Gourmet Coffee For Coffee Lovers

It takes a little bit of skill and a little bit of instinct to make a great cup of coffee. First you must decide to you want to use ground beans or whole beans. Of course ground beans are easier.

If you are a coffee connoisseur, you'll probably have some more advanced methods. However, for the sake of the average "joe" who wants to learn how to brew a great cup of coffee without racking his brain, there are a seven simple steps to follow:

1. Always use distilled or filtered cold water whenever possible. You will get a nice clean taste.

2. Never boil your coffee or microwave it. The results is bitter taste.

3. Only use white coffee filters. Colored coffee filters contain dye which is not good if you want a pure cup of coffee.

4. Whenever possible use quality name brand filters to brew your coffee. Generic brand filters tend to clog up the coffee brewer.

5. When it is time to actually brew your coffee, use two tablespoons of premium ground gourmet coffee for every six ounces of water. This is a general rule of thumb but more or less ground coffee can be used to cater to your taste buds. If you like strong coffee, use an extra tablespoon. If you like a weaker coffee, cut it by 1/2 a tablespoon.

6. Lastly, do not sneak a taste of your brewing coffee. Wait for it to fully brew. Sneaking a taste will cause the rest of the pot to be bitter and your sneak taste will only be slightly bitter anyway.

7. Allow your coffee pot to warm slightly before beginning your actual brew.