Carrie Link

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!