The method we all know and love.
Or at least like. Auto drip does a great job of making a regular cuppa coffee. No frills, just straight java. There are 2 different brew
methods to be noted here, home and cafe style.
HOME STYLE
It's amazing how many different coffee pots are made. It was simply impossible to come up with a generic way to best make each, except to say that if you follow the general 2 tbsp per 8 oz of filtered water, you should end up with excellent coffee. It is however, important to remember that temperature is extremely important. Most home drip pots do not brew at a high enough temperature, if you suspect yours doesn't just get a french press, they're really inexpensive and you can be assured that the temperature is adequate.
CAFÉ STYLE
(This is assuming you are using 2.2 liter airpots.) Depending on the roast, amounts can vary significantly. In general dark roasts should be ground slighter coarser than light. Coffee should be weighed out for every batch ground, not measured by eye, unless you've weighed so many times with the same coffee that you KNOW it, and then still, weigh it. It doesn't take long and as small as 1/100th of a lb can make a noticeable difference in the taste of your coffee.
COLD PRESS (TODDY)
Cold press is a fantastic summer beverage. You can get this really neat gadget called the toddy maker. The Toddy Maker is available on our site for 29.99. The grind should be between auto drip and french press, I usually use the drip option on our bunn grinder. It takes 1 lb to make 48 oz of cold press concentrate. Put the 1 lb of grounds into the brewing container (make sure the filter and cork are in) sloooowly add 9 cups of filtered water. Don't stir. Let sit 12 hours. Voila! Smooth and mellow. Some recommend this as a sort of "instant coffee" Because it keeps for awhile and you need to dilute it 1 part coffee to 3 of water or milk. I don't recommend thinking of it like this. It really is at its best cold. When it's heated I can't help but think I want a cup of drip coffee, but whatever suits your fancy.
COWBOY COFFEE
The simplest of all methods. In fact I really don't have much to say about proper amounts with cowboy coffee. Generally like with most other coffees it's about 2 tbsp per 8 oz of water. So the hardest part is bringing the water to a boil. Seriously. You bring the water to a boil, let all the boil settle out, drop a big handful of coarsely ground coffee on top, and let it rest for a few minutes. The grounds should all drop to the bottom; if not there's a whole lot of old wives tales on how to get them to fall out, including mmm... a raw egg. I just drizzle cold water on top. That'll drop 'em. This is the classic camping recipe. I really don't recommend doing it at home. Though occasionally when you've dropped your French press (happens to the best of us), it works fine. Not great. Fine. Better than chewing on coffee grounds (though it's likely you'll end up doing that a bit as well).
ESPRESSO
If you want to make cafe quality espresso, use a pump machine and look for the good crema. The crema is the final blow of water, air
and coffee that arrives evenly colored and about a 1/4 inch deep to top your cup (the coffee gods willing). A dark brown crema indicates over-extraction for a harsh and bitter result. On the flip side, a light crema will come off weak and wimpy (so what's the point?). Generally, extracting beyond thirty seconds will cause bitterness. Get to know your machine and live happily ever after.
For espresso brewing tips, go to ESPRESSO-LOVE.
FRENCH PRESS
French Press coffee is very much the connoisseurs coffee pot. It brings out every ounce of flavor, sweetness, acidity, they all shine in a french press. It can be compared to a rough Portuguese wine–full of life, and body, complex but short lived. You have to drink it fast or the flavor will fade. It also is the coffee pot that the drinker should do a lot of his own decision making with. There is no "best french press" generally with all the Bodum pots if you fill up to just below the bottom band with medium coarse ground coffee–electric percolator on our grinder, then fill with hot water to just below the top of the top band it's gonna be perfect. Try it; they come in 3 different sizes, the smallest being the perfect 1–cup of coffee coffee pot. I love to make this when I say just a cup, cause it's oh so rare that I will only drink one cup if I make more than that.
MELITTA
Melitta has a really beautiful simplicity to it. It was invented in 1908 by Melitta Bentz using a tin cup she had punched holes in the bottom of and a piece of blotter paper for the filter. For this, Mrs. Bentz found herself cemented into the annals of history. It is a neat–o little device. Anyone can use this little guy as no technology is needed to make it function. Well depends how primitive really. It is downright Luddite though. You get a little plastic cone and you put a little paper filter in. You fill up the little paper filter with a small amount of coffee ground fine or "cone", pour hot water over it and voila! A delightful cup of coffee. Filters are available in #1, 2, 4, and 6 as are the cones. I honestly haven't a clue where you would use the #1 filters, except maybe with a super light roast. They're teeny–tiny. For the number 2 filters, which are melitta at it's finest we generally down in the shop use between .07 and .08lbs per 12 oz. The larger sizes are a hard call, they have a tendency to send the water through a bit too fast and under extract. I'm still in the lab experimenting so keep watching for updates.
PERCOLATOR
Much like the snob who won't drink white wine out of a red wine glass and god–forbid you even attempt to put it in a juice glass, I don't drink percolator coffee. There are reasons I don't, just as there are reasons a wine snob won't drink champagne out of anything but the narrow, tall champagne glass. Technically speaking percolators are not good for coffee flavor. They force water through the same grinds repeatedly causing them to be over extracted, at the same time as they are boiling it, and they leave the coffee heating for long periods of time. Major coffee snob faux–pas. This is not the best way to taste the subtleties of a good cup of Ethiopian coffee for instance, however, some love it, much like my good friend who knows his wine and prefers it out of a coffee mug. To some, percolator coffee is the only coffee, and it's really, really easy. You put the grounds in the percolator, you put the water in the percolator. You plug in the percolator. Voila! You want to grind the coffee quite coarse, we use electric percolator on our grinder, and use about 2 tablespoons to every 6 oz of water. If you like this for the ease, you should try French Press someday, it makes an excellent, well rounded cup.
