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It's actually quite easy to make an amazing cup of coffee right at home, and it costs less money than going to Starbucks! Here are a couple things you will need:

1. A burr grinder, with adjustable setting for how coarse to grind the beans.

2. A "french press" coffee maker.

3. Some good coffee beans.

4. Preferably filtered water, but plain tap water will work.

A burr grinder isn't that expensive; I found one on eBay for under $30 including shipping, but the prices you find may vary. The important thing is that it's adjustable so that you can make a coarse ground coffee! If you use normal grounds you will get bunch of sludge in the bottom of your cup.

A "french press" coffee maker doesn't use a regular paper filter like a drip coffee maker. It's usually a glass or acrylic container, with a plunger on top that has a metal screen for a filter. You can find these for about $20, depending on the size. One benefit is that you never have to buy filters! Just rinse of the screen and clean the whole thing with soap and water weekly for the best taste.

You need to buy coffee beans instead of grounds. Most mid to large sized grocery stores have a coffee section with quite a variety of beans and grounds. The brand I am currently buying is Papa Nicholas, which they sell at Jewel. I'm sure there are better brands out there, but the important thing is just to find a variety you like and to get the freshest beans possible.

For the absolute best tasting coffee, you need some filtered water, which you can buy by the gallon for around $0.60 or so at many grocery stores. This is not absolutely necessary, but it makes a big difference!

The process of making the coffee is very simple. You put the coarse coffee grounds in the press, pour in as much boiling water as you want coffee, and then stir. Stir a few times and let it sit for anywhere from 2 - 10 minutes. There's a lot of room for experimentation here, and it all depends on how hot and how strong you like your coffee.

Obviously the longer you let it sit the more it will cool off. It will also get a stronger flavor though, and it won't cool off that much in 10 minutes so don't worry too much about that. I have a french press that makes 2 large normal coffee mugs of coffee, and I put in two measuring tablespoons of grounds. I let it sit for about 8 minutes usually, because I like my coffee strong.

Once the coffee is done, you put the plunger onto the coffee maker, and press down slowly and evenly until it goes all the way to the bottom. This should only take about 10-15 seconds unless your french press is enormous. You can now pour your coffee! Just add cream and/or sugar if you wish and it should be ready to drink. Most places you buy coffee to go make it way too hot and you can't even drink it right away. The optimal temperature for brewing coffee is about 98C, which is just below boiling (100C). If you do all of this right, your coffee at home will actually taste better than Starbucks or similar places. You won't burn the flavor out of your coffee and cause it to be overly bitter.

My only word of caution is don't let your coffee sit in the french press for a long time! Only make about as much as you're going to drink in the next 10-15 minutes or so. Coffee loses much of its flavor when reheated, so there's really no point in doing this. If you don't notice a difference when you reheat your coffee then you probably don't need to be going to all this trouble in the first place!

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