Coffee, American Style
Its quality depends on good, freshly ground beans; fresh cold water; and on being served right after brewing. A "cup" of brewed coffee means 4 liquid ounces, half the volume of a standard measuring cup. The dry measure "cup" referred to below is the standard 8 ounce cup.
 Coffee cup
 
Drip Coffee

Measure 1 tbsp. coffee for every 4 oz. cold water. Line the filter basket with a filter, and add the coffee. If you are using an automatic drip coffee maker, fill the water chamber to the desired level, turn on the coffee maker and let it brew. If you are brewing the coffee manually, boil freshly drawn cold water, dampen the coffee, then pour water over the grounds 4 ounces at a time until the desired quantity has been made.

 
Coffee in Quantity

Brewing time
1 minute per cup
Enough cold water to fill the coffee urn
30 cup urn: 1/2 lb./2-1/2 cups finely ground coffee
36 cup urn: 10 oz./3 cups finely ground coffee
55 cup urn: 1 lb./4-1/2 cups finely ground coffee
 

Fill the urn with cold water to the fill line. Position the filter basket securely, add a liner if needed, and add the ground coffee. Plug in the coffee urn and let it brew until the indicator light comes on. Allow plenty of time for the coffee to brew, but serve soon after brewing — standing spoils the flavor.

Coffee beans
 
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