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I finally after 47 years picked up my first bad habit  ;D .... Drinking Coffee, well a cup of french vanilla creamer and a half pound of sugar with a splash of java. I'm so dumb to coffee making the first time I made coffee was last May when I was dating the Kanuc. I made coffee every morning for the new love of my life while she was still in bed. The last day when we were cleaning up my friends cottage she took the coffee filter out of the coffee maker to clean it and it had no grounds in it. She asked what happened to the coffee grounds and I replied I don't know it was like that the past 3 days. She looks at the coffee jar....... it's instant

So today I make a pot of coffee using Folgers which sucks, because I'm out of Harley Davidson coffee which is surprisingly good. but had to pour it out it was so strong it couldn't be doctored up even with tons of cream and sugar. My question is  How do you make perfect coffee?

First don't use any coffee from a tin can or a plastic can.

Do find a coffee shop in your area that sells coffee beans and try a number of their varieties; right now I'm drinking Sulawesi. Ask their advise on how much coffee to use per cup. Try to stick with that ratio if the coffee is too strong for your taste (your taste will change) try a different variety or roast.

I am a snob when it comes to coffee and whisky; I buy good stuff and don't cut it.  No sugar, cream or flavorings if you do go ahead and buy the cheap stuff.

I don't drink that worldwide brand from Seattle as they burn their coffee to my taste.

Coffee is a very subjective thing.  It's hard to find two people in one group that prefer the same brand and strength.  The best thing to do is try a variety of classes/brands/blends, brewing each one at several different strengths.  Taste each one straight up and with various flavorings.  You will eventually find the "one" for you.  It will take time but when you find your favorite, it will have been worth it.

Personally, I like Folgers Custom Roast, using 4 rounded tablespoons for a standard 10 cup auto drip coffee maker.  I drink it straight up without any additives.  Before I tried the Custom Roast, I used to like the Columbian Roast best.

Ron,

What Lee said is true, so is what HTRN said.

Our coffee drinking preferences are very different.

Personally, I like to grind my own beans in a little grinder I got at a flea market. The coffee I use, mostly, is the whole bean, Hawaiian coffee from Sams Club, but your local grocery store also carries different brands of whole bean coffee such as EightO'Clock and Millstone.
If I have to use preground coffee I prefer Folgers "Special Roast" or "Colombian", but have been known to buy whatever is on sale, just to get me by.
I really like my coffee and since I don't drink much alcohol anymore, I drink even more. I usually have between 2 and 3 pots before Cat gets up in the morning and always have a pot going during the day. It doesn't have a chance to get old, but then I have been known to drink 3 or 4 day old coffee quite often too.

In my "normal persons" drip coffee maker, I use 2 heaping 1/8th cup scoops per 10 cup fill. Remember, that's 10 6oz. coffee cups, not 8oz. measuring cups.
In my 12 cup percolator, (An antique that sits on the stove), I use 3 heaping 1/8th cup scoops. ( For some reason, it takes more coffee grounds to make good coffee in that thing, but it always tastes better). In my 42 cup coffee Urn, On sale at Wally's, I use 6 heaping 1/8th cup scoops.

As you can see there really isn't any rhyme or reason to the amount of coffee that goes in to the pot, and you'll just have to experiment with amounts for youself.

For the best tasting coffee with minimum oils, acids and sediment try the cold water method of brewing coffee.

See www.4csons.com/filtron

I love my coffee, too.  I am sure lots of folks will weigh in with suggestions for brands, quantity to use, and other techniques.

I'll limit my comment to one area... the water.  I find the water you start with is very important.  Any impurities or chlorine taste (city water) seems to get magnified when you make it into coffee. Starting with pure, fresh, cold, water the best and easiest thing you can do.  

WEC4104

They have these great new coffe makers that make one cup at a time.
It uses a coffee packet so there is no measuring and no mess. and great if one or two cups is all you need.
But it is a bit more expensive.

Try Sumatra coffee. Full body, low acidity. I prefer the Boengi (sp). Just ask at a coffee place for full body, low acidity, grind your own beans and experiment.

Don & Sheila

I like my coffee exactly opposite of my women! Black and bitter (just for you smart allics I like my women white & sweet) And I like my coffee straight from Columbia (Jaun Valdez delivers it personally while making his regular deliverys LOL! He uses my coffee to hide the scent. LOL.) BK  ;D

 :-[

Uh, I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but I like the International Foods Coffee French Vanilla. 

My wife calls it "fag" coffee.

Here at work, my assistant was in the Marine Corps and he makes the best coffee in the world.  He uses regular Folgers and puts a dash of cinnamon into it.

