Saturday, August 26, 2006

HOW TO BECOME FULLY CAFFEINATED
1.) Fully commit to the process. Becoming well/fully caffeinated has no shortcuts. There is no easy way out. As with all things worth having, the perfect cup of coffee is worth waiting for.
2) There are many coffee making options out there, and many will do the job well. You will need to experiment to find the one that most suits your needs. Success can be found with the one-cup-at-a-time Melita method, French Press, Turkish coffee and coffee makers ranging from one hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. Don't be buying a Mr. Coffee, however, and expect more than it can deliver.
3) If using a filter, I find the unbleached cone filters to be the best. Trader Joe's has the best price.
4) Buy excellent BEANS. If you must buy pre-ground coffee, make sure it is good stuff. NOTE: Folgers, MJB, etc. is in no way considered "excellent". Starbucks, Peet's, Seattle's Best and Illy are all known to be great. Many local places have great coffee, too, figure out how bold you like your coffee, then get the local equivalent of that.
5) Grind your beans daily, right before use is best. You will need to grind the beans according to the method used. French presses need coursely ground beans, Melita needs fine. Coffee makers need it well ground, but not into dust. If you can find a coffee maker that grinds the beans then moves them over to make the coffee, buy it! You may have to mortgage the house to buy a Capresso maker, but it's all about priorities. Caution: The Cuisinart coffee maker that grinds and brews will make you cuckoo, avoid at all costs.
6) Measure your coffee carefully. Don't skimp! Use a 2 tbsp. measurer and heap that puppy! A "cup" is considered 6 oz. Don't be fooled! For every 2 "cups" use 2 heaping tbsp. i.e. For a 10 cup coffee maker, use 5 scoops, or 10 tbsps. Got it?
7) Don't even think about flavored coffee! Coffee is supposed to taste like.... COFFEE!
8) Use cold, filtered water. Brita, Pur, whatever, just make sure it's cold and filtered. NO TAP water!
9) Once a month run white vinegar through the coffee maker to clean it. Then run water through two times to chase out the vinegar.
10) Within 5 minutes of the coffee being done, pour it in a caraffe. Get it off the burner, people! The burner burns the coffee. You want hot coffee, right? Not cooked.
11) If you like cream in your coffee, get 1/2 and 1/2. Let me tell you a little secret about 1/2 and 1/2. It's called that because it is 1/2 cream and 1/2 whole milk. Anything that is called "reduced fat" or "fat free" cannot get by with calling itself 1/2 and 1/2! It makes no sense! It's a lie! Don't buy into this travesty! Just pour a "piff" of cream in, just enough to show the coffee who's boss. Remember, coffee is supposed to taste like coffee.
12) Easy enough? Coffee making is a time investment that pays dividends! You won't be sorry!

11 comments:

Jerri said...

Can't talk now.

Got to go sell myself on the street corner to support the coffee habit I'm about to develop.

Carrie Wilson Link said...

You won't be sorry! Whatever it takes!

kario said...

Wow! It sounds as though you've put a little bit of thought into this. Perhaps Starbucks will start sponsoring your blog if you let them in on your expertise.

jennifer said...

Hey, you stole my line but you are welcome to it!!

I'm just darn thankful for a 101 on coffee making. I get very mixed up, all that measuring, all that water boiling, all that keeping of the grounds and filters...

Carrie Wilson Link said...

I TOTALLY stole your line, thanks! It just needed that Jennifer touch.

Suzy said...

Okay-Name your coffee maker and name your beans and they will be ready for you in New Haven......

Carrie Wilson Link said...

I've got you sweatin' bullets now, don't I Suzy! The pressure, dear God, the pressure!

Go Mama said...

Sounds like that bomb your mother dropped on you recently is paying dividends in the form of nightmares. Thanks for the tutorial Carrie.

So I'm currently at the FIL's house in Cleveland. He not only makes a pot of Folger's, but leaves the pot on all morning burning, then doesn't have the heart to throw it away, so he shuts it off and nukes each remaining cup for the next 3 (you read right, 3!!) days so as not to "waste" anything.

I tell him, Ted, I love to make a fresh brew in the morning and I'm happy to share. (Forewarned, I brought my Peet's with me.) He's like, Ok, but first let me save that other cup in there from yesterday.

(See eyebrows roll. Can't change post-war mentality, so don't even bother.)

Blair...while you're at Peets, try the Garuda. Makes excellent drip or espresso.

Bottoms up folks!

lisajoelle said...

And I thought my husband knew about coffee, HA! He knows nothing compared to you. He actaully takes the day old coffee and re-heats it in the microwave, ew gross. I am far from an expert, one maybe two cups a day, and my current "jolt" of choice is of course 1 can of Red bull a day - never any caffiene after 2 PM, or I'm up half the night.

Carrie Wilson Link said...

Don't ever put the words "coffee" and "microwave" in the same sentence! NEVER!

Anonymous said...

thanks for reminding me to clean out the coffee maker with vinegar, Carrie! I always forget that one!