I have this coffee maker: Its a grind and brew model even though I dont care for grinding my own beans. I've talked to people at Starbucks and they tell me a 2 cups of water for every 1 tablespoon of coffee but it always comes out so watery. Whats a good ratio? I use regular Folgers coffee by the way.
that ratio is usually for ground coffee not whole bean. So increase it to your preference. I have a small measuring cup I use that works for me, not sure how large it is. The best auto drip brewers don't have the heated plate at the bottom, they use an insulated carafe and drip directly into that. also the grinder on that maker might not be the best, but it seems like that is not your problem.
also I have always heard 2 tablespoons of ground coffee for 3/4 cup of water, but just use your preference.
One of the most important factors is good quality water. It'll be hard to replicate that at home. Starbucks has very sophisticated filters installed on their brewers.
I use to live with a guy from Brazil that would make such good coffee with a French press. He drank a ton of coffee, but only like a half a cup at time, so he would always give me some. So f'n good.
Have you tried using whole beans? Regular Folgers isn't really going to compare to what you are getting at a coffee shop.
How to make good coffee? Make sure you have good ingredients: good water and good coffee. It's one of those "so simple it's true" things. How to get good water? Where I live we have super heavy water so I use mostly filtered water but I like a little mineral taste so I mix a little bit in my french press every morning. How to get good coffee? Get good un-roasted beans and roast them yourself. It is amazing to me how many people think it's a huge production to roast coffee. I spend about 15 minutes every 4-5 days roasting and I know that I always have an interesting variety of beans to roast that are never more than 4-5 days from roast to brew. I can also easily adjust the roast to the bean to experiment with different varieties. From there it's up to you, I love me french press and I have a very nice burr grinder that produces a very even coarse grind. I never have silt in my coffee and always have (at worst) an above average mug of coffee in the morning.
french (freedom) press all the way! i drink coffee everyday and ive been using one for about 10 years now - i will never go back. i have a grinder at home too - you can get one for under $10 and its well worth it. i like the heb coffee's (taste of san antonio), but i mainly drink mexican coffee - like the taste best.
