How to Clean Your Coffee Maker
How to Clean Your Coffee Maker: A Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Tutorial
Has your home-brewed coffee started tasting a little bitter and not as fresh as it usually is? Chances are, it's time to clean your coffee maker.
It's essential to clean your coffee pot regularly since coffee machines are a moist environment where mold and bacteria can grow. No matter what kind of coffee you brew, it will end up tasting terrible if it's brewed in a dirty environment.
Giving your coffee maker a regular cleaning now and then will remove mineral buildup, get rid of residual coffee oils that turn bad and help maintain freshness.
Not sure how to clean a coffee pot? It's easy to do and takes just a few simple steps, which we'll walk you through below.
Best Way to Clean a Coffee Maker
Daily, it's recommended to wash the removable parts of your coffee machine (such as the carafe and filter basket) with warm, soapy water. This will remove coffee, grinds and oil, helping to keep your coffee maker clean in between vinegar cleanings (detailed below).
Plan to do the vinegar cleaning process once a month if you use your coffee maker every day. If you only make coffee at home occasionally, cleaning your coffee maker with vinegar every 3 to 6 months should be sufficient. When all else fails, you'll know it's time to clean your coffee maker when you notice visible buildup around the pot or basket and/or your coffee doesn't taste right.
Below we outline how to clean a classic drip-style coffee machine with a few everyday items that you most likely already have on hand. Note that this process will take some time, so don't clean your machine right before you need to brew a fresh pot of coffee!
What You'll Need:
- Water
- White vinegar (enough to fill up half your carafe)
- Hot soapy water
- Sponge
- Damp dish towel
- Dry dish towel
How to Clean a Coffee Pot:
1. Empty and rinse the carafe and dump any coffee grounds left in the filter.
2. Make your cleaning solution using one part water to one part vinegar.
3. Pour the solution into the water chamber. Fill the water chamber to its full capacity with equal parts white vinegar and water. You can measure equal amounts of each using the carafe.
4. Run a half brew cycle. Start a brew cycle and, midway through, turn off the coffee maker and let it sit for an hour.
5. After an hour, turn on the coffee maker and let the brew cycle finish.
6. After the brew cycle has completed, pour out the vinegar-water solution and fill the water chamber with fresh water (no vinegar). Run a whole new brew cycle with just the water.
7. Run a new brew cycle with fresh water two more times, allowing your coffee maker to cool slightly in between each brew.
8. Wipe down the exterior of your coffee maker and wash the carafe and filter basket in hot, soapy water.
That's it! Your clean coffee maker is all set to start making delicious coffee again.
Now that you know how to clean a coffee pot, go through this simple process once a month, and you won't have to worry about drinking coffee that you feel like spitting out after the first sip again!
Stock up on your favorite The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® coffees, or sign up for a 3-month or 6-month coffee subscription and enjoy sipping fresh-brewed, delicious tasting coffee at home every day.
