How to Brew Coffee with a Coffee Maker
When brewing in the wee hours of the morning on a work day, for family and friends, nothing is easier than brewing a pot of coffee with an electric coffee maker. With the right coffee maker, it is possible to get a good cup of coffee with your home brewer.
How Electric Coffee Makers Work
Essentially, electric coffee makers simulate making a pour-over for you by dispursing hot water over ground coffee in a brew basket lined with a filter and into a carafe. Each home brewer has a reservoir, shower head, brew basket, and a carafe or vessel for brewed coffee.
The reservoir holds and heats the water to make your coffee. The quality of the heating element within the electric brewer will impact the quality of your brewed coffee. Some brewers do a better job at keeping water at a consistent brewing temp than others. Coffee brewers that brew with water either too hot or too cold will impact the taste of the final brew.
The brew basket holds a paper filter that contains the ground coffee. As hot water saturates the ground coffee, it passes through the filter into the carafe.
The shower head distributes the hot water over the ground coffee in the brew basket. The shape of the shower head and how effectively it saturates all of the ground coffee in the basket impact the extraction during brewing.
The carafe holds your final brewed masterpiece. Usually made of metal or glass. Brewers with glass carafes often have a heating plate below the carafe designed to keep your coffee warm. This design continues to cook your coffee which will cause it to taste bitter the longer it “cooks”. Look for a coffee maker that is double-walled insulated that will keep your coffee hot rather than cooking it.
Coffee Water Ratio
We recommend a coffee ratio of 16:1. This translates to 12 grams of coffee (roughly 2 tablespoons) for every 6oz cup of coffee
Grind Size
We recommend a medium grind size with a consistency similar to table salt. If your coffee tastes sour, the grind is too small and if it tastes bitter, the grind is too coarse.
Use our grind guide to learn more about coffee grinding.
Coffee Maker Recipe:
Water: 1 Liter of water
Coffee: 62g
Grind: Medium
Add the proper amount of cold water to the water reservoir. You can use the graduated markings on the water reservoir.
Grind coffee to medium grind size.
Place your coffee filter within the brew basket and add ground coffee. Tap the sides of the brew basket to even out the coffee bed.
Turn on the brewer.
