This is a guest post by Peter John McLean. If you’d like to guest post on this blog, click here.

A year ago no one really cared about pour over coffee.  Sure, a few baristas were talking about it, and maybe if you were really lucky you knew of an obscure espresso bar that actually served it to order.

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But most coffee shops just didn’t care about it – probably because it wasn’t as feasible a way of selling mass quantities of coffee inexpensively.  Fair enough.

Now things are different, now more and more cafés are jumping on the bandwagon, setting up a full scale pour over coffee bar with a well-trained barista happily pouring water into little ceramic cones all day long.  Most of the shops don’t even charge extra for it, because it’s becoming such a staple of the routine coffee drinker’s life.

And yet you don’t even need to leave your house to be drinking this fresh, perfectly extracted nirvana.

But why bother?  You ask.

1. Provides a cleaner cup of coffee

The pour over coffee method is arguably the ‘cleanest’ and ‘purest’ way to make and drink coffee.  There is no residue left in the cup, because the water is not dripped and is not fully immersed.  200 degree Fahrenheit water is poured into the cone, stirred briefly, and moments later the finished product has entirely drained into the mug.  The first time you try pourover coffee you may be taken aback, it is bold yet without even a hint of residue.

2. More efficient if you only want to drink one cup

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So many times in the day I used to want a single cup of coffee whilst I sat at my house.  I didn’t want to leave to buy a cup, but I didn’t want to make a whole pot.  Whether I used a drip pot or a French press I would be left with either significant waste or a little more caffeine than I was looking for.  The pour over resolves this.  Just place the cone on top of your mug, pour a single serving and you’re done.

3. Better extraction than drip, without the mess of French press

It might seem like I’m harping on the same point as Number 1, but I’m not.  There is a distinct difference here.  The pour over coffee method allows for a very robust extraction because the water is preheated and because the ‘slurry’ is stirred before all the water soaks through – this creates a very bold, well extracted mug of coffee in your hands, without the long, tedious cleanup required with a press pot.

4. You can buy one for around $20.

This might be the very best thing about the pour over apparatus.  Most of the ones you’ll find for sale, like the Hario v6, are a single ceramic drip cone that fits on top of a

coffee mug.  These are my personal favorite, and the ones I recommend above the others.  You can order one for right around $20 – yet again setting it apart from drip coffee makers and most French presses.  It’s a simpler version of the one cup coffee maker without the electricity and the ongoing maintenance of cleaning the unit.  You, in essence, become the pour over coffee maker when you embark on this innovative and simple method for making coffee.  You just might be joining a whole new legion of pour over coffee makers.

Pour over coffee almost seems too simple and inexpensive to make such a great tasting cup of java.  There’s got to be something wrong with it, doesn’t there?

Nope.  Not only is it less expensive than other coffee brewing methods, it will save you time and the waste of excess coffee that you didn’t drink.  If you become a pour over coffee brewer, you just might never go back to traditional methods of brewing your favorite cup of java.

Disclaimer: The images of the Hario White Ceramic Pour Over Coffee Funnel and the Chemex Glass Pour Over Coffee Maker above are affiliate links.

Peter John McLean loves nothing more than brewing up perfectly extracted madness in the deep recesses of his coffee lab. He and his cat, Cicero, blog about their exploits at Project Vvlgar.

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One of the greatest pleasures in my life is drinking a great cup of coffee. With the advent of single serve coffee makers in recent years, anyone can enjoy the perfect cup of Joe. Since I get up very early every morning, I only get to enjoy coffee with my wife on the weekends because during the week I utilize my single cup coffee maker at work. But, thank goodness, we both have the same taste in coffee. It has to be strong and it has to taste great. In the Northeastern United States, where we live, Dunkin Donuts is a very popular place. But, I must say, we avoid it at all costs, even if we are desperate for a cup of coffee. Starbucks, on the other hand, is right up our alley. In fact, we buy Starbucks coffee and brew it in our coffeemaker at home. This is the type of coffee that we enjoy.

As I mentioned previously, almost every morning I rise at around 3:50AM and head off to the gym. After my

workout I drive another hour to my job. It isn’t until almost three hours after I awake that I will have my first cup of coffee. But it is certainly worth the wait. At the recommendation of a coffee blogger, I purchased a Black & Decker Coffee Maker. It is a single serve coffee maker and its full name is the Black & Decker Brew n go. The coffee brews directly into a stainless steel mug. I find this tremendously convenient because I don’t have to transfer the coffee from the pot into my mug. I am also a stickler when it comes to hot coffee and this stainless steel mug keeps my coffee hotter than any other container I have owned. What do I find most enjoyable about having a one cup coffee maker?

1. Convenience

I know that when I get to work all I have to do is add my favorite coffee and water and within minutes I’m drinking great coffee straight from my stainless steel travel mug. I also don’t have to wait in the lines at work at the coffee machine for a subpar cup of coffee.

2. Portability

My wife and I occasionally travel, either visiting my daughter in Maine or just for a weekend getaway. Most motels and hotels tend to have a coffee maker but we have been to many that don’t offer one. This 1 cup coffee maker is so small that you can easily pack it back in its original box and take it with you.

3. Creativity

Over the years, coffee has certainly become a specialty drink. There are so many choices out there that you can become creative in your coffee flavors. If we find two different coffees that we really like we tend to brew them together with our Black & Decker coffee maker and you can surprisingly come up with a creative, unique blend of coffee.

