Category: Coffee Recipes

All About Drip Coffee Makers

Drip coffee makers are some of the most commonly used coffee makers in the United States. They are easy to use and inexpensive to own and operate. Available in a wide variety of styles, colors and sizes, there’s a drip coffee maker to fit any kitchen. One study reports that automatic drip coffee makers are the most purchased small kitchen appliance. Approximately 14 million automatic drip coffee makers are sold each year.

Mr. Coffee is one of the best known automatic drip coffee makers. Other well-known coffee maker companies include Black and Decker, Braun, Cuisinart, and Proctor-Silex.

Automatic drip coffee makers are used in many homes and businesses. They work by dripping water through a filter containing ground coffee. Two types of filters are available for these machines: paper and permanent.

Paper filters can affect coffee taste as can some plastic permanent filters. Plastic filters do not last as long as metal filters. Metal filters may require that coffee beans be ground a bit coarser than is needed for paper filters.
Automatic drip coffee makers offer a variety of special features. From basic machines to high end models that do everything from grinding the beans to brewing it at a pre-set time. Basic automatic drip coffee makers feature a water reservoir, a filter basket, and warming plate to keep carafe warm. Most feature filter baskets that swing out or lift out and simple on/off control.

Extra features include indicator lights, a brew-pause selection, digital display and /or digital control panel, clocks, timers, permanent filters an automatic shut off. High end features include water filtration, flavor settings, and a built in grinder. Single cup machines are available, as are machines making anywhere from 4 cups to 12 cups.

Drip Coffee Maker Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best temperature for brewing coffee?

Most experts agree that 200 degrees is the best temperature for brewing coffee. Many restaurants do not allow the temperature to get that high because of liability issues should a consumer spill coffee and get burned.

What affects the quality of a cup of coffee?

Several things can affect the quality of brewed coffee. The cleanliness of the brewing equipment, the quality of the coffee beans, how long it has been since the beans were roasted, how long it has been since the beans were ground and the quality of the water used in brewing.

How do I clean my coffee maker?

Coffee makers should be cleaned at least once a week. Some experts suggest using dish detergent and water. Other experts suggest running one fourth part vinegar and three fourths part water through the brewing cycle a time or two followed by running plain water through the cycle. This removes hard water deposits and other buildup.

Can Espresso beans be used in drip coffee makers? Yes.

Where did the term ‘cup of joe’ come from?

Some say that Admiral Josephus (Joe) Daniels once outlawed alcohol on ships, making coffee the most used beverage, hence the ‘cup of joe.’ Others say that the term comes from ‘Joe’ as 19th cent, slang for coffee. Automatic drip coffee makers allow coffee lovers to indulge their senses whenever they please.

Magical Fresh Flavor From Coffee Bean Roaster

The coffee bean roaster is quickly becoming a must have in every kitchen, because the flavor and the freshness of coffee is always at its best when it is roasted in small batches at a time in the comfort of your own home. Roasted coffee tends to be very susceptible to oxidation or damage from oxygen when sitting on the shelves in stores or in the bins at your local caf for days or even weeks at a time. This spells disaster for specialty coffee beans, because it creates coffee that is flavorless and stale.

Today the home coffee bean roaster is an absolute dream for any coffee enthusiast that wants to get the most out of what fresh, delicious coffee has to offer. The home coffee bean roaster brings quality and freshness home by allowing you to roast and brew your own fresh, gourmet coffee at home any time you want it. This handy appliance is the beginning of a completely new era when it comes to coffee and coffee history, because it is allowing everyone to take major steps to produce higher quality, fresher cups of coffee at any hour of the day, anytime they like.

You may be pleasantly surprised to know how simple and how quick it is to roast your own specialty coffee in your home. Once you experience the incredible flavor that is fresh gourmet coffee, you will want to share the experience with everyone that you know. There are basically two different home coffee bean roasters that you can use. There is a fluid bed roaster, and there is an electric radiant heat drum roaster.

