I have combined different parameters like working a science project, such as granularity of coffee grinding, amount of coffee, types and amount of water...etc. and had the coffee right after brewing, yet they all turned out BAD. The only parameter I did not change is coffee maker. Is there anything else I may have missed?

Also, the temperature at which the coffee is brewed makes a big difference. The only two drip coffeemakers I know of that have very hot brewing temps are the Technivorm and the Bonavita . I have the Bonavita at my office and I'm pleased with it (and so is the staff), but I have an acquaintance who is nuts for the Technivorm. Here is an article which discusses the pros and cons of each.

One thing I would most definitely recommend is that you choose a coffeemaker which does NOT have a hot plate but rather a thermal carafe. (Both the Bonavita and many Technivorm models have thermal carafes.) My coffeemaker at home is a simpler eight cup version of this one. It's been making good coffee for over a decade, and it just won't break. The thermal carafe keeps the coffee good and hot for at least 3 hours without ever getting that burnt flavor that comes from a glass carafe sitting on a hot plate for hours. Plus, you never have to remember to turn the coffeepot off; once it brews into the carafe, the machine shuts off. You'll never have that sinking feeling when you've gone on a trip--'OMG, did I remember to turn the coffeepot off?'--the issue is moot.

How many cups of coffee do you need at a time? Consider a french press if only one or two. You can brew excellent coffee in a french press. Also, are you sure you bought the same kind of beans that you drank while you were there? They offer several roasts/ blends- if you're drinking something different it won't turn out the same. :)

When I can afford it, I will be purchasing the Technivorum because I do tend to find that the temperature of the water makes a tremendous difference. Personally, I am not a fan of French press coffee but we keep one on hand in case of power outages. I would also like to try one of the pour-over coffee makers but would likely not use it for every day. All to this to say, you may need to try a couple of different methods to find what is best for you.

You tried amounts of water, have you tried different water? That could also make a big difference. If you are using tap water, the chemicals, minerals, etc., whatever in it could be very different than the water in SF. Perhaps try bottled (distilled) water if you haven't already?

Rusty

Like annie and several others, we make our coffee with the pour-over method. It essentially cancels some issues of coffee makers. I had not heard of Philz and am really only familiar with Peets, but it appears that they have similar methods and Peets makes regular coffee with a large essentially pour over machine. Philz claims to be making 'one cup at a time' that to me would suggest that you should go with the pour over, one or two cups at a time and make more when you need more.

I think malabacat covered the basics. I hear that Philz (like Peets) serves their coffee at double strength. Using almost twice what you think normal will probably solve your problem. Again, pour over requires almost no equipment. Sure, you can get a Melitta or Chemex, and you would certainly need the filters, but you could skip the container for the Melitta although its not expensive.

The only issue of basic importance is a burr grinder rather than the spinning blade type grinder that will make an uneven grind. Yes, you can spend a thousand, but $120 or less will be fine to start with. You DO plan to grind your whole beans just before making the coffee; right?

Ah; rusty has a great point. SF water comes directly from Yosemite and the water is very good. I wouldn't suggest distilled.

Water is obviously a huge component of coffee and it's very common for retail establishments to filter their "beverage" (coffee, soda) water in the form of some kind of carbon to remove chlorine and other "off" tastes. That would be the obvious place to start.

I agree, the water will make a big difference. I bring water from the farm well to make coffee, as it actually does have a "flavor" of its own.

As Chas mentioned, I love my Chemex. I paid less than $40 for it, but I got a small one. I make 6 cups and keep it hot in a Thermos bottle which my stepson gave his father when he (son, not my hubs) came home from Desert Storm. It's not pretty, but it means a lot, and so it sits out on the counter instead of something "prettier". Knowing where it's been makes it beautiful to me.

I also have a burr grinder, I got it at the online auction for less than $10, still new in the box, so if they are too pricey for your budget, you might try the thrift stores and second hand places, or on-line auction sites.

I do buy green beans and roast them myself, and grind right before making the coffee. My water is just below boiling, although I don't take the temperature as some do. I also agree that you need one with a thermal carafe, not a burner, because the coffee "cooks" quickly and it changes the flavor.

