I take the following to be the secrets, in descending order of importance.
My main beef is that most coffee, and I include what is typically served in the usual American coffee houses, is really weak. The first step (experimentation will be required) is to use at least twice as much coffee as you're used to using. It will not be bitter if you brew it right, but even if you're used to strong black coffee, the flavor will take some getting used to, because it will finally be as strong as it should be. Good coffee is an expensive habit, no getting around it.
The darker the roast, the less of it you need, but even then you need a lot.
At no time should boiling water ever touch the grounds. 190 degrees F., tops. This means, among other things, no percolators, no vacuum pots, and no automatic machines. Sorry. Drip is the only way, though the Melior-style pot (with the push-down screen plunger) is not too bad. If you use a teakettle to heat water (I do), one way to manage the heat is to bring it to a boil or simmer, then add a dash of cold water just before you use it.
Everything should be as clean as you can get it. Coffee is loaded with oil, which very quickly goes rancid and tastes awful.
On the first splash, add just enough water to thoroughly wet the grounds, then wait about a minute. This opens the grounds up, making it easier to leach out the good stuff, which comes next. Get the rest of the water through the ground as fast as gravity allows.
I use paper filters, but the ultrafine metal mesh ones made by Braun work well if they're kept really clean.
About beans: buy the best you can afford. Grind only right before brewing. I don't like the common Braun-style grinder with the whirling blades, because it isn't big enough and it grinds the coffee too fine. Ideally, coffee should be roasted right before it's ground, but that is hardly practical. (See, I can so compromise! :-)
I buy beans every few days, two pounds at a time. I drink about 1.5 liters/day, and the two pounds lasts less than a week. I keep it in the fridge, but recent news from purists is that this isn't necessary, as long as you use your stock up quickly. This latest intelligence also says not to freeze coffee at all!
As to varieties, needless to say, flavored coffees are right out, though I would add lemon peel oil that has been flamed to Italian espresso.
I blend my own beans. More expensive beans can of course be blended with cheaper ones to get a tasty yet affordable result.
I've tried various decaffeinated coffees, hated every one of them. It's the drug effect I go for, after all.
Once in a great while, especially if it's freshly whipped, I'll put cream in coffee. It's just a variety of enjoyment. But that's usually too rich (in the fat sense) for me. While I would not in a million years add sugar, I love coffee with Kahluha in it once in a while as a dessert. And I love coffee-flavored ice cream and milkshakes.
Well, that's about it. Needless to say, do not keep coffee on the heat or reheat it. Either brew only as much as you need right then, or brew it into a vacuum bottle so it stays hot.
Finally, the main thing is that like Scotch whisky and
cigarets, coffee is an acquired taste. I don't recommend
cigarets at all (other than to myself), and I advise caution in
the matter of alcohol, but unless you have terrible insomnia
problems or major blood pressure or heart rhythm problems,
coffee is a wonderful thing, and one of the best one-on-one
conversational lubricants there is. May you enjoy it as much as
I do. And, when I've had a lot of it, I can type really
fast! :-)
