How Do You Make Coffee?

I put cinnamon in mine, totally not necessary but I like the taste and it has a lot of health benefits.

I don't use sugar. I put a little fat free french vanilla creamer in it though!

And I drink 1/2 caff coffee ('lite' coffee), to help cute down on my caffeine intake without starving myself of what I love!

I use a scoop that came with the pot I think but it's about a tablespoon. I just have a Mr. Coffee pot and put cold water into the pot and add 1 of the scoops for 2 cups of coffee. Like if I make 8 cups I add 4 scoops. I use Eight O'Clock coffee and use the original. Sometimes I get the Columbian but it's much stronger and more bitter.

We use a French Press.
Easy.
Good
No acidity. None.
And no need to buy filters.
I use, 2-3 tablespoons per cup.
I like strong coffee.
We use ground coffee, and whatever is on sale. But prefer "French Roast" coffee.

I don't like electric coffee makers.

It also depends on what kind of coffee you buy.
For example: Kona Coffee is naturally bitter/acidic...because of where it is grown. Some coffee aficionados like that.

With a French Press coffee maker, as I said, there is no acidity.
I actually did an experiment, using our electric coffee maker (which we no longer use) and the French Press, using the SAME coffee in each one... and the same amount of scoops. And... with the French Press there was NO acidity or bitterness. But with the electric coffee maker, there was... bitterness and acidity.

I make 12 cups of coffee and use 6 scoops of coffee grounds. I use Maxwell House regular or dark roast, and cold water. It never tastes bitter to me, but I drink it with milk.

The recipe you have is fine. I agree with the "experiment" suggestion. A couple of things:

Use good coffee to start with -- makes a BIG difference. We store ours in the fridge to keep it fresher.

Your coffee maker probably came with directions about cleaning the unit periodically with vinegar and water. You don't have to be a fanatic about it, but do it every now & again. That will make a big difference with the taste and with how long it takes your maker to complete a cycle.

Yes, a little salt will mellow it out -- but if you use good coffee to start with, you won't need this.

Cinnamon is just for flavor. If my husband isn't going to be home, I add it in the basket because I like the taste. He's not a fan, though, so we don't make it this way when he's home (I can add some to my cup directly then, if I want to). Cocoa powder works the same way, as does nutmeg.

Another vote for using cold water -- and, yes, your water will affect the taste.

My husband sets up the coffee every night (I knew I loved that man for good reason!). Ours has a timer so we can just set it & have coffee ready when we get up in the morning. For us, the only thing that's almost as good as the first sip of coffee in the morning is the first sip of a cocktail or glass of wine in the evening!

Have fun --

If you want coffee that is not too bold or not too weak, here's what I do:

If you are making 6 cups of coffee, than use 3 scoops or 3 heaping teaspoons of coffee. Always use 1/2 of the scoops/teaspoons to the number of cups of water. This will give you coffee that's just right. You can always add a little more coffee if you want a more flavorful taste.

I have a Mr. Coffee coffeemaker with a thermal pot rather than glass. It doesn't burn the coffee and it keeps it hot and fresh for at least 3 hours.

Since my blood is half coffee, I usually triple what the directions call for! But I am an extreme case.

make sure the water you use is cold.

I personally don't drink the stuff...love the smell but don't like the taste.

We have the Hamilton Beach Brew Station. I love not having a carafe anymore...my husband just puts his cup of coffee under the spout and presses!! VIOLA!! Coffee!!

I've never heard of adding salt...that would be interesting...

Hi J.,

If you want to experiment, besides cinnamon, try:
a dash of ginger powder, or cardamon, or cayenne pepper or 1/8 tsp almond extract. Oh, you could also add a bit of vanilla from time to time.
Good luck and have fun! ~C.~

I do 6cups per the pot and use 1/3 cup of grounds (heaping). I do not add anything else. I do however use COLD, Filtered water. Once a week I run vinegar water thru the pot then reg water to clean the machine.

