Where's the coffee???!!

photo found here

Is it just me? All I really want first thing in the morning is a good cup of coffee. The kind you get at nice restaurants with white linen tablecloths and served in a china cup and saucer. Is that too much to ask? I don't consider myself an excessive caffeine addict--I could do with a couple good cups in the morning and maybe one for a pick up in mid-afternoon.

But I am fussy about how it tastes. Not too weak, not too strong, not too bitter, and it HAS to be hot. Really hot.

I have tried so many different coffee pots over the years, and so many different kinds of coffee. Mr. Coffee's, Starbuck's Barista, you name it. I'm tempted to buy an old-fashioned percolator even though they are ugly, because the do make decent coffee. I think Farberware has one. None of the drip styles I've owned get hot enough for my liking. And ALL the carafe's are hard to pour without dripping. (One of our favorite gripes around the house is "they put a man on the moon decades ago, but they can't design a coffee carafe that doesn't drip!)

Right now, we are using a Keurig coffee brewer that makes one cup at a time. We bought one as a mutual Valentine's present this year. I love the fact that it is quick, I don't waste coffee by making a whole pot when I only want a cup or two, and that it is the hottest home-brewed coffee I've ever had. On the down side, even when I use coupons, the coffee is expensive--about 50 cents a cup. (I know that's not expensive compared to buying a $2.00 cup at Starbucks, but it's not very economical if you have guests and you can easily go through 60 cups in a week!)

I'm a bit nervous because we are actually on our THIRD Keurig coffee maker. The first one lasted three weeks, then started producing only partial cups. When I called the Company to see if I was doing something wrong, they very graciously told me obviously something wasn't right and they were sending me another coffee maker right away. The second one lasted three months. Then suddenly it started refusing to move the water from the holding reservoir to the area where the water heats. Again, I called the Company and this time they kept me on the phone for 45 minutes trying this and that. Finally they agreed to send me another coffee maker, provided I sent them a part from the brewer. It's been working perfectly so far--we are at the 3 week mark--so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

My older son, Andy, who IS a genuine coffee snob (*wink and smile*) insists that a French press is the only authentic way to go. I have one of those too. I admit the coffee tastes good made that way and the first pouring is nice and hot. But oh my, it is much to cumbersome for multiple cups, especially if you are serving more than one or two people. You have to boil the water, which would be to 212 degrees F, then stick a thermometer in the water and let it cool to about 185-195 degrees. You have to be very finicky about the amount of grounds you are using and they must be coarse. Andy has a friend who actually fingers through his beans, taking out all the broken ones, before he puts them into the grinder. (you read that right!) If all that isn't enough, once you pour your almost-boiling (filtered) water into the press carafe, you wait 60 seconds, then you carefully do a stir. After you wait exactly three more minutes (you must use a timer, no guessing allowed) then and only then are you ready to press the coffee and pour yourself a cup. I mean, who has time for this in the morning? Finally, you are left with a messy French press to clean by pouring some water into the carafe and then straining it through a sieve so you can toss the grounds into the trash, which of course you need to do right away because you need to make more coffee!

Now, I do use filtered water for our coffee. And we do grind our beans. We don't usually have Starbucks brand in the house (it's usually too strong and bitter for us, as well as being expensive). Keurig offers a nice variety of decent coffees, and we do enjoy several of the brands. For our everyday coffee, we often use Eight O'Clock. I can get good bargains by hunting down coupons. This morning I had a really good couple of cups of Seattle's Best "Henry's Blend" coffee. I paid a little too much for it, but someone talked me into trying it at Border's the other night. I am actually quite surprised at how good it is. I made it in our Mr. Coffee, so I still had the problem of only the first cup being hot enough for my taste.

So, WHO can rescue me from my dilemma? I'd love to hear how other coffee lovers are handling their affair!