Coffee...my most or at least close to my most favorite inanimate thing in the world. I love the smell, the color, the taste and how great a hot cup of coffee in a porcelain mug feels in ones hand. I also love how easy it is to feed this addiction... coffee is accessible everywhere and it is more than culturally acceptable (especially for a nurse) to sometimes dream of an IV drip filled with steaming hot coffee. I guess you could also say coffee is something that brings people together, friends, family, co-workers and lets face it we have all been on a coffee date. See coffee is awesome.
Now here is the beef. Why are so few people capable of making a decent cup of coffee? No offense to anyone in particular but of all of the places (besides a coffee house) that I have been to enjoy a cup of coffee, especially at friends homes, it usually sucks. So...
Here is how I make coffee ( inspired by my mum and my dad..), I almost guarantee you will skip the Timmy's drive through on the way to work and invest in a good travel mug (look at you saving money AND the environment). But I don't promise anything!
-start with the basics...you need coffee beans (fair trade if you can find them), much better than pre-ground coffee and easy got get a hold of. I recommend 49th parallel ( available at Steve-O -Renos and Two If By Sea), Just Us ( Just Us cafe,sobeys or farmers market), Ginger bread Haus`s German Blend or Caledonia House ( PEI farmers market). If you really are lazy, you can buy preground beans from anywhere at any price point! Just don`t get instant coffee or decaf, because decaf is sac religious. That my friends is a fact. If you are a decaf drinker, you better have a heart condition /some other medical condition or we probably can`t be friends.
-coffee grinder, doesn`t have to be anything fancy, rumor has it a magic bullet can even do the trick
-coffee machine of any variety
-tap water haha
...now here is the kicker... use minimum of one very heaping (probably really two) tablespoons per two cups of water on your coffee pot. Aka...fill your pot to the level eight because you..
1) are having people over or
2) plan on sitting there are drinking an entire pot in one sitting (totally my style...don't forget the tums)
..with eight cups of water you need a MINIMUM of four very heaping ( probably eight) tablespoons of freshly ground coffee...got it? Loader up and press start...Voila!!! Perfect cup of coffee, guaranteed to please everyone.
Wanna get fancy? Try sprinkling some ground cinnamon on the grounds before percolating. Nutmeg is nice as well. Wanna get extra fancy? Try half of a vanilla bean...or the left over pod from some of your baking adventures.
Lastly, what I think is the final step to the perfect cup of coffee (or any hot beverage) and this step is often overlooked, invest in a comfortable mug. Yes I know this seems petty and insignificant but we all have had an uncomfortable mug in our hands at one point. Maybe it's too large in diameter to fit comfortably in your hand or maybe the handle is too square or not quite big enough to fit you fingers...regardless test drive those babies before you make a purchase. I have spent many an afternoon at Pier 1, Home Sense and even the dollar store testing out mugs like a crazy person and getting whomever happens to be with me to try them out as well. Now I have a collection or coordinating mugs that make coffee drinking even more pleasurable.
-m
supplies
whole beans..these are Just Us
Grinder pulvorizes those beans..
Cinnamon is my favorite to add...but just a sprinkle
This is my heaping tablespoon...could be two normal ones!
Comfy mug, hot coffee and dress it up however you like!
And just because the perfect cup of joe needs company..
-m.
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