How to Make the Ultimate Cup of Joe

I probably drink too much coffee....is an entire pot of coffee a day bad for you? Oh, well, you don't have to live with my children, so don't judge me. It's either the coffee or crack, and like Whitney says, "Crack is whack." It has taken many years, but I have perfected my technique for making a yummy cup of Joe. Trust me when I say, that not all coffee is the same. The crap they serve at diners and convenience stores is not coffee. If coffee has been out for over an hour, throw it away. Coffee is just like milk or any other perishable commodity - it CAN and WILL go bad!

I'm not sure which kid I was nursing, but during my early morning vigils with my daughters who never sleep, I caught a morning show interview with a supposed "coffee connoisseur." Here are some of the "Rules" to making a great cup of coffee that I remember and still follow:

1. Use Whole Beans - that doesn't mean you have to go and buy a grinder (which I recommend) because most grocery stores have a coffee grinder right in the coffee aisle of the store. I whole-heartily recommend the Arriba brand carried at United Supermarkets. You will know the beans are fresh if they look shiny and almost greasy. My favorite Arriba whole beans are the "Snickerdoodle" beans. Yummy!

2. Use Filtered Water - if the water tastes like crap, your coffee will taste like poo-poo, too.

3. Measure correctly - I tablespoon of grounds to one cup of filtered water. If you are making a full pot of coffee, then you need six to seven tablespoons of grounds. I like a stronger pot, so I usually do eight tablespoon of grounds.

4. Creamer makes all the difference - I LOVE the refrigerated, liquid Coffeemate creamer, preferably the Hazelnut flavor. All you need is this creamer and nothing else! You will not need to add extra sugar because this is sweet enough to double as both creamer and sugar.

5. Throw out old coffee - as I said before, coffee is best right after you make it. You will notice a change in flavor (for the worst) after coffee has been sitting out for an hour. Make a new pot if you don't want to waste your creamer on a sucky batch of coffee.

6. Invest in a great coffee pot - Cuisinart has the best line of coffee pots, and if you want to throw out the big bucks, you can invest in a pot that also has the grinder built in! The gold filters also bring out the best flavor in your coffee beans.

So there you have it! The best pot of coffee in town! Give it a try tomorrow morning, and I promise you won't go back to your old ways of coffee consumption!