You have your fresh whole bean coffee. You have your quality burr grinder. Now it's time to take a closer look at the device that will bring those aromatic beans to life! If you've not embraced any of the numerous manual brewing methods, like french press or pour over, then most likely you're reaching for the automatic drip brewer. We'll leave the pod brewers for another post.
The Bad News: Initially developed with convenience and economy in mind, most drip brewers fail in the key area of heating brew water to a minimum 195º Fahrenheit. Though a huge improvement over the percolator brewers they intended to replace, the result of under-heated water is a pot of lackluster coffee missing the flavor dynamics only extracted at the proper temperatures.
The Good News: The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) has developed a program to review coffee brewers for their ability to meet the standards of quality brewed coffee. Developed by coffee science experts and professional coffee tasters, these requirements are based on decades of industry knowledge and research by the Coffee Brewing Center.