Fresh, good-tasting water is essential since it makes up more than 98% of a cup of coffee. Clean water will also help you achieve the best flavor by removing “off” flavors from tap water such as chlorine, iron, or other minerals that would otherwise taint the finished product. Since filtered water has no taste or odor to begin with, it cannot pass any taste or odor to your coffee. In addition to making better quality coffee, filtered water will also help prevent lime deposits from forming on the equipment.

Water temperature is crucial to the proper extraction of the flavor molecules from ground coffee. The recommended brewing temperature of coffee is 195ºF - 205 ºF. It is important to maintain brewing equipment, keeping it free of mineral deposits. This will help ensure that the water gets heated to the proper temperature.

The extraction/brewing time or the time that the water is in contact with the coffee is a major component affecting the flavor of the coffee. If you are using the proper grind size and batch size then the simple force of gravity will force water to drip out at just about the right rate achieving the ideal extraction time. Generally your brew time will about 3-4 minutes for a 10 cup pot.

The proper grind and dosage are essential to brewing perfect coffee. The grind size and dosage or batch size will vary depending on brew method. For a standard drip coffee maker, the grind will be medium or auto-drip. The batch size will vary depending on how much coffee is being brewed per pot. Unless using a portion grinder or portion packed coffee you will need a scale to weigh out the precise amount of coffee for each pot.