Auto-drip coffee makers can make enough coffee for the whole family and you can leave them to brew overnight but the quality of coffee produced is often wanting. It is preferred for daily use in homes and offices but maybe you’re just brewing wrong. You must be habituated with how to make coffee by auto drip coffee maker. You can improve the quality of your coffee by leaps and bounds using these simple tips and tricks.
Switch to Coffee Beans Instead
You might want to start buying whole coffee beans instead of the conventional ground coffee. Ground coffee may be more convenient and readily-available but it goes stale faster than you think, compromising the taste of your coffee. Ground coffee may also be losing a lot of essential flavours by the time it is packed.
Whole beans on the other hand stay fresher for longer and contain subtle flavours you can never get in ground coffee. Moreover if you visit a coffee roaster, you have access to a wide variety of blends of coffee beans and you can get valuable advice from coffee connoisseurs.
While grinding your own coffee, you also have control over the coarseness of the grind even with the simplest coffee grinder. You can therefore get the perfect grind for your coffee machine.
Grind your beans immediately before brewing to get the richest flavour. It will only take you a minute or two.
Get the Right Grind
The coarseness of the grind determines how long the water interacts with the coffee in the filter and getting it wrong could produce either bitter or weak coffee.
For an auto-drip machine, it is best to use a medium grind but you must also consider the type of filter you are using. Here is a breakdown of what grind is right for your filter:
- Permanent Filter (e.g. Plastic): Use a medium grind. (texture of sand)
- Cone-Shaped Filter: Use a medium to fine grind. (texture of granulated sugar)
- Flat-Bottom Filter: Use a medium grind.
The beauty of it is that you can experiment until you find the perfect grind for you. Should the coffee be bitter, use a coarser grind next time and should it be weak, use a finer grind.
Use the Right Water in the Correct Ratio
A cup of coffee is over 90% water so if the water doesn’t taste right, not even the flavour of coffee can save it. If tap water tastes a bit off, you can filter it using a filtration system. You can also use bottled water to play it safe. It is important to maintain the natural mineral content of water hence do not use distilled or softened water.
The temperature of water is very crucial. The recommended temperature for brewing coffee is between 195°F (91°C) and 205°F (96°C). Anything below or above this produces either weak or burnt coffee. If your auto-drip machine can’t attain high enough temperatures, you can do a trial run and add water without coffee. Return the hot water back into the machine and this should do the trick.
The ratio of coffee to water is probably the most crucial aspect and again, you can experiment with different ratios to get the magic number. You can start off at one tablespoon of coffee to 6 ounces (178 ml) of water and gradually increase the amount of coffee. If you’re really sceptical, you can use a scale to weigh the coffee you put in.
Do not forget to prepare a good coffee percolator to keep your coffee fresh after brewing it. In needed take idea from Get a Coffee Maker, they are doing a a hard work by compiling and reviewing the best products in the market.
Store Away and Clean
Even after brewing the perfect cup of coffee, there is still further to go. First of all, always remove the brewed coffee from the heating element or warming plate otherwise it will burn and become bitter. You can keep it in a flask or thermal carafe from where you can serve it. Some coffee machines use a thermal carafe without a heating element so you could consider splurging on one.
Auto-drip machines come with the hassle of regular cleaning but it is worthwhile if you want fresh tasting coffee every morning. If you’re brewing daily, empty out the carafe and clean it with soap and water daily. Also empty out the filter as it can get mouldy in there. You should also clean out the whole machine at least once a month using this simple hack:
- Make a mixture of equal parts water and vinegar and fill the tank with it.
- Brew the mixture like regular coffee, only without the coffee. Empty out the carafe into the tank to run the mixture through another cycle.
- Empty the carafe and clean it with soap and water.
- Run the last cycle with plain water to flush out the vinegar.
So you could actually be using good quality coffee but you’re just brewing it wrong. You can make your auto-drip coffee maker work for you by brewing the right way and cleaning it properly.
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