So, there are many components involved in good coffee, including water, the beans, the grind, the brewing method, the water temperature. When you find your "sweet spot", you'll know, because as I've always said, taste is subjective, not objective. What I might love, you might not.

Annie

Really appreciate all of these valuable inputs, I know this is the right place for the questions! :-)

Yes, I tried different types of water, distilled, filtered, store bought...etc. I use the same bean of the coffee I drunk there. Looks like I should use more coffee since one cup of Philz in the morning could make me alert for the entire day (nevertheless it is the 2nd best coffee I have ever had, the best one was prepared by a Columbia friend's grandma).

I will give Chemex a try. I will also look for a burr grinder. I will look into Bonavita and Technivorm if I need more options.

Many thanks to all of you again.

Also check the roasting date of your beans. The beans should be foaming up or "blooming" when y,ou first pour in the hot water. If not, then your beans probably aren't fresh.

Like Annie above i roast my own beans. Just upgraded a few months ago to a drum roaster. Then grind just before the pour-over Chemex. .

That would be the most like your cup of coffee at Philz. I looked into their website to get a hint at their method. It is single cup to order in a filter and it has a fresh 'bloom' that can only happen in a fresh pour-over. NOT an electric drip pot at all. Or a french press.

Difficult to describe the subtleties of a good cup of coffee using such methods without sounding insane to go through such detail...but it is just a walk in the park for us, at 4am. Once resolved, after years of so-so electric drip, it is just as easy as before. We just do the honor of the pour-over ourselves rather than the electric pot.

We roast once a week, about a lb. Then grind just before a pour-over pot of Chemex. Have a small cup or two, and the rest goes into travel thermos. If the pot goes to the stove-top to keep warm on the weekends it is fine for a half hour but not anything like that first pour fresh the first five minutes.

Especially if you just want one perfect cup. Or two. : )

After visiting us, my BIL picked up the smaller Chemex on ebay to make the one small prefect pot as he is precise and methodical being a detailed University Professor. Completely solved his obsession. But you must like the ritual...as we do. I spend every day off to NYC driving in all that madness so i need the morning slow waking ritual. And a good cup. Some think it might be nutty to do such a thing. (just spent a week with my parents that drink instant) and dilute our coffee by 5 times water and microwave and still hate it. Oh well.

I highly recommend looking into trying a percolator instead of a drip coffee maker. They aren't very expensive and make a really great cup of coffee.

I like the ritual as well, but would like to point out that it doesn't really add that much time. I suppose that using a coffee maker with a timer set at night for the following morning would save much time; but if you plan to load a coffee maker in the morning, the savings are minimal. Yes, pour over takes a couple minutes, but just loading a drip machine takes almost half that anyway. If I recall correctly, dcarch waits 5 minutes or so between the first minimal pour to dampen and bloom his ground beans, and adding the rest of the pour over, but I'm sure he is doing something important during that long bloom.

Here's what I have for power outages (I have gas so I can still cook during a power outage). It's an extremely low tech way to make great coffee. Get one of these Melitta style cone filter holders and some Melitta #6 filters. Also get a thermos into which the cone fits--this one works great. Simple no-measure technique: fill the thermos with cold water and pour it into a pot or kettle and turn on the gas. Meanwhile fit the cone into the thermos, put in a filter and add your coffee. When the water boils, pour it through the filter; you get nice piping hot coffee, and the thermos will keep it warm for several hours.

I second (third) the Bonavita and Technivorm recommendations. They basically do a pourover type of coffee, but automatically. They heat to the optimal temperature (195 to 205), do a presoak and then they brew. A burr grinder will also help; I got a Capresso. You will also see that these machines are at or near the top of every ranking/testing of coffee makers done.

That reminded me to grind a pot worth of beans to stick into the freezer. It will be fine taste-wise if we loose power as we also do not loose our gas cooktop during a storm. (labeled emergency coffee)

Last week, during 65 temp, our lights flickered, twice, then power went out for an hour. No sensible reason.

