How To Brew The Perfect Drip Coffee At Home

So you want convenience first thing in the morning!

Then drip brew is for you.

You toss in your coffee, pour in the water, add a brew time and voila, the fresh aroma of coffee will tickle your nose as you wake.

But, it’s not a set it and forget it process.

If you want delicious coffee, every morning, this method isn’t the best way to get the most from your coffee.

With some small tweaks, you’ll make sure your money is well spent, and your taste buds are treated fairly.

Here’s how to brew your coffee in a drip machine, with near perfect flavor.

The Coffee: Buy organic, quality coffee, every time.

If you’re not on the organic bandwagon, that’s fair, we guess, but when it comes to coffee, buy organic.

Here’s why:

It’s healthier

No surprise here but farm chemicals such as pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides have been shown to cause cancer and damage the reproductive and nervous systems.

Certified organic coffee contains more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants needed by the body for several health benefits such as protection from cell damages and boosting the immune system.

It’s better for the environment

Unlike your store-bought, conventional coffee, organic coffee does not promote deforestation.

It helps in the conservation of wildlife, birds, vegetation, and the prevention of soil erosion and diseases.

It better supports the farmer

Farmers who produce certified organic coffee are fair trade compliant. They’re guaranteed a higher pay rate to employees.

That’s why at JetFuel Coffee we’re committed to sourcing our coffee from a single origin, fair trade farm.

This is something we will not skimp on.

It’s also shown that organic arabica coffee beans (including the soil where it is grown) are free from residues, chemicals, and artificial fertilizers.

An additional coffee buying tip

When you’re choosing coffee for your drip machine, buy a medium roast.

A light roast can lose too much flavor, and dark will be too strong.

The Machine: Don’t skimp on a cheap machine and keep it clean.

Cheap coffee makers are made, well you guessed it, cheaply. They don’t get hot enough to brew correctly.

When choosing your machine, you don’t need to break the bank.

Buy something simple that’s made well. You want to choose one that has a metal carafe and no heating pad.

More on this in the last section.

Choose your filter wisely.

White coffee filters, which are bleached, don’t change your coffee's taste. Only a minimal amount of bleach is used, but for us, we’ll avoid as much bleach as we can.

We’re not on a mission to inspect filter companies bleaching methods, which is why we prefer brown, minimally processed coffee filters.

A good practice is to rinse your paper filters with cold water before you brew. It primes the filter for filtration and gets rid of tiny impurities.

This doesn’t apply when you’re using a permanent gold mesh filter.

Keep it clean

If daily coffee is your thing, like all of us here at JetFuel Coffee, it's essential to clean and spray out the carafe daily. Unless you like the taste of yesterdays brew.

You’ll also need to clean the whole system once a month. It’s not hard, and with a little vinegar, you’ll be all set.

Here are the steps:

• Fill the tank with a 50/50 measure of vinegar and water.
• Run the vinegar and water mixture through a brew cycle just as you would regularly make a pot of coffee (without grounds!).
• When it finishes, pour the mixture from the carafe back into the tank and rerun the process.
• Dump the mix from the carafe and scrub the pot with soap and water.
• Run one more cycle with regular water to flush out any remaining vinegar.

The Measurement: One tablespoon of coffee every six ounces is a good start.

Now to the good stuff. Measuring.

Everyone has a preferred taste. Some strong. Some mild.

For the generalist, 1 or 2 tablespoons of ground coffee per six ounces of water is perfect.

Test different measurements on the "cup lines" of your brewer to see how they actually measure.

Different brewers gauge cups differently so it might not be precisely six ounces.

For a 12 cup brewer, we suggest 14 level tablespoons of ground coffee, or 15 if you’re brewing a dark roast.

The post-brew: Take it off the heat.

One of the easiest ways to ruin a good cup of coffee is by leaving it on the heating element.

If you're using a coffee maker with a glass carafe, immediately take it off the warming plate.

The warming plate is the reason coffee burns and gets bitter.

Once the coffee is finished brewing, pour it into a thermal carafe and serve it from there.

When choosing your coffeemaker, pick one that pours directly into a thermal carafe.

They typically don't use the heating element that burns the coffee.

If you follow these simple steps, you’ll be sure to have a fantastic cup of JetFuel Coffee with your drip machine, every time.