Perfect Coffee

Making a perfect cup of coffee really isn't as hard as it seems. But it seems a lot of people either make their coffee super weak or undrinkable. Granted, I like a good cup of bad coffee, especially when brought to me in bed, but/and this should help you along for making consistently delicious (strong) coffee.

For 4

Ingredients

Approximately 50 oz. Cold Water (just over the "8" mark on the side of your coffee pot)
11½ T Whole Coffee Beans (or 11½ nicely rounded T Ground Coffee)
I like to use a mix of French Roast and Italian beans, about 50/50
Milk, Cream, and/or Sugar (if your guests need it)

Note:
The rule of thumb here is 2 tablespoons of coffee beans (or 2 rounded tablespoons of ground coffee) per 12 oz. cup, plus 3ish extra tablespoons for the pot. So if you were making coffee for six, it'd be 12 + 3½ = 15½.

Directions

You're reading this and thinking I've broken my rule on "not measuring". I haven't. I use my hand to scoop out the "tablespoons" of coffee beans for this. If I'm using ground coffee, I tend to use just a regular tablespoon, nicely rounded (the two wind up being just about equal).

If you're using whole beans:
Put your coffee beans into your grinder. If your breakfast guest doesn't like the sound of the coffee grinder, either grind it the night before she comes over, or tell her to cover her ears before grinding. Grind the coffee, shaking the grinder to be sure and get all the beans. Do this for about 10 to 15 seconds or so, until you don't hear any larger chunks of bean rattling around. You don't need a fine espresso powder, but you don't want it to be not fully grounded. Remove the top from the grinder, and tap your coffee into your coffee pot's filter.

If you're not:
Put your coffee into into your coffee pot's filter.

For both:
Pour the water into the coffee pot's resevoir. Turn on your coffee pot. Finish making breakfast. Bring it to your breakfast guest.