Well, maybe not toss your machine – keep it around for dinner parties and such. If you are like most of us, you probably don’t really make more than one or two cups in the morning to take to work on your morning commute in a travel mug, so why make a full pot – you make 10-12 cups, take 2 , and then the rest just sits there until the thing clicks off after a few hours of non-use. Why not make a fresh cup of coffee every time, in usually less time than it takes to make a pot. You will need:
- A hot water pot. Our favorite one is the Zojirushi – get one that is sized for your family. Most of them even have a timer so that the water is boiled just before you need it
- A ceramic or plastic filter holder
- Cone filters – you need a #2, usually Melitta brand filter, for a single cup
- A burr grinder for best coffee taste
- Coffee – we recommend Blue Bottle, any of theirs will do, but you can use your favorite whole bean blend from your favorite coffee shop. Starbucks Tribute blend, which is in stores now for a limited time, is really nice.
- A spoon
- A mug for the coffee to go into – travel mug or ceramic
Step by step instructions
- Make sure that you have enough hot water already boiled in the pot
- Set the grinder to the middle for a medium grind
- Grind the beans for about 20 seconds per cup of coffee.
- Put the filter holder over the mug
- Put a filter in the holder
- Put a small amount of boiling water from the hot water dispenser in a teapot with a spout
- Thoroughly wet the filter with the hot water in the teapot. This does two things – it heats the mug and it helps the filter to stick to the side of the holder
- Spill out the water after it drips into the mug
- Replace the filter holder with the wet filter on top of the mug
- Refill the teapot with hot water, enough for a cup of coffee
- Pour the ground beans into the wet filter
- Using the teapot, pour the water around the edges of the filter, between the top of the filter and the grounds of the coffee, until the filter is full of water
- Take the spoon and stir until the coffee gets creamy looking
- Once the coffee has run into the cup, refill the filter again, this time without stirring. Try to run the water around the edges of the coffee again, between the coffee and the edge of the filter
- Watch out! If you are using a ceramic filter holder then you will not be able to see if your cup is overflowing. Check it periodically to make sure that you haven’t put in too much water.
And that is it – in about the same amount of time it will take you to setup a coffee machine, you have a single cup of fresh hot coffee. Enjoy!