I was last-week-years old when I learned something about coffee that—I’m embarrassed to admit—I should’ve known decades ago: if a drip coffee maker isn’t yet finished and you grab the carafe to pour yourself a cup, two things are probably true:

• that cup of coffee is going to be stronger than you may want, and
• the remaining coffee is going to be weaker than you may want.

Best to let the entire thing finish, blend a bit, then you pour the first cup.