Erin Meister trains baristas for North Carolina-based Counter Culture Coffee and sporadically maintains the blog Meet the Press Pot from her home in New York City. This is part of a series for the caffeine-addicted.

If a coffee appreciator buys small amounts of whole beans on a regular basis and has them ground fresh in the store -- and a coffee lover grinds those small batches at home just before using them -- then a coffee fanatic puts a little elbow grease into it, hand-cranking the burrs that chop the beans to bits seconds before brewing.

Just like when great-grandpappy had to go out back to turn over the engine on his Model T, folks would turn the lever on top of a wood-and-metal box-shaped grinder (like these) to start prepping their morning joe. But even without getting axle grease on your palms in order to start the car, you too can connect with your coffee in the same way your great-grandfolks did. Not only that, but after a while you'll have awesome guns to show for it.

If that doesn't make you want to become that coffee fanatic, keep reading after the jump.

When brewing coffee, there are two factors that play a huge part in the final flavor. The water-to-bean ratio is important, but first you should have fresh beans and they should be ground as soon before brewing as possible. Fresh grounds will have the natural oils of the bean still in them, which will give you the fullest flavor, eliminating much of that flat and bitter aftertaste that can come from stale grounds - and ground coffee can stale very, very quickly. This is why, if you brew coffee at home, it's a good idea to buy a grinder and grind your own beans. Since that's another step between you and coffee in the morning, however, many opt for preground. The all-in-one coffee makers, which have built in grinders, are a good option for anyone who wants to get the best cup of coffee with the least amount of work.

The machines are programmed in advance and they heat water, grind beans and brew your coffee all with the touch of a button. A recent test showed good results from each of three machines. The Melitta preformed well, but had no insulated carafe, which keeps the coffee from becoming burned or overly strong sitting on a heating pad. The Cuisinart made a slightly better cup of coffee than the Melitta, but the Capresso, with a burr grinder to ensure even grounds and smooth flavor, won the test.

All in all, you can't really go wrong with any of the machines from the sound of it, but if you already have a machine you like, look into getting a grinder instead of a whole new machine to really improve the quality of your morning brew.

A few months back, I posted about a map that showed regional names for soft drinks: pop, soda, etc. Well, I recently came across a similar map designed to show how people in different parts of the U.S. refer to their long sandwiches. The map is part of a larger project called the Dialect Survey, created by a linguistics professor at Harvard. Other regional food pronunciations include caramel (do you use three syllables or two?), mayonnaise (man-aze or may-uh-naze?), pecan (pee-cans are for truckers), and lots more. I also found the alternate names for milkshakes pretty interesting (cabinet? velvet?).

[Via Fark]

Virtually every chef and food-related resource extols the virtues of using freshly-shaved spices to flavor your cooking. Grate some nutmeg. Grind some cardamom. The flavors are brighter and stronger when they are fresh. But what about freshly grated chocolate? It's true that the flavor won't get stronger, but it sure does look cool.

The Chocolate Mill grinds chocolate chips of any flavor - dark, milk or white - into chocolate shavings with a turn if its handle. Not only is it a unique kitchen gadget for the cook-who-has-everything, it can improve presentation of a piece of cake, garnish an ice cream sundae and top a frothy cappuccino with a bit of extra flavor.