Ways to Make Coffee at Home

Different Types of Coffee Machines for the Home

Making coffee at home sounds so simple: mix hot water and ground coffee, then drink. But it's also so simple to spoil home-made coffee, creating a beverage that may look like coffee, but that tastes like mud. Take the proper care to learn the ways of making coffee at home and you'll be much less likely to be serving cups of mud.

Boiling Coffee

Boiling is the most ancient method. Think of those old American Western movies where the grizzled cook keeps a hot pot of coffee on the campfire. Invariably, when a cowboy fills a metal cup from that pot and takes a sip, there's an instant grimace. Yes, it tastes awful, because that's what boiling does, reducing ground coffee to a bitter tannin-rich bad-tasting blend. Adding eggshells or an actual raw egg to the pot serves only to keep the coffee grounds separate from the brew, but does nothing for the taste. The best you can do if you absolutely must boil coffee is to start with a medium grind of coffee, two level tablespoons per cup plus one more for the pot. Dump the ground coffee into cold water and bring the water to a boil and keep at a boil for no more than five minutes. Add cold water to settle the grounds and drink immediately.

Arabic and Turkish Style Coffee

Boiling is still being used today to make very strong Arabic or Turkish coffee. A powdered grind is used, with much less per pot -- at most, two heaping teaspoons per cup is used. Sugar, if any, is added to the cold water along with the coffee before boiling begins -- stir to ensure that all the sugar dissolves and all the coffee grounds sink to the bottom. Put the pot on the heat and start a boil. Remove and let cool a minute or so. Put back on the heat and bring to a boil again, then remove from the heat once more. Repeat this process one more time. Foam should now top the coffee in the pot. The goal when slowly pouring Turkish coffee from the pot to the cup is to "encourage" the foam. Brewing and serving Turkish coffee is indeed an art. Variations exist throughout the Middle East.

Coffee Percolators

Percolating coffee is both the easiest way to make coffee and the most popular. A finely ground coffee is used in a special pot that has a perforated metal holder for the coffee, heating elements for the water and tubing to circulate the water against the coffee grounds. The proportions mentioned above, two level tablespoons per cup plus one for the pot, are used to measure out the coffee. Fill the pot with cold water, plug the percolator in and switch it on. Percolation of the hot water will begin within two or three minutes and the coffee will be ready within fifteen minutes. Percolators can be bought in a coffee-pot size or as large urns that can produce a dozen or more cups of coffee.

Espresso Machines

The espresso machine, also called a mocha or moka machine, might be considered a step between the percolator and the filter coffee makers. Coffee beans are ground very fine. Hot water is forced under pressure though the grounds contained in a removable filter basket. An espresso machine may also have a steam wand to heat and froth the milk added at the end of the process. Rather than try to brief you on all the intricacies of espresso coffee making, we refer you instead to the instruction manual that came with your espresso machine.

Filtering

Filtering is the last and best method for making coffee, with many varieties of machines and filters. In general, boiling water flows over coffee grounds suspended against a filter which keeps the coffee particles out of your hot beverage. Each machine works best with its own level of grind, but all use the same proportions of only two level teaspoons per cup - forget the "one for the pot" measure here. The types of filter machines used today are the automatic-drip, the manual-drip, the vacuum or siphon coffee maker and the French press or Cafetiere.

Automatic Drip Coffee

The automatic drip is one step up from the percolator. Grind the beans finely, put the grounds in the basket with a paper filter, pour in cold water and turn the machine on. The water is heated and drawn over the grounds - coffee drips into the pot. You'll get a drinkable cup of coffee.

Manual Drip Coffee

The manual-drip coffee maker puts you in charge. Grind the beans to a fine consistency while the water is coming to a boil in the kettle. Put the grounds in the filter holder along with either a paper, nylon or cloth filter - cloth is best. After the water boils, pour the hot water slowly over the grounds, saturating the grind before adding the rest of the water. Stir the grind within the filter to make sure it's thoroughly wetted. Let the coffee drip into the pot for two minutes and remove the filter and grounds when fully dripped. Stir the pot of coffee before pouring.

Vacuum and Pouch Coffee Makers

The vacuum or siphon coffee maker uses the pressure created by a vacuum to force water through coffee grounds of a medium grind with some coarseness. Invented in the 1830s, this device consists of two strong glass or plastic chambers connected by tubing. Cold water is heated in one of the chambers and thermal expansion forces the water into the other chamber containing the coffee grounds. The heat is removed and the vacuum left in the first chamber pulls the hot water back through the grounds against a screen filter into the first chamber. Due to the vacuum differential, the coffee maker must be disassembled to pour the coffee out. Timing rather than manual intervention is the important factor when using a coffee maker of this type - check the intervals in your vacuum coffee-maker's manual.

Cafetiere Coffee

The French press or Cafetiere creates a strong thick rich coffee. A plunger presses hot water through a filter containing medium grind coffee - that's all there is to it. invented over a century ago, the French press follows almost the same process as that for the manual-drip coffee-maker. Pre-heat the brewing vessel with boiling water and drain. Fill the wire-screen filter with the proper amount of ground coffee and add water that has been off the boil for two minutes. Saturate and stir the grounds, then add the rest of the hot water. Let sit with the lid closed for four minutes. Push down the plunger to compress the grounds.