Fluid Bed Roasters – These roasters work like hot air popcorn poppers, with a glass roasting chamber that allows you to watch as the coffee beans are roasted, which means that you can stop when you are happy with the roasting. These are excellent for beginners, and are an excellent way for you to get started if you are interested in home roasting.

Radiant Heat Drum Roasters – This is more like the roaster that a professional would use. They do not allow you to watch as the beans are roasted, but rather require that you roast by sound and smell.

Home roasting can be a lot of fun, not only for you but also friends and families and even house guests. Consider having a roasting party with the people in your life, trying out different coffees from all over the world and allowing everyone to roast their coffee just the way they like it. You and your friends and family members to create their own custom blends, mixing different coffee beans from around the world and roasting them together for unique blends.

If you have not already tried home roasting, then you should get ready for an enjoyable and amazing treat. You can rest assured that your coffee drinking experience will never be the same again once you realize what amazing coffee can be produced when you roast your own beans fresh; with a coffee bean roaster.

Magical Flavor Of Gourmet Coffee Beans

If you drink coffee and have ever stopped to look at the different types of gourmet coffee beans, you might want to actually give some a try next time you’re shopping for coffee. Instead of grabbing that huge tube of ground coffee, the same brand you’ve been purchasing and drinking for years, or instead of grabbing that more expensive, smaller tub of gourmet ground coffee, break out of your coffee rut and give beans a try.

Some people already own a coffee grinder, or remember when their parents used to purchase beans and grind them at home. Some stores still have a grinder right in the coffee aisle. The beans our parents purchased and ground were usually not gourmet coffee beans, it was simply cheaper to buy the beans and grind them yourself. If you don’t have a grinder at home, coffee grinders aren’t expensive. You’ll enjoy the smell of freshly ground coffee beans. While some savor that rich smell when they open a tub or brick or pre-ground coffee, once you’ve inhaled the aroma of freshly ground beans, that tub coffee won’t ever smell quite the same to you.

Some people are who are very choosy when it comes to coffee purchase several different types of beans and combine them in certain combinations to get the coffee taste they want. Most of us probably aren’t going to take the time to do that. We know what we like when we drink coffee, and we know what we don’t like. In that case, gourmet coffee beans can be ideal because they’re already specially chosen and designed to offer up a richer, more complex taste that that bag of coffee beans you can purchase at your local A & P.

You don’t have to purchase the same old beans or ground coffee from your supermarket. You can break out of that habit a little with gourmet coffee beans you can buy online. You’ll find blends of different beans like the almighty Arabica, Jamaican, Columbian and many others, as well as beans that are infused with different flavors. You can find beans that will give your coffee a chocolate flavor, or hint at fruit or vanilla, or almost anything you can imagine.

When you’re looking at gourmet coffee beans, you literally hundreds of choices, and that choice can seem almost overwhelming. Most places that offer this many choices have information about different types of coffee beans, roasting times, flavors and hints of flavor and general coffee information to help you choose which type of coffee beans to purchase.

And don’t forget the people you buy for. Coffee lovers can truly appreciate a thoughtful gift of gourmet coffee beans. If you’re unsure whether they grind their own beans, you can purchase the beans whole and grind them just before gift-giving. While gourmet pre-ground coffee can also be a thoughtful gift, whole beans will give the person on your gift lift the freshest coffee experience possible, and put you at the top of their list.

Discover How To Buy Coffee For Less

If you want to buy coffee for less, you could join a warehouse club and buy a case of the same old coffee you buy at the supermarket. You’ll get a discount ranging from a few pennies to several cents per can. You could buy cheap, store-brand coffee and hope that when you get it home and brew it that you’ll actually be able to drink it. Or you could switch to a slightly cheaper name brand than the one you typically drink, and hope you like it. You can forget about buying specialty coffees or coffee in a coffee shop if you’re interested in saving money on coffee.

