clearlycoffee

QUESTION: What do the numbers mean on a Mr. Coffee maker? I’m visiting my inlaws and they have a different machine than I am used to and I want to make coffee with their coffee pot. What are those Mr. Coffee measurements for on the pot? — Erika F

ANSWER: The Mr Coffee machine is an automatic drip coffee maker, this particular model number has a 12 cup coffee pot. You see in the photo above that there are number marks on the glass coffee pot, and also number marks on the Mr. Coffee machine itself where you add water (the water reservoir).

Those numbers represent the “number of cups.” While most bags of coffee describe a cup size as 6 ounces, the Mr. Coffee coffee maker calls a coffee cup just 5 ounces. So you’ll need slightly less ground coffee beans in the machine than they sometimes describe on the back of a bag of coffee. That being said, it really depends on whether you like strong coffee or mild coffee.

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by Matt Gibson

If the coffee you are brewing each morning is giving you reflux or hurting your stomach, it’s time to look into solving your sour coffee woes. The first step to solving the issue is to locate the root cause, and for sour coffee, the root cause is typically either due to using spoiled milk or your coffee is far too acidic. All coffee is acidic, and acidity can be a good feature in a well-balanced coffee. However, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, and in the case of over acidic coffee, too much acidity in your brew can brutally ruin the taste. 

You shouldn’t be quick to toss out your coffee beans over too much acidity, as there are things you can do to reduce the acidity in the brew. Though it may sound like a chemistry experiment, it is actually quite easy to lower the acidity in your coffee, and there are plenty of ways to do it. In this article, we will discuss what conditions directly affect the acidity in coffee, how the growing conditions, roast method, and brewing technique impact the acidity level of your brew, additives that you can put into your coffee that will lower the acidity level. We also discuss how temperature plays an important role in the pH level of coffee, and lastly, we top it all off with a few pro tips for producing a more balanced cup of coffee. 

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QUESTION: Do coffee makers make a difference in taste? What if I used the same beans with different coffee makers? — David J

ANSWER: Many variables can go into the way your coffee tastes, and the type of coffee maker you choose is one of the most influential of these factors. Coffee brewed from the same beans at the same level of freshness, using the same grind size on the whole beans, can really shift in taste depending on the coffee maker you use to prepare it. The specific coffee making setup you use will also make a huge difference in how long it takes you to brew your coffee and the ease of use.

The various types of coffee makers can also come equipped with options like whether the finished coffee can be kept warm for a while or whether you can set a timer for when the coffee will start brewing. Let’s take a look at the way the coffee maker you choose can impact the taste of your coffee and brew strength as well as some other things to consider when you’re choosing a coffee maker.

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QUESTION: What does Columbian coffee mean? Is it a style of coffee, or what? — Brody F

ANSWER: The main crop grown in the United States is corn. For Columbia, their main crop is coffee. What people mean by Columbian coffee is that it is coffee made with beans that were grown in that country.

Coffee is a $2.2 billion business in Columbia, and there are more than 500,000 families producing coffee within the country, each on small farms with limited acreage. There was a boon in coffee production in the early 20th century because many former migrant workers who had formerly worked for wealthy plantation owners in the past with inhumane working conditions and no form of social security, decided to start coffee farms of their own to improve their position.

The massive growth in farms that resulted has led to Columbia becoming the world’s third largest coffee exporter. Nowadays, twenty-five percent of the country’s rural population, which is over two million Columbians, depend on coffee farming for their livelihood.

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by Matt Gibson

Chemex coffee might seem like a new fancy trend, but the makers have been around for a little over 70 years. They were invented in 1941 by a man named Peter Schlumbohm. The simple device was the first pour over coffee maker to hit the market. Though it wasn’t an overnight success, it has quietly and steadily gained a following of Chemex coffee enthusiasts who are loyal to the brand and the pour over coffee brewing method. Chemex coffee makers seem to immediately hook people in once they try the device. 

Those that use Chemex coffee makers swear by them, and many users have developed complex mathematical techniques for brewing coffee through their Chemex, using scales to measure the perfect amount of coffee grounds and a timer to make sure they pour their water at the appropriate speed (very slowly) to achieve the ideal four minute extraction period. However, you don’t have to approach every cup of coffee with mathematical equations and timers to enjoy coffee with a Chemex. Even when your brewing technique is not an exact science, the Chemex pour over coffee maker will still produce a fine cup of coffee.

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by Matt Gibson

There are two types of coffee drinkers in this world. There are those who enjoy drinking coffee, and there are those that require coffee like an automobile requires fuel. Many coffee addicts have trouble waking up without a cup of coffee each morning, and simply cannot function properly until their system gets its first cup. But what happens when such a person does not have access to a coffee maker? When the cat knocks the glass French press off the counter and sends it crashing to the kitchen floor in the middle of the night, how can you make your morning cup without a coffee maker?

Before the invention of the electric drip coffee maker, people used a variety of simple brewing techniques to make their coffee without a machine or a non-electric device. As long as you’ve got coffee beans and access to a kitchen, you should be able to brew yourself a pot of coffee with the supplies you have on hand. People have been brewing coffee for ages, long before electricity, or fancy pod-based machines, and the brewing methods they used are still viable options today.

Without electricity, you can make pour over coffee or use a French press device. Without any coffee making device, there are still several brewing methods that you can use in a pinch, including cowboy coffee, the strainer method, Turkish coffee, the coffee bag method, and a makeshift, device-less French press technique.

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