What makes the perfect cup of coffee?

What is the perfect cup of coffee. We as humans are driven by our sensors, and often what makes the perfect cup of coffee is our memory of the perfect cup. It is normally not the coffee that is the major contributor to us remembering a cup of joe. I asked myself this question while reading Kenneth Davids' Coffee book


For me I remember as a young man going to the drive-in on a cold winter night and craving what I now call drive-in coffee. This is normally not very good coffee, with condense milk, it is sweet to the point that your teeth rattle. But feeling freezing cold and having this syrupy cup of coffee was perfect that day and time.

When I was studying and I needed a break grinding the coffee fresh, placing the coffee in a two cup mocha pot and relaxing while it made its magic brew was the perfect cup for me then. And I remember those coffees well.

What makes the perfect cup of coffee today for me is a combination of things:

• The coffee must be fresh roasted, highland grown and specialty grade, which means that by the time you get it at least 4 different people have rated it as enjoyable.
• If you have the time then a group head machine normally produces the best coffee, but normally the perfect coffee means you have friends around, and you enjoy their company and that is normally not conducive to the attention you need to give a group head machine that is where high quality super automatic, comes to the party. Once you get to know a good quality super automatic I find that you can get a great cup from them.
• Then obviously you need the environment to be perfect, the place, the people and the ambience, that is where the deal is sealed.

When do you last have your perfect cup, add a comment to list it. Was it on a picnic, on the beach in the mountains, or overlooking the field.