My friends call me "The Java Mama."
If you're like me, the very first thing you do in the morning is stumble to
the kitchen, peel open one eye just wide enough to get a blurry view of the
coffee maker and fumble through the same old routine. The hardest thing is to
get just ONE filter from the stack and occaionally you just have to settle for
two or three. Anything to get your caffiene IV started. After the first cup
may the day begin.
Welcome to Coffee 101
Think you don't need any pointers on making a cuppa joe?
Maybe you don't... but read on and you may be surprised. Anyone can make
a plain old avereage cup of coffee... how would you like to make great coffee?
It's simple and tastier than you can imagine in your own kitchen.
Coffee Makers:
Any coffee maker will do to JUST make coffee
but some coffee makers are better than others. Some coffee makers will simply
last longer as well. Now, I'm not saying you should run out and purchase a new
coffee maker or even one that I suggest. All I can do is give my advice from
my personal experience. As far as I'm concerned Mr. Coffee makers are
simply the best maker you can get for a decent price. You can pick one up for
approximately $40.00. The best one is the model that allows you to control the
burner temperature. Temperature control at the burner is very important...
not for the first cup maybe but the subsequential cups after will taste better
if the temperature is lowered. This will keep your coffee from aquiring that
nasty "burned/bitter" flavor quite so quickly- allowing you more time and
pleasure from each pot.
Cleaning Coffee Makers:
To clean your coffee maker you will need some white vinegar. Put one
cups worth of white vinegar into your coffee decanter and fill it to the 10
(or twelve-depending on the size of your maker) cup marker with cold water.
Now, run this mixture through your coffee maker- no need to use a filter.
It will smell bad... you know... like hot vinegar (bleh). If the water comes
through quite dirty then dump out the mixture and repeat with a fresh
vinegar and water solution. Once the mixture runs through clear then you
will need to run about 5 more pots of pure cold water through to get the
vinegar flavor out.
Cleaning Coffee Decanter:
Put about 5 or 6 tablespoons of salt into the decanter, 3 or 4 ice
cubes and a couple of cups of cold water into the decanter. Now, swirl
this mixture around- it will gently remove the coffee stains. Dab a rag into
the mix to gently scrub away anything hard to get off or on the outside
of the decanter. Once clean, rinse and dry thoroughly.
Coffees:
Oh, so many to choose from!!! This, basically, boils down to pure taste.
On a day to day basis most people I know cannot afford luxury coffees.
Most of the recipies, etc. that I will give are based on the use of
Folgers or Chock Full 'O Nuts. Both are very good basic coffees
although I am a slight bit more partial to Chock Full 'O Nuts which
you cannot find everywhere. Folgers you can.
Someday I will be able to afford
Jamaican Blue Mountain. (LOL!)
I've never had it but supposedly it is the Coffee of Coffees. A 16 oz.
bag of the roasted beans costs about $30.00. Ouch.
Water:
Yes, there something about the water as well. ONLY use COLD
water to make coffee. Why? Because coffee makers heat water to the proper
coffee making temperature based on the assumption that the water poured into
the maker will be cold. If you pour in warm or hot water the coffee maker will
overheat the water and your coffee will not taste as good. Not to mention be
hot enough to peel the skin off your tounge.
Salt or ground Egg Shells?
I have heard it said that if you add a teaspoon of salt or some finely
ground egg shells into your coffee filter with your coffee it will
taste better. I have known people to swear by this. I have tried
both methods and have noticed no real difference in the taste of my coffee.
But, please feel free to try it yourself- you may like it alot. Who knows?
Coffee Add- In's:
Go to your local grocery store and talk a walk down the coffee aisle. So much
stuff to add into your coffee. What's good? Mostly we just settle for a
flavored creamer or a preground flavored coffee... or just plain creamer
and just plain coffee. Why? Because our kids are asking us a bizzilion questions,
grabbing stuff, the din of noise in the store is loud, you worked all day and your
tired, head hurts and you just don't FEEL like standing there for even two more
seconds to read the labels on all the coffees, syrups and the like. It's
okay, grab that plain coffee, plain creamer and one of those canisters of
cocoa mix and head for the BAKING AISLE!!! You need another bag of sugar anyway.
Now, grab a bag of brown sugar. No, not that granulated raw sugar most coffee
places pass out- I mean good old fashioned brown sugar for baking. Also, pick up
a little bottle of peppermint extract and a little bottle of vanilla extract.
Since you need to pick up some juice bars for the kiddies go ahead and pick up
a tub of that great dessert friend Cool Whip. Now, you're about ready to make
some coffee magic!
Read the recipies below and select what sounds good to determine what you
actually need:
Note: You will notice that there are alot of
"approximately"s and "about"s in these recipies. This is because Everyone has
different tastes. I usually like the more extreme end of the flavors so if I
just say, "you HAVE to add this much" it may be too strong or too rich for
others. Coffee drinks are something you have to experiment with to get
Perfection for yourself.
Index:
Non- Alcoholic
Alcoholic
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