Thursday, November 6th, 2008...10:21 pm
How to make really yummy coffee at home in seven easy steps
For a long time, I didn’t really like coffee. Back in the day, when I first started drinking it anyway, because it was trendy, I’d drink really milky, sugary drinks. When we moved to Seattle and both worked in (pretty bad) coffee shops for a while, I slowly built up a tolerance for stronger coffee, and after a while I was able to drink espresso shots (with lots of sugar, of course) over ice.
But that was all it was, a tolerance. I didn’t really like it much, it was just that ordering an Americano or a doppio was so much cooler than ordering, say, a mocha or vanilla latte. I have never, ever liked drip coffee. I won’t even drink it on road trips or whatnot when that was the only option.
Since Brett’s been working in the real not fast food coffee industry, all that has changed. I do still like mochas and vanilla lattes, on occasion, but especially lately, we’ve been brewing our own black coffee at home. And it’s been really freaking good.
I’ll show you how we do it in a few easy steps below. We don’t even own an automatic drip coffee maker; we only use a Melitta or a Chemex. Brett will occasionally use a French Press, but I prefer the drip methods myself.
Brett just brings home whatever beans have been good in the roastery lately, or sometimes, like this week, a special sample of something from another good coffee roaster.
I’ve been loving all of the coffee we’ve been making lately. Get your hands on some good beans, which you can do here. If you have good beans to start with, you should wind up with exceedingly tasty coffee if you follow the steps below.
I’ll expand on things like coffee storage, coffee freshness, and coffee grinding in a later post.
If you give the method below a try, please let me know! I’d love to hear what you think.
Step 1: Melitta Filter -- Melitta filters come in different sizes, depending on the size of your Melitta. Once you have the correct filter, you fold the crimped edges in so that it will fit in the Melitta properly.
Step 2: Gather Supplies -- You'll need a large liquid measuring cup, a cup for your coffee, a Melitta with filter, and some coffee ground on the drip setting. I use 1/4 cup of beans to two cups of water.
Step 3: Pre-moisten -- Before adding coffee, pre-moisten the filter with some of the boiling water. This serves two purposes: it helps prep the filter for the coffee and helps warm your cup. Dump out the water in the cup before you add coffee to the Melitta and begin the brewing process.
Step 4: Add Coffee -- For two cups (16 ounces) of water, I use about 1/4 cup of beans, which I grind on the drip setting of our burr grinder.
Step 4.5: Ready to Brew -- Now you're ready to brew.
Step 5: Pour Water Over Coffee -- Pour the hot water over the coffee. You'll have to do this in two batches; it won't all fit in the first. The water should be hot but not quite boiling. I usually let it come to a boil, then measure it into my measuring cup and let it sit there to slightly cool while I add the coffee to the Melitta.
Step 6: Wait -- Let the water drip through the coffee and the filter. You'll have to do it in two or more batches, but that's okay. It also helps sometimes to stir with a chopstick or something. I don't always stir, but if I don't have the grind just right, it might be necessary.
Step 6.5: Wait Some More -- I spent the time my coffee was brewing taking a cute picture of the baby crawling around on the kitchen floor with her new favorite non-toy: a (clean) bulb syringe. (I promise, my floors are clean. I mopped them yesterday. They just *look* dirty.)
Step 7: Coffee -- Ready to drink. Yum!
5 Comments
November 7th, 2008 at 5:07 am
So I haven’t tried the coffee yet, but I wanted to say Ryan liked the bulb syringe also and used it to chew on with his back teeth cutting in. =-) It sometimes still gets rides on trucks and cars.
November 7th, 2008 at 5:41 am
So THAT”S how you make real coffee…thanks for sharing
. I’d be interested to hear Brett’s method of using a French press (guest post?)….that’s how we make coffee, but I’m always a bit unsure if we’re doing it the correct way.
Fen loves playing with the bulb syringe too?!
November 8th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
I like using the Melitta since I am only supposed to have one cup of coffee a day due to my hypoglycemia. It’s nice not having to waste coffee by making a full french press. We only got it to use for camping during our honeymoon, but I think I use it 5 days a week now.
March 13th, 2009 at 9:44 am
[...] days, actually. I have Elanor’s 14-months-old post to do, and finally, Brett is ready to do his post about making a french press, which was requested by Annie. (Yay!) We’ve also been making some amazing food lately that I [...]
April 12th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
[...] very knowledgable about all things coffee-related. This post is prompted by my friend Annie’s request after I posted about how to make a Melitta last fall. [...]
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