How to Make Coffee with an Automatic Dripper

Fast, reliable and easy to use, automatic drippers are our faithful sidekicks! Seriously, we’ve lost track of the number of times a freshly-brewed carafe has saved our day.

Whether you’re planning on getting one of these bad boys for your kitchen or making the perfect pot of joe to impress your new colleagues, learning how to make coffee with an automatic dripper means you have 99% higher chances of starting the day right.

The 1%? That’s just if you brew a weak cup.

Disgraceful!

Fire Dept. Coffee’s tips on how to make coffee with an automatic dripper 

1. Use the correct grind size

The reason why y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶c̶o̶l̶l̶e̶a̶g̶u̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶c̶o̶f̶f̶e̶e̶ some drip coffee tastes bad? It was probably brewed with beans ground at the wrong size. Or, worse, using stale store-bought grounds better suited for espresso machines. 

For the best results, aim for a medium grind. Or grab yourself a bag of our freshly roasted ground coffee. Easy.

2. Use the correct coffee-to-water ratio

You can always tweak it depending on your personal taste, but a 1:15 ratio is the safest bet. Making four cups of coffee and using 7g per serving? Then you’ll need around 420g of water. 

No scale? Aim for 2 tablespoons of coffee per cup of water. 

Or 3 if it’s one of those days when caffeine is your online hope.

3. Use the best water

It might be the last thing on your mind but… if your tap water is particularly hard and full of bad chemicals like chlorine, it will affect the taste of your brew! 

Not only that: it can ruin your coffee maker over time. 

If that’s your case, try charcoal water filters.

4. Understand coffee filters

If you still haven’t bought your new automatic coffee dripper or have one that comes with two filters, consider this:

• paper filters will give you a smoother cup of coffee, sort of like manual pour-overs;
• permanent ones will result in a richer and bolder brew that tastes more like French press coffee.

Go for the type of joe that tickles your caffeinated taste buds the most!

5. Press the magic button

Once you’ve added your grounds to the filter and water to the reservoir, you can press the a̶n̶t̶i̶-̶m̶u̶r̶d̶e̶r̶  brew button. 

If your automatic coffee maker has a pre-infusion feature, don’t skip it! 

Mimicking manual pour-overs, it allows your grounds to bloom for around 30 seconds before starting the actual extraction process, unlocking the best flavors.

6. Enjoy it immediately… or not? 

At Fire Dept. Coffe, we can never wait any longer before enjoying our well-deserved pot of joe! Have you got a glass carafe? Then we recommend doing the same!

These jugs don’t retain the heat for very long and the hot plate can stew the coffee, resulting in over-extraction. 

Got a stainless-steel carafe? Then it’s safe to wait for an hour or two. 

But, let’s be honest: why on earth would you want to?

7. Correct it if it tastes sour or bitter

Now that you’ve brewed your first proper jug, taste it. 

Love it? Nice one. You can serve it to the rest of your colleagues or family.

Not so much? Drink all of it before anyone else sees you and brew another fresh pot.

If your first coffee tasted weak, sour and lacked sweetness, it means it was under-extracted. Try a slightly finer grind if you’re using beans or a lower coffee-to-water ratio (e.g. 1:14).

If—more likely—it tasted bitter and burnt, it was over-extracted, but a coarser grind or a higher ratio will fix it.

How to clean an automatic drip coffee maker

How you clean an automatic drip coffee maker can change depending on the model. Generally speaking, it's good practice to wash the carafe and brew basket after each use and descale the dripper with a water and white vinegar solution every three months or so.

Now that you’ve learned how to make coffee with an automatic dripper (one of the best coffee brewing methods!), make sure you’ve got the best beans or grounds for it, and get ready to show off your skills.

We know that’s why you wanted to learn!