Gourmet Coffee in Your Own Home
From the regular drip coffee maker to the old fashioned coffee perker, and even the gourmet espresso machine, coffee makers and grinders are a common kitchen gadget. Many people around the world love a fresh cup of home brewed coffee, and they like to have it on hand for guests or in the morning to go with breakfast. There are many ways to brew a fresh coffee, some requiring more work than others.
The most commonly used coffee makers are the automatic drip variety, using pre ground coffee beans place in a paper filter. While these machines don’t produce gourmet quality coffee, they are an excellent way to easily brew consistent pots of coffee, and are very economical to purchase and operate.
Single serving coffee makers are now available, which take a small packet of coffee grounds like a tea bag. The main advantage to these are that a single cup of joe can be made quickly, and there are many flavors and varieties available. Houses needing several cups at once won’t find these machines as useful or economical.
The French Press is a good way to make one or two cups of coffee. Also known as the coffee plunger, these glass and stainless steel gadgets are designed so that both the hot water and coffee are placed inside and allowed to steep briefly. Then, the plunger is pressed down, separating the grounds from the coffee. The resulting java is reported to be stronger and thicker than that made by a drip coffee machine.
Many coffee lovers would argue that the best coffee is produced by an espresso machine. Hot water is forced through very fine coffee grounds under high pressure. The resulting coffee shot is a little thicker and stronger than plain drip coffee. A cappuccino uses espresso coffee as a base, as do several other coffee drinks.
Many people like to use a coffee grinder at home to get fresh coffee grounds. Some coffee makers come with a built in grinder. There are many affordable grinders available in most department stores. This opens the door to many gourmet coffee varieties at the supermarket, from flavored beans to organic beans.
We were given a coffee machine that has a timer and a coffee grinder built into it. Every morning the preloaded coffee beans go into the grinder and grounds pour down into the filter. By the time I get up, coffee is ready. It is one of my all time favorite kitchen gadgets.