It's always nice to be able to make coffee for friends when they visit.
To do this, you need a large coffee maker, lots of coffee cups and preferably, some fresh ground coffee.
However, what do you do when you just want to make coffee for yourself? It can be a hassle to set up a big coffee maker, not to mention the time it takes waiting for water to heat up.
While going to your local coffee shop and having them make you a cup is one answer, there are three ways you can make coffee for yourself without much trouble.
First of all, you can try instant coffee.
While coffee purists are shuddering right now, the truth is that instant coffee has come a long way.
While nothing can beat the taste of fresh ground coffee, the new instant coffees are a reasonable approximation.
They are particularly good when you are in a hurry, especially if you have an electric kettle or hot water maker that can quickly heat water.
Another alternative is single serve coffee makers.
There are a variety of brands on the market and while early models did have problems, newer models have definitely improved.
Each brand works a little differently, but in general, each uses a prepackaged container of pre-ground coffee beans.
They are usually vacuum sealed and often, they are individually vacuum sealed to help maintain freshness.
Again, coffee purists will wince at the thought of using beans that you didn't grind yourself, but single serve coffee makers are a step above instant coffee, since they aren't freeze dried.
The third alternative is to use a small French press.
Making java this way lets you use whole beans that you grind just before using.
This makes for a fresher cup.
However, unless you use a coarser grind, you may get sediment in you coffee.
This is because the screen filter in a French press coffee maker can't screen out the smallest particles of the ground coffee.
In fact, if you have a blade grinder, you probably won't be able to keep sediment out of your coffee regardless of how coarse you make the grind, due to the uneven way the blades grind the coffee.
To truly get an even grind, for a sediment free cup, you need to use a burr grinder.