Anyone who knows me is aware of the fact that I like my morning coffee. Let’s make that “love my morning coffee!” And if the truth be told, I have a lot of it. I don’t want to tell you how much, but trust me on this one; it’s a lot!

Anyway, my favorite brew is 100% Colombian coffee. Unfortunately when I am away from home, this commodity is hard to find so I then make sure to bring my Starbucks Via packets of the Colombian and lately I have been able to purchase it in larger quantities at COSTCO with a related savings.

In the morning, I must confess, I use an automatic drip coffee machine (don’t stop reading yet) and over the years I have learned how to tweak it so I get a very good cup of coffee. It isn’t a great cup, but a very good cup. When I only want a single, somewhat smaller cup, I do use the pour over method similar to the one described in the videos below.

A concept that may not be familiar to a number of people who like coffee, but have not read much about the brewing process is the bloom. In the video below, Sky Mountain Coffee explains this important aspect of the brewing process and what it can teach us. Thank you Sky Mountain Coffee!

In the next video, Starbucks presents what they consider the best way to brew a single cup of excellent coffee using the pour over method which I use for a one cupper!

Here are the key points from the Starbucks video:

• Pre-wet the filter to get things warm and remove some of the paper taste!
• Get Rid of the water used in the “wetting step” mentioned above.
• Put the coffee in the filter; cone grind similar in texture to granulated sugar.
• Recommended amount of coffee – 2 Tablespoons for every six ounces of water.
• Water should be hot, but not quite boiling.
• Pour a little water into the grounds and let it “bloom.”

From my experience (your mileage may vary):

• I find it helpful to pre-heat the cup so that it is warm, not hot, and it does not cool the coffee as it is poured. You can do this by pouring some hot water in the cup and letting it stand a minute or so.
• Prior to the pour over, I let the water rest for twenty seconds or so after it has come to a good boil. I don’t want to scald the grounds.
• After letting the coffee bloom, I do not pour all of the water into the filter at once. Instead, I do the brewing using several pours so that the grounds have a chance to be thoroughly mixed by the water being poured.
• I pour the water in a slow concentric circle starting at the outside of the filter working my way to the middle. I believe this equalizes the exposure of the grounds to the water and thus extracts maximum flavor.

I hope this helps you enjoy your morning Joe!