Guys, this is totally random. I'm writing this scene and it involves someone making coffee, but then I realized that as much as I love coffee and drink it all the time, i have never actually operated one of those american style coffee pots I always see on TV and I have no idea how it's done.

I think the coffee gets made in the top of the thing and then it drips through into a big glass jug or something? Or do you tell it when you want some coffee to be in the jug so it's not sitting there for hours getting gross? Or do you make it and drink it immediately and TV that has people just walking in and pouring a cup is a misrepresentation?

I make espresso in a pot on the stove, and I have never seen that on american TV, only these jug things. Can someone please give me a step by step?

(Asking this makes me feel really stupid!)