Perfect Brew

My wife has been giving me a hard time about my 'coffee knowledge' saying, and I quote, "What do you know about coffee?" "Plenty," I respond, "what do you know about teaching?" So we go back a forth, it's fun. But that is not what I'm here to talk about this morning. I want to talk about brewing the perfect cup of coffee.

There are two main ingredients to making the perfect coffee. The first is obvious coffee, the second may be less obvious water. We will start with the first.

Coffee - many today make a big deal about making sure it is whole bean and that you only grind enough for the amount you're making. That is ok advice but it starts before that. You have to find the coffee that you like best. Yes there are different types of coffee out there, crazy I know. There are Latin American beans, Arabian beans, African beans, Asian beans, basically any place that starts with an 'A' has a coffee bean. You have to figure out which is you favorite. This will take time and money but keep at it and enjoy the process. My personal favorite is called Sumatra. I prefer it light roasted but even dark it is better than any other coffee I have tasted. So make sure you have the type of bean you like!

Water - coffee is 99% water. Hot water is what you are drinking when you drink coffee, so why people use the water straight from their tap is a mystery to me. Tap water is full of chlorine and other 'stuff' that needs to be filtered out before making coffee. I suggest either filtering the water or using bottled water. I know what some of you are going to say, 'that is so expensive'. No offense but a flat of water at Costco is $4.49 so I think you can swing it, even if you bought one a week.

So there you have it. Beans and water, that is all you need for the perfect cup of joe. Good luck with finding your favorite beans and remember to keep on brewin'.