better coffee

I have been a coffee drinker and coffee enthusiast since the early 1990's. My job takes me to a variety of offices and some of these places have bad coffee and some have good coffee. I have seen first hand one of the most common problems that contributes to bad coffee.

One major contributor to bad coffee is that the equipment used to brew the coffee has never been properly cleaned. Even an expensive coffee maker will make bad coffee if it has an accumulation of coffee reside on it. This accumulation gives fresh brewed coffee an overly bitter and very foul taste. While some offices make some attempt at cleaning their coffee making equipment, some parts of the system such as the filter basket are often neglected.

A related problem is that most offices don't have the proper cleaning agents for their equipment. The ultimate coffee pot cleaner is a granulated product from Urnex. This is an abrasive cleaner that does most of the work for you and will remove all of that baked-on brown residue from a coffee pot. For insulated glass or vacuum coffee pots that are hard to clean, this product is essential. You can buy this product from a variety of sources, not just the Urnex website. If your office uses a coffee service, ask them if they can provide this or a similar product. This stuff is cheap (around 12 cents a packet), and well worth it when you see the sludge that it removes from your coffee maker. You will cringe at the completely foul smell of the brown crud that comes out of your coffee maker and you'll then understand why your coffee tasted so horrible.

In addition to keeping your brewing equipment clean, there are other keys to getting the best coffee possible:

• If coffee has been sitting on the warmer for more than 30 minutes, throw it out.
• Always use freshly ground beans if possible.
• Store your coffee in the freezer.
• If the unbrewed coffee is more than a few months old, especially if it has already been ground, throw it out.
• Use milk or cream if possible, not the non-dairy powered crap. One good alternative to the powered crap is individual-size cream available from a number of companies. These are real dairy cream and don't need to be refrigerated.
• Finally, change coffee brands every so often so that you don't get stuck on the same old thing. This enables you to taste and appreciate different styles and types, and helps you determine what you do and don't really like. Once you start switching between brands and types, you'll gain a great appreciation for the differences between them.