reply to post by Clearskies
Hi Clearskies, The Melitta filters are a German design that has been around for ever. They are available at most supermarkets but only fit certain
automatic drip style coffee makers and only differ from other paper filters in that they are conical in shape except that the bottom part is sealed
with about a 2 inch seam. The shape allows the grounds at the lower part of the cone to help in absorbing the oil that is present in coffee and the
paper does the same as well. I change brands of beans every so often but for now I am using Beneto's dark roast whole bean coffee. I use an electric
grinder and grind it to what would be considered an expresso or Turkish ground consistency which is as fine as it can be ground. I use a Brita filter
(that also allows the water to be stored in the refrigerator) for the water that removes minerals and eliminates the taste of sodium hydrocloride. The
cold water adds to the flavor because it contains more oxygen and also because it takes longer for the coffee maker to heat, slowing the rate of flow
through the finely ground coffee and filter, allowing the finer grind to not cause over flowing. Darker roast beans have less oil, so that too allows
for less bitterness and an easier time removing the ground coffee from the grinder. You can get beans in light or medium roast and also expresso or
Turkish roast which to me taste burnt. The lighter the roast, the stronger the kick from caffeine and the more oil that adds bitterness, but it is
still pretty good using these tricks if you just use less coffee. If you have trouble finding a drip type maker that uses Melitta filters the ones
that use the basket type paper filters aren't bad at all, there is only a slight difference in taste. I have spent a lot of time looking for the
perfect cup of coffee and I can tell the difference. My wife thought that I was totally weird going to such extremes as she was convinced that since
she had grown up in a house hold that always swore by Folgers that it had to be the best. She too is now a coffee snob. She even found our present
Gevalia coffee maker on a website and ordered it with out telling me. It was a deal at $14.95 and no shipping or handling.
