How To Make Coffee

Coffee has come a long way from the legendary story of Kaldi, an Arabian goat-herder, noticing how his animals would react by jumping around and appearing to dance after nibbling on a shrub sprouting bright red cherry-like berries. Upon further investigation and a taste test, giving him a euphoria never before experienced, coffee was discovered. Even the monks of that era started using the elixir before their early-morning prayer sessions.

Even though coffeehouses have been around since the 15th century, modern-day coffeehouses, cafes, and coffee bars have increased our consumption of coffee to all-time highs. Sure, coffeehouses, such as Starbucks, are great gathering places and somewhere to get that quick pick-me-up, but are our tastebuds suffering? Have we sacrificed flavor for convenience?

With numerous cups of research, let's make one person's opinion of an excellent cup of coffee.

You will need:

1. Whole coffee beans. Flavored coffee beans are interesting, if you are looking for a new flavor, but breakfast blends and dark-roasted beans offer the most flavor.
2. Coffee grinder. This grinder should be dedicated to grinding coffee only. If you want to use a grinder for cooking with whole spices, have another grinder just for that purpose so these flavors are not imparted to the coffee.
3. Coffee press. Presses come in numerous sizes, but by making smaller servings of coffee, you will enjoy hot, satisfying coffee, one to two cups at a time. A favorite coffee press comes from Bodum.
4. Water. Tap water, or the water you are the most used to drinking, is preferable. Distilled water or bottled water may not offer the same flavors.

Process:

1. Place whole coffee beans in grinder. A 12-oz coffee press, which provides three mugs of coffee, would need 5 scoops (using a coffee scoop).
2. Grind the beans. When grinding the beans, do not pulverize the coffee. Leave it as a rough chop. This would be 3-4 quick pulses of the grinder.
3. Place coffee in coffee press.
4. Heat water to boiling.
5. Pour water over coffee and let sit for 4 minutes. This gives enough time for the flavor to settle down from the top downward without the coffee cooling too much.
6. Press down ground coffee. Do this slowly, as the liquid needs to work through the press. The ground coffee will then be trapped at the bottom.

Enjoy for your cup of coffee:

• Black coffee. You will enjoy the fullness of the coffee flavor.
• White coffee. Add sugar and cream to taste and a smooth flavor is created.
• Liquid or dry creamers. Experiment with creamers on the market, but to get the fullest flavor with the creamers, be sure to use non-flavored coffee.
• Cinnamon coffee. Add a teaspoon of cinnamon when you are grinding the coffee beans for a flavored coffee. Be sure to clean the grinder afterward unless you want a cinnamon-flavored coffee next time.
• Commercially-flavored coffees. So now, branch out and experiment. These are your taste buds to be satisfied!