The Reluctant Carnivore: The Perfect Cup of Coffee

Why so many steps?
I'll be the first to admit this: I'm a bit of a coffee snob. =P Since I almost always drink my coffee black, I taste a lot of subtle flavours that are masked by creamer & sugar. If you like to flavour your coffee, that's cool with me. About four years ago, though, I realised that "good" coffee isn't bitter, overly acidic, metallic, watery, or any of the other nasty tastes that people try to hide. To try and learn what makes a "good coffee," I stopped using flavours. If you're drinking something brewed properly, it'll taste really, really delicious without the need for creamers. Or at least, I think so. Your milage may vary.

The best two cups of coffee I've ever had were:
1. The T-discs of Henry's Blend (Seattle's Best Coffee), brewed in a Tassimo pod coffee maker. Of course, these pods are no longer made. *sigh*
2. Room service french-press coffee at a Ritz-Carlson, tried on a whim while in Atlanta for PittCon (scientific convention; I was presenting some recently published research).

Since I don't live at the Ritz-Carlson, and those particular T-discs are no longer made, I had to find another way to brew coffee. The AeroPress turned out to be my answer. After some research, I read that the it was the both the slight pressure exerted by the Tassimo coffee maker during brewing + the proper temperature water that made the pod Henry's Blend coffee taste so different from standard drip Henry's Blend coffee. The Aeropress is a hand-press coffee maker (see pictures below for how it works), so it exerts a small amount of pressure as you extract the steeped coffee. Combine that with an electric kettle with temperature control, and you get an amazing cup of coffee. It's not quite the same as the T-disc brew, but it's close enough -- and delicious in its own way.

The electric kettle I use is the very long-named Cuisinart CPK-17 PerfecTemp 1.7-Liter Stainless Steel Cordless Electric Kettle." It heats water quickly (unbelievably so -- the stove kettle at my grandmother's house now seems to take forever) and has six temperature choices designed for types of tea.

What you'll need

Cuisinart Electric Kettle; or a stove kettle, a thermometer, and patience
An AeroPress
Coffee (I use Henry's Blend, now renamed "Level 4" -- see picture below)

One awesome electric kettle. ♥ Haha.
The ideal temp depends on what blend you're using. Aeropress instructions say 160F; I prefer 175F for Henry's Blend. Since I store coffee in the fridge, I heat my water to 190F to compensate for the temperature difference.

The brand of coffee:

Components of the Aeropress:

1. Place filter on filter holder.

2. Assemble filter + body of AeroPress (it twists to close)

3. Decide how many shots of espresso you want, and add that many scoops of coffee. I'm making 2 shots.

4. There are numbers on the body of the AeroPress; add heated water up to the number of scoops of coffee you added. Stir with stirrer.

5. I usually find that the water level drops as soon as I start stirring, so I add a bit more water. Then stir for 10 seconds. It's okay if some water trickles through while you stir, I just like to compensate for that initial drop.

6. Briefly rinse the end of the plunger in hot water (I use some of what's left in the kettle), then .s.l.o.w.l.y. press down. Aim for 20 seconds or more.