Written By . On Jul 26. In Coffee
I am still having problems making good coffee in my automatic drip coffeemaker. It does not seem to matter which model I use, the coffee still tastes too bitter, burnt, and almost greasy. I want the nice full-flavor of the coffee I can get from a cafe or restaurant, where there is no hint of rancidity or burnt, greasy coffee. Can anyone here help me figure out what I am doing wrong? And how to make good coffee? And maybe what coffee brands are good to start with?
A few possible problems:
1) Most auto drips don’t get hot enough to properly brew coffee (should be around 200F)
2) Canned, preground coffee is already stale when you buy it; whole beans in valve sealed bags are the best (short of roasting your own).
3) Not using enough grounds will cause over extraction, resulting in bitter coffee. The proper amount is 2tbsp per 6oz of water.
If you want to try a cheap way to make good coffee, try this:
Measure water into a pot and bring to a boil
Remove from heat and add proper amount of grounds to water
Let steep for 4 minutes.
Pour through a fine strainer into your carafe
If you use just the strainer, it will taste rich like from a french press. If your strainer isn’t fine enough, you can put a coffee filter in it. This will give you a milder coffee, but both will taste good if the beans were fresh.
Chances are it is in the coffee, but here are some ideas:
1) Not all coffee beans are created equal. Use Arabica Bean Coffee and Grind it Yourself. The oils on fresh beans are there to reduce bitterness, and are lost no long after beans are ground.
2) User filtered water. I live in an area where the water is very hard with lots of minerals and such, and it actually affects the the taste of the coffee.
3) Not all coffees are the same. Try a Kona Blend Hawaiian coffee which is known as some of the best in the world. Typically has a very smooth taste, rather than bitter.
The main problem is the coffee maker, an automatic drip maker will never make it is good as a percolator will no matter what you do but the drawback is that percolators are very hard to find.
Merry Cmas! December 25th is the first day of the 12 days of Cmas.