4. Frugality

Saving money is very important to me. When I was stopping for my Starbucks coffee every day, I was spending quite a bit of money over the course of the year for my coffee addiction (OK I admit it…). On top of the coffee, oftentimes I was adding in a blueberry muffin or a scone to eat with my coffee. Needless to say, before I left the coffee house, I was down close to $5. Using this single cup coffee maker has certainly saved me a lot of money.

5. Ease of Cleaning

Cleaning a single cup coffee maker is a snap. All you have to do is to follow the directions in the manual and add a mixture of water and white vinegar and run it through the brewing cycle a couple of times. Then you want to run it through a couple more times with just plain water to remove any hint of odor or taste of the vinegar. Also, the Black and Decker personal coffee maker comes with a built-in filter so you don’t have to buy filters. To be honest, what I have found is that it is a lot easier for me to use a paper filter. This model uses #1 filters but they are not easy to find so I simply use a #2 filter and cut about a quarter of an inch off the top and it fits perfectly. After I make the coffee I simply pull out the filter and the left-over grounds and throw them in the bucket without having to thoroughly clean the built-in mesh filter.

6. Enjoyment

OK. I saved the best for last. Using a single serve coffee maker is fun! I actually look forward to making coffee every morning. The coffee is consistently good, which is something that is not always the case at the coffee shops. The turnover at any coffee shop is high so how can you count on consistently good coffee? I know what

goes into my coffee each day and I also know that it is fresh when I drink it. You never know how long the coffee that you are being served has been sitting. Think about it…

So, for the money (I paid a paltry $18.50) I highly recommend the Black & Decker Brew ‘N Go if you are in the market for single serve coffee makers. I have tried many different single cup coffee makers over the years, especially at my work, where they are constantly changing from one individual coffee maker to another. I have now owned this Black and Decker one cup coffee maker for approximately a year and a half and this is the best coffee maker for a single cup serving that I have come across. There are numerous one cup coffee makers out there in the marketplace and you can read all of the single cup coffee maker reviews that you can get your hands on. You will find that I am not the only one who thinks that this is the best one cup coffee maker on the market. I took the advice of a coffee blogger when I was looking for mine and he didn’t steer me wrong.

Coffee is one of the simple pleasures in my life. I want to make sure that I have the proper equipment, at the right price, to brew my coffee. The benefits of a single cup coffee maker are numerous. Take your time and read the reviews on the various types that are out there. If you take my advice I know you won’t go wrong. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The image above of the coffeemaker is an affiliate link. But, please remember, I will never recommend a product that I haven’t tried myself.

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This is a guest post by Mike Crimmins. If you want to guest post on this blog, click here to get more information.

For some people coffee is nothing more than brown water and a source of caffeine. For other people it’s an experience like tasting wine, exploring new regions of the world as well as different parts of your tongue.

Once you’ve tasted good coffee, you’ll never want to go back to that stale ground coffee that comes in huge plastic bins. The good news is that you don’t have to spend a fortune to get great tasting coffee every morning. Here are some tips to help you when it comes to your cup of joe each morning.

Step 1

Buy a coffee grinder and whole beans. You can purchase a decent grinder for twenty bucks. The reason that you need a grinder is that ground coffee goes stale in fifteen minutes. Want to guess how long it was sitting on the grocery store shelf before you picked it up?

Step 2

Buy only enough coffee to last a week or two. There might be a great deal if you buy in bulk, but by the time you get around to using that coffee it’s going to be stale, even if you buy whole beans you’ll be able to taste the difference after two weeks.

Step 3

Use better water. Most tap water contains some sort of minerals or chemicals that aren’t harmful to you, but can be harmful to your coffee. They can change the flavor of your coffee and not in the good way. You can buy a Brita pitcher or a water filter for a faucet for relatively cheap. Plus, you’ll be able to use it for more than just your morning brew.

Step 4

Use two scoops of coffee per cup of water you put into the coffee maker. For some people that might be too strong, but it’s what’s recommended by the experts. Normally, I don’t agree with the coffee snobs, but this time they’re on to something. Try two scoops first, then adjust it your preferences. The majority of people make their coffee so weak that you can practically see through it, missing out on a lot of the great flavors. A single cup coffee maker is a great option for a single person or if you wake up earlier than everyone else to head off to work.

Step 5

Try new coffees. If you like your coffee strong, try some dark roasts. If you’re on the other side of the spectrum, check out some flavored coffees or coffees from Africa. There’s great coffees from counties like Ethiopia that have taste almost wine-like and very easy to drink for fans of lighter roasts.

Step 6

Just for me, try your coffee without any sugar, milk or creamer. I discovered that with fresh coffee, I didn’t need hide the taste with sweeteners and artificial flavors.

Step 7

Store your extra coffee beans in something that’s air tight, out of light and in a cool dry spot. Air, heat and water are good ways to ruin coffee quickly, so after you open up the bag, put the extra coffee into an air tight canister.

There’s so much more that can be done to get better tasting coffee, but start with these tips and you’ll see a huge difference tomorrow morning.

This guest article was written by Mike Crimmins.  He is the caffeinated blogger behind Daily Shot Of Coffee, a blog for the average joe coffee drinker. You can also follow Mike on Twitter.

If you want to guest post on this blog, click here to get more information.

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