I have been using a French Press for almost 20 years.  I love it but this month I broke 2 of the glass container and I hate seeing waste.  I am now considering purchasing a metal one that would last.  In the meantime, this morning I made my coffee in a percolator that I found in my “magic” laundry a few years ago.  I thought it was so pretty and kept it on top of my cupboards as part of my kitchen decor.

I don’t make purchases lightly.  I hate wasting my limited income on things I don’t need and purchasing something that I have to throw out 2 weeks later makes me crazy.

The coffee was perfect – it was easy and took less than 10 minutes.  The average time to percolate is 7-10 minutes according to my google research at 6am this morning.  I used the same measurements as I do in my French Press.

I love my coffee to be dark, full bodies, with lots of intense flavour – French Roast and Sumatra are my favourites.  Whenever I am in London, Ontario I like to purchase my coffee at Fire Roasted.  They are in the East End Market on Dundas Street, East.

Make that fair trade and organic and we are off to a very good start.  I prefer to grind my own beans for optimum flavour too.  Even beans ground the day before leave the taste wanting in my opinion.

When I started using Traditional Chinese Medicine as my healing therapy, the first thing Emily, my practitioner, recommended was only 1 cup of coffee per day.  I am good at sticking to that.  I want that cup the first thing in the morning – before food and I spend about a half hour sipping it and enjoying the start to my day.  I love mornings.

I put the beans in my grinder measured to the 1.5 cup level.  I grind and count to about 30 for the coarse grind recommended in a French press.  I then add 12 ounces of boiling water.  I stir it and let is sit for 5 minutes.  Often I add a dash of cinnamon.  I enjoy coffee with cardamon but not as my morning beverage with cream.  Each morning I add 2 tablespoons of 5 or 10 percent cream.

Each morning this is my routine – it feels so luxurious, costs me about $1 per day and leaves me feeling like a pampered diva.

How do you make the perfect cup of coffee?