How To Brew Great Coffee With An Automatic Drip Machine
Are Coffee Pot's Still Relevant?
Ask any coffee enthusiast about their favourite brewing method and you can guarantee you will get more information than you could ever have wished for. From meticulous hand made pour-overs, to extravagant espresso machines, one can begin to feel like their one button, automatic drip machine is inadequate.
Do not despair, the great news is that you can make great tasting, specialty coffee on your standard home coffee pot. As long as you are utilizing high quality, freshly roasted coffee, grinding correctly before each brew and using the right coffee:water ratio - you can achieve cafe quality results!
The Automatic Drip Machine: America's Choice
The classic American drip coffee machine, affectionately known as batch brew or the "coffee pot," reigns supreme as the go-to home brewing method across North America. Its widespread popularity in the hustle and bustle of American culture is well-earned. These machines effortlessly brew clean tasting, balanced and thinner-bodied cups of coffee, in large quantities, that most people will find enjoyable without sacrificing their precious time.
A Brief History:
The evolution of drip coffee machines began in 1908 and was pioneered by a German housewife Melitta Bentz, who was the founder of Melitta Coffee Company and invented the iconic Melitta electric drip brewer. Her ingenuity introduced a method that highlighted the intricacies of coffee, utilizing a filter crafted from blotting paper to allow for a sediment-free, nuanced extraction.
Overtime, the legacy of drip brewing continued to be refined, culminating in the 1970s with the advent of Mr. Coffee, a milestone that brought the convenience of specialty drip brewing into countless American homes.
Today, the specialty coffee industry boasts fully programmable precision brewers featuring expansive shower heads that thoroughly saturate the coffee grounds and grant the user complete control over crafting their brewing experience.
How To Make Great Drip Coffee At Home
Despite the claims of coffee aficionados, the latest models of these machines are fully capable of producing the same nuanced cup profiles and crisp flavour that you would expect from a pour-over – and even produce them more consistently. The challenge lies in achieving the craft nature of a pour-over, where experimentation with variables such as brew ratio, time, pour pattern, and frequency can really pull out a coffee’s delicate characteristics.
To craft a stellar pot of coffee using a drip coffee machine, follow the below steps:
Begin by filling the water reservoir with fresh, cold water, ensuring you measure according to the desired number of cups.
Place a clean paper filter in the brew basket and add coarsely ground coffee, aiming for one to two tablespoons per six ounces of water – (if measuring in grams think 11 grams per every 175mls of water)
To improve the extraction, and flavour, consider programming a bloom function if your machine offers this feature. Blooming allows a short pause after wetting the grounds to let the coffee release gases and ensures all the grounds get an even saturation of water.
Activate the machine, and let it perform its magic. As the water heats, it will drip over the coffee grounds, extracting the rich flavors and aromas.
Congratulations, you can now enjoy the fruits of your labour, your delicious brew is ready to be enjoyed by your household (or just by you😉)
*If your coffee machine features a warming plate beneath the carafe, it is advisable to retrieve your flavorful pot of coffee promptly. This is essential as your freshly brewed coffee may still contain dissolvable particles that can continue to extract on the warming plate, potentially imparting a baked, bitter, and hollow taste to your coffee!
Happy Brewing!
