Having that morning cup of coffee is as fundamental to many of us as brushing our teeth and taking a shower! Personally, I feel without a nice cup of coffee in the morning, I know the day is going to be hectic and probably not a successful one. An important key to getting that delicious cup of coffee, is making sure your coffee pot is clean and free of any old coffee residue. A pot that is full of residue can lead to coffee that is bitter and unappealing to the palate. Cleaning your coffee maker can be simple, with just a few steps.
First when thinking about cleaning your pot, you can do it the old fashioned way, which is simply washing the pot thoroughly with warm water and lots of soapy suds. This is great to remove any residue from the actual pot itself, but what about the inner workings of the machine? Those need to be cleaned too, due to build up of coffee residue and waste. In the past many people would run warm water through the machine, which will help but typically does not remove all residue and build up.
A very popular method, one in which my parents used on a monthly basis, is to clean the pot with the use of vinegar. You simply dilute some white vinegar and run it through the machine a few times. Yes, this will stink up your home, but one you have cleaned your pot this way, you will never go back to any other method. Typically my parents would run the vinegar through two or three times to make sure the inner workings of the coffee pot were squeaky clean. The amazing thing is when you clean your coffee pot or maker this way you will be astounded by the dirty brown water that you will see. It is amazing the difference in your morning cup of Joe once you have tried cleaning your coffee vessel.
After cleaning your pot a few times you will realize the difference in the taste of your coffee. At the very least making sure your coffee vessel is clean is an important key to a quality cup of Kona, Jamaican Blue Mountain or any other gourmet coffee offering. Taking a little time to clean the pot is worth it in the end. Another tip is to make sure you clean out your pot anytime company is coming as well!