I don't like Starbucks, too burnt for me.

I like Folgers, any kind. My wife likes it stronger than mine, so guess who wins! It's really all about personal preferance. Everyone is differant.

Most of the time I just drink whatever is around and not complain. ;)

I agree with using clean, cold water. Preferably not city water. :o

Next proper post might be HOW TO MAKE A NIGHTCAP ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Happy Trails,

Paul

Dreamscape

Rumor has it that it's the smell of the coffee that is more important in the morning than actual drinking it :o

Paul,

You hit it right on the head.   Its the water.

I brought a gallon of my own natural water from deep beneath the Florida aquafer to work and everyone thought it was a new brand of coffee.

Same ole Folgers.

Cliff

 ;D3Scoops of Yuban and well water and a 12 cup perculater and - it works for me - Harry

Ron - why would you screw up when you had such a good thing going - there obviously was no complaint about your "brew" - you should have told her it was "magic" coffee and leave it at that - sheesh, we'll never get you hitched!

I am very pleasantly surprised as to how many 'bus drivers' have such a flair for their coffee.
This is great as if it is your pleasure go for it...

For me coffee has a purpose, to wake my old bones up in the AM.  I agree that the smell is just about as effective, Pavolog's Dog thing I guess.

I made coffee in a construction trailer in NE Texas, just a little tooooo strong once and was accused of being a Louisanna Oilman !!! It got me out of making coffee again.

I 'm going for my second cup.
Have a great day...

For my daily fix of Joe I use a French Press. Simplicity and a great cup, or 4 ;D, of coffee. It costs about $20. and is a glass or plactic cylinder with a screen plunger. Just add ground beans and boiling water wait about 5 mins and push the plunger for yer brew. You get some sediment in the cup but that is ok. :-\
I also have a hand crank grinder from the 50's called Zassenhaus. They still make em new too, got it off EBay on the cheap. With this setup I take it camping too. Nothing like fresh coffee on a trip.
Fresh beans are most important. I have been doing the " Home roasting" thing for about 5 years now and love the variety you can get. I get green beans from www.ccmcoffee.com and a great lil site for the roasting instructions can be found at www.sweetmarias.com if yer interested.
I am drinking a Costa Rica cooffe today but usually drink a coffee bean from Kenya. It is very chocolaty and robust, good qualities in coffee. Can't beat Kona for a light flavor in a bean in MHO. ;)

I have the wall mounted Crystal Arcade coffee grinder that my Grandfather had when he was a bachelor. I remember it being mounted in the basement "store" room in his house when i was a kid. I use it everynight to grind my own beans. When i am going out for the weekend in my bus, i grind up enough coffee, put it into plastic containers and freeze them before i leave.

I also think the aroma of fresh coffee perking has to be right up at the top of my list of great smells. My favorite mornings are lounging in the bus, drinking fresh coffee, and smelling the bacon frying!!!!!

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.....BACON!

Im with Green Hornet,

There is nothing as simple, or as good as coffee from a FRENCH PRESS.
All you need is hot water and ground coffee beans. Its great on the bus, you don't have to have a generator, or invertor, (I have both) just a flame to heat the water.

Since getting the press, we haven't made any other type, the biggest problem is that you get spoiled, I actually don't like coffee from other types of makers anymore.

You can buy the smaller press, (about 14 oz.) for about $20 at most of the larger home stores, a cheap grinder is about $15. and you get what I consider to be gourmet type coffee.

All the serious coffee drinkers I turned on to the french press, have started using it.

I do not buy the green beans, I buy whole beans already roasted, and vary the type or style we drink on a regular basis, it usually depends on the time of day we are making it.

JimCalllaghan 4106


 

And now for the good news for those of us who drink large amounts of coffee - "Coffee by the Tank Car Does Not Increase Risk of Coronary Heart Disease"

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/AcuteCoronarySyndrome/tb/3154 (http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/AcuteCoronarySyndrome/tb/3154)

QuoteIn fact, men and women who drank six or more cups of coffee a day for up to 20 years had a slightly lower relative risk of developing coronary artery disease than men who consumed a cup or less a day (P for trend= 0.41 for men and 0.08 for women) according to a study in the April 25 issue of Circulation, Journal of the American Heart Association.

QuoteAction Points:

• Advise interested patients that this report found no association for consumption of total caffeine, decaffeinated coffee, or tea with coronary heart disease. Thus, these data provide no evidence that coffee consumption increases the risk of coronary heart disease.
• Explain to interested patients that drinking unfiltered French press or boiled coffee has been shown to increase LDL.