Honey, that's a great cup of coffee!

  This week’s Hot Home Products column is about one-cup coffeemakers, most of which use pre-packaged pods. But if you prefer a big steaming pot of coffee along with your weekend paper (The Toronto Star, of course,) here are a few tips for getting a great brew. 

Use fresh coffee beans, and grind them yourself for every pot. Grinders are very affordable now, with prices starting at about $20. (If you use it for grinding spices as well, choose one that has a removable chamber that’s dishwasher-safe, like the new one from Hamilton Beach).

Make sure you choose the correct grind for your coffee maker.

Try adding a touch of ground cinnamon to the ground cofee to enhance the flavour.

Keep your coffee maker super clean. Wash it after each use and rinse it with water that has a very small amount of baking soda added. Rinse your drip maker with vinegar, followed by two or three pots of water, once a month or so.

Only make as much coffee as you’ll drink in one setting. If you’ve made too much, better to transfer it to a thermos (I love the Thermos bottle shown below), rather than let it sit on the hotplate. Or save it and use it for something delish, such as the Caramel Coffee Sauce on page 922 of Mark Bittman's  How to Cook Everything (Bittman suggests using freshly brewed coffee, but I’ve cheated on this before. I’ve also used coffee as the liquid in cookies. Yum.)

I love drinking coffee from a beautiful cup and saucer. This one above came from Teatro Verde, which, BTW, recently opened a lovely new store at 100 Yorkville Avenue. And if you're in that neighbourhood and want to look at some absolutely stunning coffee pots for fun, drop by the Amarynth Gallery at 161 Cumberland Street and ask them to point out the pieces from Italian silverware design firm, De Vecchio.