The most common method of brewing coffee today is probably the automatic drip brewer. It is by far the easiest brewing method, the key being that is it, well, automatic. You can turn it on and go start your day without a second thought and your coffee is ready to pour in just a few minutes.
The first drip brewer was developed by the Bunn Corporation back in 1963. In 1972, when baseball great Joe DiMaggio became their pitchman, the Mr. Coffee was introduced to the American public and the drip brewer supplanted the percolator in a majority of homes.
To brew coffee using an automatic drip brewer:
- Place a coffee filter of appropriate size and shape into the brew basket.
- Freshly grind your coffee beans on a medium setting and place the grounds in the basket. *
- Fill the coffee maker’s reservoir with fresh, cold water (filtered if possible).
- Turn the machine on.
- Sit back and wait, or go take a shower or something. I’m sure the dog probably needs to be let out, the cat needs to be fed or the kids need to rousted out of bed.
- If the brewer has an electric plate, remove the coffee from it as soon as it is done brewing and pour it into a thermal carafe or Thermos®. †
- Enjoy.
* Grinding should be done using a burr grinder if possible.
† We want to do this for two reasons: 1. The continued heating of the brewed coffee will cause it to become burned and not very tasty, and B. the heat plate draws a tremendous amount of energy — between 600 and 1200 watts!!
The auto-drip isn’t without it’s faults, however. As mentioned, they draw a huge amount of power and they typically don’t brew the coffee at the optimum temperature or for the correct amount of time. Too bad. We have busy lives and we don’t want to have to babysit our coffee making device when there’s important television to be watched, the Internet goes unsurfed (thanks for visiting the site! Really!) or the dogs, cats and kids won’t leave us alone for just five minutes!
Seriously, though, the auto-drip brewer is a part of American life and culture and it takes special effort to bring coffee to its full potential … but the rewards are worth the effort.