But it’s not impossible to buy coffee for less money if you know where to look. Online coffee stores are a great option for coffee lovers. Not only can you save money on everything from your everyday brand to your favorite gourmet coffee, but you can shop a wide variety of different brands and types of coffee and save money while doing so.

You won’t have to hide the coffee pot when you have company to save money on coffee. Now you can benefit from the special things offered at online stores. Very often you can sign up for a mailing list so that the vendor can email you about their upcoming sales and special offers.

When shopping at the online store, you use those codes to get discounts, buy-one-get-one-free offers or even outright free items, depending on that store’s particular promotion. While these work like supermarket coupons, usually online coupons and mailing list offers like these will get you coffee for less money and you don’t even have to clip the coupon or use gas to drive to the store.

Since there’s not an actual building that has to be paid for to allow shoppers to come in and browse, that huge expense is eliminated. There’s no need to buy insurance to cover the store against lawsuits if someone should be hurt on the property. There’s no need to worry about the items in the store being shoplifted, or for the store to be robbed while it’s closed.

There are usually fewer employees in an online store because there’s no need for someone to run a register or sweep up at the end of the day. You’ll get coffee for less because there’s simply no large overhead costs like those that are found in brick and mortar stores.

Where online stores excel is their variety. There are no walls or limited shelf space to deal with. You can find coffee for less from all over the world, hundreds and hundreds of different varieties, all within one store. And because the costs of running an online store are so much less than a regular store, you can get even the most exotic and specialty coffee beans, coffee-making equipment, and the most expensive blends of coffee for less money than you’d probably pay at your local grocery.

Discover How Coffee Lovers Are Growing Coffee

Farms that have been growing coffee for years, sometimes as long as two centuries, have the growth, cultivation and processing of coffee down to a fine art. But some coffee lovers like the challenge of do-it-yourself, or their interest in coffee leads them to try their hand at growing their own coffee plants. You can grow coffee from seed or purchase small plants, if you want to give this growing hobby a try.

While it’s unlikely that you’ll grow enough to keep yourself in coffee year round, growing coffee can be a fun and rewarding hobby. Unlike fruits and vegetables, you can’t simply pick the coffee and drink it. When coffee growing, your satisfaction will come more in that you actually grew a beautiful coffee plant, than the coffee it produces. And it is a hobby that requires a great deal of patience, as it can be years before the coffee berries appear.

Growing coffee isn’t difficult once you coax the seed to germinate, so even someone who hasn’t quite developed a green thumb can probably produce a lush and beautiful coffee plant. Coffee is easy to take care of, and is quite a lovely and dramatic plant to grow. The most ideal way to start is with a freshly picked coffee cherry, but it’s unlikely that most of us will ever have to access to one. Instead, purchase green coffee beans, the freshest and most recently picked as possible.

The reason the beans need to be fresh is that coffee can only be germinated from about 4 months after picking. While it can happen after that, it’s unlikely. Fresh seeds generally take between 2 and 3 months, so it’s a lengthy process that requires patience, even if you manage to find fresh beans.

To start growing coffee, soak the seeds in water for about a day then put them in damp sand or even vermiculite which you can find anywhere you can buy seeds. Make sure it’s wet but well-drained with no standing water. After the seed has germinated you can replant it in good soil that will drain well, and fertilize it. Water it every day to make sure that the soil is moist, but beware it staying too wet. A little too much water, or too less, and the seed will die.

When you first begin growing coffee, germinate several seeds and keep track of your watering each one so you can get a feel for the right amount of waterand you’re more likely to end up with a plant instead of just a few dead seeds! Artificial indoor lighting works great for coffee plants. Once you have a plant, water about twice a week and fertilize once. In two to three years, if you care for the plant properly you can expect flowering and cherries, and if you choose, you can learn the rather detailed process required to allow you to drink the coffee your plants provide. If not, a coffee plant makes a wonderful conversation piece.