Basics of making good coffee:

Clean, fresh water is always important. You probably don't need the 5 gallon jug though, John just drinks a LOT more coffee than most people...

A clean coffee maker, a clean coffee pot, freshly roast coffee, and clean water or a clean water source. Simply the exact opposite of Institutional coffee makers maintained by a service were they deliver those little bags of (green label for decaf and red label for caffeine) ground, pre-portioned coffee with a boiler that holds hot water and are never de-scaled.

Good coffee is so simple that it becomes difficult in most situations. Fresh grinding the coffee is important but also using a burr grinder makes for a better tasting brew. The burr grinder forces the beans between two turning blades which cuts more angles on each ground and allow for more surface area of the coffee to be exposed to water which brings me to my next point the temperature of the brewing water which should be 200 degrees Fahrenheit. If the water is too hot it can burn the coffee if it's too cold it won't extract all the great coffee flavor.

Just the right amount...

Myth of dark roasts and full flavor

Thank you Starbucks! Yes it's true; Starbucks was the first roaster to mass-market truly dark roast and in some cases burned coffee. The timing could not have been better because some where in the psyche of true coffee drinkers there were people out there who had smelled or tasted great coffee. Maybe it was on a cruise ship or a cafe a in Italy. Or maybe it was at Peet's Coffee in Berkley or in New Orleans at Cafe Du Monde, maybe it was a story some one told about a an obscure cafe with great coffee. For most coffee was still the same as WWI. Freeze dried instant, pre ground canned, or the ever-popular New York City style light roast coffee in the Greek looking paper cups. It took a good 20 years to spread the taste of dark roast into the collective consciousness of Americans coffee drinkers.

Don't overtamp!

Dark roast coffee actually has less caffeine then lighter roast coffee because the roasting process removes some of the caffeine as it smokes and pops in the roaster. The coffees south and Central American, Jamaica and Hawaii are typically lighter roast. African and coffees of the Indonesia islands are typically roast to darker degrees. The thing to remember is that there are no rules and the roast is up to the roaster. The idea now is to roast the coffee and drink it while it's fresh. At Roosroast I use single origin coffees which are organically grown and harvested and roasted and distributed in small batches and are capable of delivering unique buzzes and wonderful characteristics which are worth waking up for or to enhance otherwise painstaking work of every day life.