If a long term storm we have a back-up generator. Grind and brew as usual.

From coffeeGeek, an easy 5 post forum read...

That said.... percolators are generally considered to be at the bottom of the quality scale when it comes to producing good coffee. Excessively high or low temperatures are not good - the best coffee is produced in a certain brewing temp range that is a bit below the boiling point. Percolators, by design, boil the coffee to send it up through the tube and allow it to drip down through the basket. Once again, however, some folks who are accustomed to the taste of percolator coffee may actually prefer it to all others, bu then again, my parents drink month old Folger's decaf from a giant can and just love it.

brew methods

It is really just finding what you like.

We wet our Chemex filter once the kettle whistles. And helps to heat the glass caraf and clean the paper filter of the 'paper taste'.. Pour that out, grind the beans, then proceed with the first pour-over that blooms the fresh grinds. Also gives the hot water a chance to cool down a bit. Morning methodical tasks like feeding the pups, etc. are happening at the same time.

What i have noticed, and did a temp test, with the auto-drip machines, is the first two minutes of drip are well below a good hot temp when wetting the grinds. Not unlike a heat-on-demand hot water heater, that first water out of the pot is not hot at all on the lower end machines. (the exception was a thrift store SpaceSaver that made great electric drip)...that thing was super and no longer made.

The two recommended elec pots mentioned, one is the technovorm, (sp) i considered at one time but we found our preferred method with the Chemex. Now have that at both homes and a basic elec drip at the farm. I think a Cuisinart. Not great but perfectly fine coffee, but looking for a elec kettle and a cone system as i can use the kettle for tea...something i drink all day during the summer months. Easy to find and i have a few months before spring planting.

My parents have the most basic cheap drip and get a bag of A&P beans and pull out the braun grinder for us. Fine for the visit and no need to travel with my system. (we are not that picky). Just have our method at home.

Just helping azmom make that good cup she remembers from her trip, attempting to make at home.

-and important to note ..roasting at home is 5-6 $ per pound as opposed to buying roasted at much more, often double the cost.

Co-workers stop at coffee shops on the way to work and spend 4-5 dollars. That is 25-30 dollars a week. Often send someone out after lunch and spend on another round of coffee drinks...we on the other hand spend 5-6 a week and like our home brew. Just a personal choice.

Sleevendog, I also like the dollar savings, and being retired, I spend the time doing the pour over just leaning on the counter and looking out the window at the pond (or more likely, trying to wake up, LOL). We have a percolator, an electric one, and Elery uses it sometimes. The coffee is OK, it's drinkable, but it's not my favorite. I also have one of those Cuisinart machines that you load at night, set the timer, the next morning it filters the water, grinds the beans, makes the coffee which decants into a thermal carafe. It's still not as good as the Chemex and although it makes coffee while I'm still in bed, I can't sleep through it. The grinder will wake the neighbors!

Annie

@sleevendog -- the Technivorm and Bonavita, along with a few other brands have been verified to start brewing and hold temperature through the entire cycle.

Here's ATK showing how they tested water temp. Interesting to note how they say the quantity of coffee is usually a mistake people make.

Here's the SPAA testing and results:

List of SPAA certified brewers

Of course, convenience has its price and it may not be worth it for everyone.

I realize that. Both were on my short list 5 years ago, then settled on the zen of Chemex. Stainless kettle, glass Chemex. No plastic. A personal choice. No electric to fail... after 20 yrs of crappy electric pots. Just a visual guess but we must have tossed a half dozen electric pots...cuisinart, braun, i remember a white one, then a timer one that woke us up, one that brewed then your cup under gave a cup with a back release bar...they all crapped out.

Both of those are you listed are good choices.

We just made a personal choice to roast our own beans and grind. I lucked out on a bunn lpg commercial grinder and get green beans from SweetMarias a few times a year. We like our process simplified. DH is roasting a lb of beans downstairs as week speak. Needs tending and will tidy up the area while roasting...multi-tasking as we often do. We have some cider that needs bottling, and he has some other projects always in that winter back room...

I seriously want a mochamaster now. Everything else seems worthless.