A New Coffee Pot...

Here I am about to enter the fray of the online blog world. Well, I can’t think of a better place to start then with coffee.

I love coffee. It may well be my life blood (it could be debated that chai, hummus or peanut butter also fill that role in my life). Over the years, I’ve switched from this type of brewing, to a new device and over and over. I had a relatively inexpensive Black and Decker coffee pot for quite some time, and it did the job. In college, a buddy of mine was dating a barista and new coffee devices starting showing up in our apartment. This is where I first encountered the French Press, specifically the Bodum French Press (the linked model is a newer version than mine).

I bought one a few years later and it became my go to coffee preparation method. Then, I went to grad school. One winter, I was visiting my brother and sister-in-law and they introduced me to the Keurig Machine. I thought this was amazing. I had encountered it once while I was taking Real Estate prep course, and figured it was some industrial level coffee machine, but here it was, in my brother’s kitchen. I was very impressed by the device, so much so that my parents gave me one for Christmas. I made great use of this device during my various paper writing sessions in grad school. Hell, it got me through my thesis.

As time moves on though, I began to question the device. It made a single cup of coffee easily attainable, but the coffee was usually weak and then you had a piece of plastic to throw away. Then I moved to buying better, specialized coffees. I purchased the add-on to use the coffee of your choice. This proved to be messy and time consuming. This was a similar experience I had with the French Press. The clean-up was a pain in the ass. I found various methods to improve on the time consumption for both of these coffee brewing methods (usually involved a paper towel or two set in the sink and then slowly washing out the grounds into the paper towel, then disposal in the trash). This too was a pain in the ass. The best K-Cups I have found to date are those made by Kauai Coffee. They have a little bit of plastic, but the majority of the cup is a strong paper filter. I felt better about getting these, and the coffee was better. Still, it was expensive for the amount of coffee I like to drink.

I’ve moved around quite a bit over the years and the places I end up staying usually has a coffee pot, but I found that reverting back to the French Press was the way to go. I still spend a lot of time in hotels, so I picked up the Bodum Electric Kettle. This thing has been great. It’s not too big (although they have bigger models) and it’s not too small. I can fit it into my suit case along with the French Press, a bag of my favorite coffee and I’m good to go. Well, this lasted for a while and is still a great option, but that clean up is a pain. Especially in a hotel. So, for road adventures and hotel living I’ve switched to bringing the kettle, my favorite mug and instant coffee packets.  I know, you’re thinking “ew.”

But, I gotta say, the instant coffee world has come a long way. I tend to go for the Nescafe Taster's Choice Hazelnut option. The packets work well as a one packet to 8 oz of water ratio. My mug is 14 oz, so I use two packets. Why don’t I just use the coffee in the hotel? Even though this is instant coffee, I still think it’s better than the hotel coffee and it gives me a little bit of purpose in the morning besides groggily stumbling to the breakfast room for toasted English muffins and peanut butter (I toast the hotel provided English muffin in the hotel toaster and then add my store bought natural peanut butter in my room, because, it’s what I do). Anyway, that’s hotel living.

Now, for the home. I kept the kettle/French Press method going for years. My old Black and Decker coffee pot as well as my Keurig machine were still boxed and in my parents attic with the majority of my things. I finally landed a position that I thought would keep me in one place for a while. I was wrong, I still find myself in hotels quite often, but I have had more office time. So, I moved halfway across the country and I looked at my new apartment. I had very little around me. I didn’t bring much. So, I decided that it would all begin in the kitchen. Coffee would be the bridge to build the rest of my domestic habitat. I thought I would go with a new Keurig machine, but the same dilemmas existed. I had the French Press, but I wanted something else. A coffee pot. I needed a new coffee pot.

So, I went to the store. I looked at a bunch of different kinds. I looked online, I compared. I wasn’t going to make this decision lightly. I probably overthought it but, in the end, I found the one for me. Bodum has been a constant company surrounding my coffee products, and I decided to trust them again with their coffee pot. The Bodum Coffee Machine then entered my life (the E-Bodum Bistro 12 Cup Coffee Dripper). It’s been great. It brews the coffee and keeps it warm. I can use paper filters and easily discard them. Once I’m done with the large packet I purchased, I’m going to switch to Bamboo filters. I think that will be the best choice I can make. Anyway, with this new coffee pot, I had to discover the best way to brew the coffee. For anyone who knows me, I make strong coffee. I like to chew it. This does not mean it is good coffee. I’ve been scorned many times by people either not enjoying the coffee or, because a job had a long drive between home base and the work area, and the person usually took a nap in between. I had made the coffee so strong, their nap was ruined. Whoops.

So, experimentation. I started with the supplied tablespoon. I compared and I measured. Coffee pots are strange. They say 4-12 Cups on the outside, but those do not equate to the 1 cup = 8 oz that I would expect. Rather, 1 cup according to coffee pots equals about 4 oz. Now, to make things more confusing, most coffee packages tell you to use 1-2 tablespoon of coffee per 6 fl oz of water. What?

So, it’s not a one to one correlation between the coffee pot measurements and the tablespoon of coffee. You can do the one to one method and get decent coffee. That’s usually what I did. Sometimes I added a few more in, because, well, strong coffee. In my “too strong coffee days” I would eye ball it. Just pour until it looked right. Now, I’ve finally found the right amount for me. I fill the coffee pot just past the 6 cup mark (usually at the top of the mug picture) and I use 1/3 cup of coffee. This gets me about 3 full cups of coffee in the morning and unless I throw in some extra (because strong coffee), then it’s usually about right. I haven’t tried it yet, but I imagine using 2/3 cups of coffee would work well for a full pot.
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Anyway, the Bodum Coffee Machine has been great. It has an auto-brew function, so if I wanted it to start brewing at 6 am while I’m still hitting snooze, it would. I haven’t trusted that yet, but perhaps one day. It’s not overly complicated. The top lid is clear. I lift it up for an hour or so after the machine has cooled down to let the built up moisture dry out. The only complaint I have about the system is the rounded shape. I like the shape, it’s sleek and has that Bodum look, but it’s difficult to see the water gauge on the side. I have to spin the machine to the left to see where to fill the water tank to. This is a very small complaint and there are many ways around it. All in all, I really like this system and look forward to it making me coffee for the years to come.

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A quick note about this picture. You'll notice that the filters I have are not right for this coffee pot. It takes cone filters. I just bought the wrong ones and have been working my way through the mistake. Slowly.