I love my morning coffee. My day does not begin officially until I've had an entire pot. But here's the rub – the coffee I make has always tasted pretty bad compared to that you will find in other kitchens, and it's never hot enough. I've tried different coffee makers, different coffee beans, different coffee cups, now I even make it with bottled water. Still, my coffee never makes the grade. It's drinkable, it kick-starts my day, but it doesn't ever make me smile and say, "ahhhh, now that's a great cup of coffee."I was bemoaning my coffee conundrum one recent morning while on vacation, as I sat at the breakfast table sipping the perfect cup of steaming hot java, fresh from a bottom-of-the-line Mr. Coffee Maker. "Why doesn't my coffee ever taste this good or get this hot?" I whined. After much deliberation by a group of knowledgable adults, we decided to blame the altitude. The altitude?
The 7MSN sits over a mile above sea level - 6,253 feet to be exact. Water boils at a lower temperature up here, hence the water inside my coffee maker never reaches the proper temperature for making the perfect cup of coffee...or something like that. Clearly, science was never my best subject or I might have figured this out 16 years ago when I moved to Albuquerque (altitude 5,280 feet).
So what's a high-altitude-living rancher-woman to do? Google "high altitude coffee maker," that's what. And lo and behold, there really is such a thing! Have I mentioned lately how much I love the internet? In fact, Bunn makes several high-altitude models. Who knew and why didn't they tell me? Just when I thought life couldn't get any better, now I'll be able to get a decent cup of coffee around here. It won't be like having a Starbucks on the corner...it will be better.
Wow - I had no idea such a thing existed. Enjoy that newly brewed cup of coffee!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it neat what you can find on the internet? I'm totally hooked on Etsy.com!
ReplyDeleteIsn't that an interesting bit of trivia...very important!! We're at 4105 here. The low end coffee makers didn't get our coffee very hot either. But my new Hamilton Beach does great. I don't know if it's for high altitude or not. I know that it takes things a lil' bit longer to bake in the oven.
ReplyDeleteGoogle is your friend! At least that's what I tell my friends and colleagues. Its amazing what you can find out there.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine 16 years of mediocre coffee. But then again, I'm only a few feet over sea-level.
Enjoy your new morning routine - really enjoying that cuppa joe!
Wow, thanks for the tip! I'm over 6000 feet here in Colorado and wondered what was up with my coffee! I had no idea there was such a thing as a high altitude coffee maker. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteLOL!!! That is just too funny, but of course, here I sit at an 800 foot elevation, sipping my perfect coffee. :)
ReplyDeleteSo...are you buying that special coffee maker??? :)
I have been whining about the coffee not being hot enough forever (or so it seems). Now I know -- and I didn't even have to do the search. Thank you, ma'am.
ReplyDeleteNice! And Cheers! (can you say that with coffee?) Maybe you won't need an entire pot now? :-)
ReplyDeleteWhy not up the ante and get an espresso maker? That will kick start your day!
ReplyDeleteBut anyway, I thought cowboys made "cowboy coffee" by boiling water in a pan, dropping in the grounds and drinking the whole swill. (Or maybe straining it through an old sock.)
I'm 54 and just started drinking coffee LAST YEAR!!
ReplyDeleteThat is a very interesting tidbit. I wouldn't have thought of it but I haven't been invited to any MENSA meetings either. we're at 3,333 here in the NC Appalachians, don't know if the coffee drinkers here have theirs hot enough or not.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post. Who on earth would have ever dreamed of the solution to your coffee problem. Love this Internet in our lives. (Now I'm wondering what effect being at sea level is having on MY "perfectly" brewed Starbucks beans??) Thank you for a good smile.
ReplyDeleteCool! Nothing like a perfect cup of coffee.
ReplyDeleteAlso, right there with ya, "What did I ever do before Google?" I use the search engine about dozen times a day.
That's pretty interesting. Who whoulda thought. Enjoy the java in the morning.
ReplyDeleteI've always seen high altitude directions on things, but never knew it really made a difference, but than again, I am probably only about 700 feet above sea level, so I've never had that problem. How interesting! Good thing there is such a thing as a high altitude coffee maker!
ReplyDeleteYet another reason to never leave the ranch. Who needs people, just the internet, our animal companions and real coffee....what a life :-)
ReplyDeleteYup, when my pooper scooper broke, good old Amazon sent me a new, improved (day-glo purple handle) model within four days. Thanks to that good ol' Internet we can live almost anywhere now, even eastern New Mexico, with hardly ever any interruption in the scooping. I love technology!
ReplyDeleteThat is simply too funny - who'd a thought!?!?! Glad you found out though and the wonderful internet came to your rescue, but not what will Smooch do in the mornings if your coffee doesn't have to be warmed more in the microwave?
ReplyDeleteI never heard of such a thing. Life's too short to drink so-so coffee!
ReplyDeleteHuh. Well, that's a new one on me.
ReplyDeleteI swear by my cowboy coffee though and have never tasted a better brew. After 'the incident' that drove me to make it that way one fateful morning, I have never looked back.
Enjoy your morning brew!
So happy you found the answer to that problem.
ReplyDeleteI was going to suggest Melitta...You boil the water and pour it into that cone shaped thingy that holds the coffee and you get a perfect cup of coffee....Or you should. I would think the elevation wouldn't matter with that, but maybe it still does. I always made mine one cup at a time because it takes very little time anyway.
I LOVE the Internet, too---particularly Google....You can find anything and everything, most of the time!
whodathunk! :-)
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Theresa in ALberta
That's very interesting! I never knew altitude would make a difference in coffee brewing. I always wondered why my coffee could never taste "good". I even use only filtered water. Hmmm, amazing!
ReplyDeleteLinda -- hey, now Bruce is shopping Bunn's (the coffee pot, not mine). He found a nice one for $119 with free shipping. I said, "We don't even live there yet!" Well, I suspect he'll buy it anyway, just to get ready for brewing at 6,800 ft.
ReplyDeleteAnd men complain about the things we buy....grrrr.