How to Drink Your Coffee, Essay Example

In this paper I will describe how a typical cup of drip coffee can be brewed at home.First, note that the following algorithm is the same whether the coffee is regular or decafe, fine or regular grind. Needed are: A) a filter (usually paper); B) its housing (usually a plastic cone); C) a mug (holding 2 cups of water); D) a teakettle to boil the water in; and E) a source of heat.

1) Empty the kettle of its old water and add a minimum of four mugs (8 cups) of fresh cold water to it; 2) bring that water to a whistling boil; 3) fill 1/4 of the mug with the kettle-water to pre-heat it; (This will also allow the heated water to cool enough to avoid scalding the coffee grounds.) 4) when the cup is nicely hot, throw out the water in it; and then 5) place the filter into its housing; (Step 5 will require folding the seam along the bottom of the filter to allow a snug fit.) 6) put the housing atop the cup; 7) add coffee to the filter; 8) scoop in to the filter an amount of coffee determined by personal taste; (Try 4 teaspoons for your first cup. Plastic coffee-scoops are often used for this task.) 9) slowly pour just enough water to soak the grounds and then let them stand at least thirty seconds. (Restaurants often omit this step, as do many home coffee-making machines.) When the grounds are soaked and have started to dry, 10) begin slowly pouring in the rest of the hot water; 11) fill gradually until the grounds-and-water level is just under the top of the filter. Do not overfill, as that can allow grounds into the cup. That is something you want to avoid — coffee is not like tea in that regard.

Lastly, 12) place the grounds into your garbage receptacle, never down the sink.