Finally! Proper Coffee Dosing

In my last post about experimenting on the amount of coffee to brew, I mentioned the possibility of buying either Don Francisco which was on sale for $4.00 a can at Ralph’s or Dunkin Donuts for $6.99 a can at Von’s. Well, the lower price of Don Francisco won out. I bought two cans: Hawaiian Hazelnut and Cinnamon Hazelnut. I tried the Hawaiian Hazelnut first. The recommended measurement was two slightly rounded tablespoons of ground coffee for every 6 oz. of water. My coffee pot only holds 24 oz. so if I were to follow the recommended amount, I would be using about 8 slightly rounded tablespoons of ground coffee. Hmm, that seemed like a lot to me so I used a teaspoon instead. Not wanting to o’d on coffee again, I ventured on a more conservative measurement of 4 rounded teaspoons for 24 oz. of water. Well, what do you know but it appeared like I hit the sweet spot! The amount I used still enabled me to taste the hazelnut flavor while maintaining the slight bitterness that I like in black coffee (I always drink it black). There was no harshness in the taste and the caffeine kick felt similar to the amount of instant coffee that I’m used to drinking. What a big difference in taste compared to the cheap Master Chef brand I initially tried, and I didn’t feel wired all day, nor did I get queasy. It seems like I finally found the proper measurement for my taste. My question is: will that measurement be similar to all flavors of the same brand, and will I have to do a similar experiment with different brands? For now, I’m sold on Don Francisco. Now I understand why the Master Chef was so cheap! One thing I noticed with the Don Francisco – it left an oily residue in my mug. I wonder if that’s normal. The cheap coffee? No noticeable oily residue.

For my previous attempts, read these: Wired On My First Brew and My Continued Bumbling Attempts at Making Coffee .

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