I don't drink coffee and couldn't tell you how to operate the coffee makers. I tried making it once one Christmas morning and everyone agreed that it was terrible. My husband makes his own and adds a dash of salt to the coffee grinds in the filter before the water is added. I have no idea how this makes it taste.

I pour the water in, put the filter in the basket, eyeball the coffee and set it to turn on at 6AM so my husband will be less grumpy first thing in the morning. I'm so not a coffee snob. I will also use instant coffee (though there I do prefer Taster's Choice or Starbuck's to Folgers) if the pot didn't get washed. Never heard the salt thing. We store our coffee in the freezer and I'm not sure why, frankly. While I like to play with Keurig's, I find that they either don't make the big cups I want or they are simply wasteful (unless you get the refillable thing).

Sorry, I measure my coffee by grams on a scale. Just make a few batches and you'll find out what strength you like best. Fresh ground is better than pre-ground. You can buy at most supermarkets fresh ground. You'll see the machine near the coffee.

The salt thing works. I do it for tea as well because it helps to brighten any drink up. Just a little though. I drink my coffee with a tablespoon of sugar (yeah, I know...) in a mug, 12oz I think. Once again, nothing beats trial and error for your personal taste.

Honestly, I bought a Tassimo and can't finish a pot of coffee anymore so the one cup deal works for me.

We just have a normal Mr. Coffee. Hubs makes it. We have a fancy little container with a coffee scoop in it. He puts 4 scoops into the filter and turns it on and that's it. We make the entire pot for the 2 of us, we usually each have a cup or 2 and when our daughter is here, sometimes she has a cup. I have never heard of adding salt, but why would you be buying "bitter" coffee to begin with? And I think you add the cinnamon to your cup after its made, but not sure of that either. So technically, I probably didn't help much. lol Good luck!

We use a scoop like the ones that come in Slim Fast and use two scoops. I have never measured it to find out how much it is,but it tastes just right. sometimes I make it stronger for those long days.

I have a keurig so i pop in a k-cup

A coffee scoop is an 8th cup coffee measure or 2 tablespoons. I like my coffee STRONG so I use 8-9 scooops for a 12 cup pot of coffee. Make sure the water is really cold. I use Maxwell House regular or dark roast coffee. I also use a perk type coffee maker, to me it just tastes better.

My husband adds cinnamon for flavor. I suggest using the recommended measurements and then tweaking it according to your tastes. If you like a stronger flavor, add a little more coffee to the same amount of water, and make note of the amount of each for next time.

I am actually really picky about the spoon, go figure! It has to be a teaspoon, like one you eat with. Not the big soup spoons, just a regular old teaspoon, the kind with a short handle. I put one heaping spoonful per cup of water. I only use rich coffee like a french roast or colombian and only a name brand. I like folgers but you can also get all nice and fancy and hit your local starbucks for some good brew as well. I also like a brand called Cafe Bustelo, but it is strong, so you may want to do half of a stronger coffee and half a house blend. I use just regular old tap water, but filtered does taste better. Anyway, no matter what you do it will be delish!! Good luck :)

Buy a Keurig! It's so easy. No more grounds!

My husband is a coffee drinker. He does the one tablespoon per cup recipe, more or less. He says that the quality of the water affects the taste of the coffee, and that some brands of coffee taste better than others.

I haven't heard about the salt idea, but why not try it once and see how it works? There are flavors of coffee creamer, and, I guess, some flavored coffees.

So it's more than just the machine. Now you get to have fun experimenting with all these ideas! Get samples of different coffees whenever you can find them, and see what comes out best for you.

I use Starbucks' Via packets. It's awesome. Makes a perfect cup every time with no mess. I just keep a kettle of water the stove for my 1-cup in the morning.
I'm the only coffee drinker in my house, so I got tired of brewing a pot, having to deal with filters and grounds, just to get my 1 morning cup of coffee.

Oh, also, if you don't drink enough to warrant making a whole pot, measure the water with the coffee mug you'll be using and you'll end up with the perfect amount of coffee & not have to toss the leftover 3/4 of the coffee that's left in the pot because you didn't drink it.