this preserves the bean about as well as any other way (or is it?). Thank, again.

You could just keep the extra beans (or ground coffee, for that matter) in bags in the freezer, and take them directly from there to grind when you want coffee. We go through coffee fairly quickly, but that's what I would do if we didn't.

Sometimes it may not be wise to let things be known, like trying different coffee. I'll be 71 in a few days. A daughter and her family lives in Davidson, NC. and came to visit as a combination Easter and birthday event. A local business in Davidson is called Summit Coffee. After already having two bags of Starbuck I got three bags of Summit: Kilimanjaro Blend; House Blend; Timor Blend as a birthday present. Unless I open my own coffee house it looks like I'll not be buying coffee for a while. Someone said to use freezer bags to store the coffee so that's what I'll do. Thanks, again, for your helpful information.

I'd say call the golf course you were at, and ask them what coffee they use! I'm sure you can get it, and try it yourself before getting a new coffee maker (if you haven't already). and use filtered water. I think it makes a difference..

Happy hunting!

I have just inherited a Phillips espresso machine and have no idea how to use it. I know where to put the water and the beans...and noticed that there's a knob that has G on one end and F on the other (which probably controls how fine the beans get ground), but there's 3 other switches with pictures of "power", "a cup" and the frother (I think that's what you call it, with another knob to control that too) on them. I can see where the ground coffee comes out from...and there's also a gadget that looks like it's supposed to fit where the water comes out...I'm so lost. Can someone help?

CHANDLER: keeping coffee in the freezer for storage is okay, but you should not access the coffee for grinding on a daily basis. One major enemy of keeping coffe fresh is water - and the in/out cycle creates condensation in the bag and, there goes the freshness. You're better off getting a small countertop container ($10-$15) with a gasketed lid and lock to keep a weeks' worth of bean savailable for daily use and refill weekly (or bi-weekly). Avoiding freezer/refrigerator cool/heat cycles seems to be consistent across almost every article I've read about improving home brew.

Hope this helps.

I think Dunkin Donuts is the best coffee around. It doesn't taste burnt like Starbucks. Dunkin Donuts is a very rich premium quality Arabica coffee, not Robusta. I usually make 4 cups in my electric percolator. For 4 cups of water, I use
3 1/2 coffee scoops of coffee. It makes a very robust rich cup of coffee. I also recommend an electric percolator..as it gets the coffee SO MUCH hotter than any drip coffeemaker.

I use 12 level tbsps of coffee plus about 1 1/2 more for our ten-cup Braun. I always offer guests added hot water if it's too strong, but no one has ever complained. We buy Don Francisco online or from the catalog; it's DH's favorite. Don't care for Starbucks; it tastes very harsh to me. We have a variety of D.F. flavors that we like. When they have a sale we occasionally spring for Kona.

There is now a discussion about coffee brewed in French press coffee makers being bad for one's cholesterol. A Dutch study comparing filtered to unfiltered coffee indicated that this was the case. There's a fair amount online about this question. I just googled 'french press coffee cholesterol'. Very interesting information.

Coffeemakers or coffee machines are cooking appliances used to brew coffee. While there are many different types of coffeemakers using several different brewing principles, in the most common devices, coffee grounds are placed into a paper or metal filter inside a funnel, which is set over a glass or ceramic coffee pot, a cooking pot in the kettle family.

Awesome post! If you're looking to elevate your coffee game, switching to freshly ground beans could help. And while we're on the topic, I recently came across some hilarious coffee puns that might add a fun twist to your coffee routine—definitely worth a look!