I grant you that I am a coffee snob– not of the highest order by any means, but I have a fairly particular set of criteria that need to be met in order for me to truly enjoy a cup. I understand that for a LOT of people, drinking coffee is less about the enjoyment of the beverage, and more about getting a fix. That is to say, they couldn’t give a shit what kind of coffee it is or what it tastes like, as long as it resembles coffee.
I have to take issue with this, for the same reason that I would take issue with someone that insists on drinking the milk after its expired– there is NO JUSTIFIABLE REASON to put yourself through that. Let me go over just a couple basic steps you can take to improve y0ur coffee experience, all of which require virtually no effort, and none of which I routinely observe people doing:
- Wash the carafe on a daily basis. Most folks keep the coffeemaker in the kitchen. The sink is right there, and there is probably dish soap nearby as well. For those of you at work, if you have running water (and if you’re making coffee, you probably do), there’s no excuse not to as least wipe that mother out every day before you fill it back up.
- Wash your cup on a daily basis. Hey, why not take BOTH to the sink at the same time???
- Make an effort to clean the coffeemaker itself every 2 months or so. Do I sense a theme here? Absolutely! Yes, drinking the rancid remnants of pots gone by is affecting the taste of your beverage. Mix up a clear vinegar solution (mostly vinegar), drop an empty filter in the basket, and run the vinegar through on a regular brew cycle. Follow it up with 2 or 3 rounds of fresh water, just to rinse everything out. I know that this is the hardest of the three steps, and the one least likely to be taken, but it does make a difference.
All right, then, back to my very mediocre cup of work-brewed coffee…