Flavia coffee makers are a good choice, too, if you’re gonna go the “one cup at a time” route. My sister has one, and I love getting coffee at her house!
Me? I use a Cuisinart Grind and Brew, and like it a lot. I have air-tight containers I keep my whole beans in (what doesn’t fit in the the container goes in the freezer) that has a 1TBSP scoop with it (the container); I use 4 scoops of beans, fill the pot to the “4 cup” mark with cold water, pour the water in the reservoir, assemble everything else (there’s a lot of ‘assembly’ with the Grind and Brew. . .) and set the timer for 6AM.
Makes a nice cup of coffee.
Oh, in case you were wondering. . .if you fill the coffee pot to the “four-cup” mark, it doesn’t actually make four cups of coffee, unless you use wimpy coffee cups. It makes about two decent mugs of coffee.
Yeah, we need more info before solid advice can be given. Keep in mind that I am not a super coffee snob, and not a pro at making coffee, but I do OK.
What’s not right with your coffee? Is it too strong? Too weak? Bitter?
What kind of machine do you use?
(I have a drip Cuisinart machine - if your machine isn’t a super cheap one, or old an never been cleaned its probably not the issue, although I’m sure getting a better machine could get you marginally better coffee).
What kind of beans do you use? Do you get them pre-ground, or whole bean and grind them yourself?
(ideally, you’d get fresh, whole beans and grind them yourself right before use, using a burr grinder. But you’re enjoying coffee that’s coming from places that almost certainly aren’t doing that, so that’s probably not the issue. Getting the best coffee, ground or not, is one of the biggest issues that could be affecting your coffee, once you eliminate the basic water-to-grounds ratio issue. Side note: I have a burr grinder that has a preset for how much it grinds; I almost always make the same amount of coffee, so hitting the grinder button and filling up the pot to the same mark lets me make my coffee fast without needing to measure).
What kind of water do you use? Straight from the tap? Filtered?
(this is actually more important than you might think, especially if your tap water isn’t all that great. I use Brita-filtered water, I’ve used bottled water in the past. Oddly, I’ve been told that distilled water doesn’t work well, as it’s too pure).
I’ll second the Keurig as a single cup maker. I had one in my office for a couple of years and it worked just fine. I also bought the adapterthat allows you save some money on the pods. Now the whole thing is sitting in the garage whimpering, as I don’t use it anymore.
Like others have said, it could be the filter folding over while it brews. You’d be able to tell if the filter is folded over when you open it to take it out afterward.
The *other *possibility is that your coffee pot isn’t inserted correctly. The bottom of the drip thingy (the spout that meets the top hole in the pot) has a spring mechanism that’s supposed to keep it from dripping when the pot’s not in. However, during the initial brewing, if the pot isn’t all the way in to push the spring mechanism in, water will flood over the filter (because it’s not dripping through the bottom), and carry grounds with it. *Then *it drips down into the pot anyway.