Mama Diaries

Monday, July 3, 2017

Coffee Making 101

The other day, my son, Bubba, decided he wanted to make coffee.

"Mama," he said. "How to you make coffee?"

"You put some ground beans in the filter, fill the coffee maker with water, and then wait for it to get finished."

The boy had seen his dad grind coffee beans, so step one was not a problem. He placed a new filter (after a lot of searching for one) in the filter cup.  Then came the water part. He carefully inspected the machine to figure out where to put the water.  He put his fist into one of the openings. "It's not wet," he said. "It must not go there." He poured the water into the filter, over the grinds.

"Dude!" I said. "The water goes there." I showed him where he had put his fist. "It wasn't wet, because it hadn't been used in a while."

We cleaned up mess one, and tried again. This time, he put the water in the right place, but when the beeper went off, indicating the coffee was done, there was nothing but a few drops in the pot.

We opened the lid. All the hot water was on top of grinds in the filter, but it didn't go through.

"I know what I did," Bubba said. "I didn't take the plastic part out of the filter cup."

We cleaned up mess two, and tried again. This time he got it right.

So, ladies and gentlemen, this is what Bubba learned about making coffee:

1. Grind the coffee beans.

2. Find and insert filter into the filter cup, making sure liquid can pass through to the coffee pot. Remove parts that inhibit this.

3. Add ground beans to the filter.

4. Add water to proper reservoir.

5. Make sure coffee maker is on.

6. Wait for the beep, indicating brewing is finished.

7. Carefully pour coffee into suitable coffee mug.

8. Enjoy.

44 comments:

  1. 3rd time was the charm haha now he knows.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lots of steps to learn before that cup of perfect coffee can be enjoyed!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't drink coffee, so problem solved :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't either, but it's good to know how to do in case you have to entertain people.

      Delete
  4. Love my coffee!! But I had no interest in it until I was in my late teens and it was the only thing I could get for free as a waitress at a truck stop. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tell him not to get hooked and he'll never have to worry about it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad I don't drink coffee. I do just fine in the morning without it.

      Delete
  6. Loved the story Sherry, you've certainly got an enterprising son there.

    Yvonne.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi, Sherry!

    Bubba should write a book called Kitchen Adventures and Misadventures because he has had many of them. Over the years Mrs. Shady and I have had many minor disasters with coffee makers. She has a bad habit of turning the heating switch off when she starts brewing a pot of coffee. Iced coffee is good but room temperature java tastes yucky. We also have problems with paper filters that are either too small or two tall. When we make a full pot using a too small filter the beverage winds up full of grounds. When a too tall filter is used, it folds in on itself and the coffee leaks out all over the counter. So please tell Bubba not to feel bad about being coffee challenged. :)

    Happy 4th to you and your family, dear friend Sherry!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Is Bubba going to take up coffee drinking? I would warn him that it will stunt his growth, but my son became an avid coffee drinker as a teen and he's 6'3". Of course, he might have evened out at 7' without the coffee.

    Love,
    Janie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've already warned him, but that news has fallen on deaf ears.

      Delete
  9. That's a great lesson!
    French press for the next gift-giving-reason?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hmmm, subtly training him to make all of your coffee from now on? I'd say that's brilliant.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Now he knows more than me ;) (I've never made a cup of coffee before in my life.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I probably would have never made one if I wasn't around coffee drinkers.

      Delete
  12. Yay, Bubba. Making coffee is an art, and my favorite drink. 👍

    ReplyDelete
  13. I wouldn't have a clue, but I've never owned a coffee maker and don't drink coffee. I'm sure he'll be a pro with a bit of practice!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If there wasn't anyone in my family who drank coffee, I wouldn't know how to make it either.

      Delete
  14. At least he's learning through trial and error! Now he has a better understanding of how it all works. :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Well done, Bubba. I once made our coffee maker explode and the coffee hit the ceiling in a non-metaphorical way. I have not been allowed to make coffee ever since. The Bollywood Princess can be so strict.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That reminds me of my ginger ale incident. We were cleaning sticky spots off the ceiling two years later.

      Delete
  16. Lol:) My 4 and 2 year olds are fascinated by the coffee machine. When I make breakfast on the weekends they like to watch thew entire pot fill up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They'll be able to make their own coffee soon!

      Delete
  17. An important lesson. And I'd be lucky if I could remember how to make it! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Where to put the water is probably the trickiest thing.

      Delete
  18. I've never made coffee before, but now if I ever need to, I'll actually know how, thanks to this post! LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  19. LOL. These kids, eh? Life is messy, but if we allow them to make these mistakes once or twice, they'll never forget the lessons they've learned.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Well done Bubba!!! He did better than me! LOL!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If it was my first time, I probably wouldn't have gotten past grinding the beans.

      Delete
  21. Such a great story. Thanks for sharing this!

    www.ficklemillennial.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. He could go over to the UK and give lessons! I remember my great-grandma teaching me how to perk coffee when I was five... I started drinking it then, too, with a lot of milk and sugar, which I gave up by the time I was in college (the milk and sugar, not the coffee)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The only way I drink coffee is with lots of sugar and milk. Which is why I don't drink it. :)

      Delete