I’m trying to get my girlfriend the ultimate coffee maker for her birthday, but I don’t know the first thing about coffee. Help! I know two things: she loves French Press coffee, and she wants a maker that you can set on a timer so it’s ready when you wake up in the morning. But the electronic ones I’m finding aren’t French Press, and the French Press ones I’m finding don’t have timers. So is there a magic one that has both settings, to make FP and “regular” coffee, with a timer on it?
Right now I’m looking at a Cuisinart and a Frieling, but it would be great to combine them and not have to buy two separate machines (and would she even want the regular one anyway since she loves FP so much?)
My advice is that if you try to get the best of both you end up with not very good from either.
So that’s first.
Second, pretty much all timed drip coffee pots are the same. Go for the one that looks good/fits your kitchen. Spend money only on features (like a timer).
Bodum makes a great french press that is easy to keep clean (which is key), I heartily recommend it and an electric teakettle instead of the drip machine. I know it’s not timed, but the teakettle will boil quickly and then it’s only about 3 minutes to brew the french press coffee.
My last advice is, don’t spend money on coffee makers. Research and buy a high quality burr coffee grinder, and then get her a subscription to fresh roasted coffee beans. Peet’s coffee has a service as does Blue Bottle Coffee and several others, but find a roast you like and a local(ish) coffee roaster and get the freshest beans you can find for her. If she likes good coffee those two things will give her a tasty cup almost no matter how you make them.
This is absolutely not true. Not all drip coffee pots are the same; I’d go so far as to say all the CHEAP ones are the same, but once you get into the higher-cost, higher-quality ones, there are some features that greatly improve the flavor of the coffee.
Particularly:
Water temperature. Cheap coffee makers don’t get the water hot enough. You want a maker that gets the water to around 200 degrees before brewing the coffee.
Saturation of ground coffee. You want the water to be sprayed over the top of the coffee so full saturation occurs. Once again, the cheap ones don’t really spray the water out, they only wet a bit of the coffee initially and let it flow into the remaining bits as the filter fills up. You’re not going to get the best flavors out of the beans that way.
Time. Assuming you have the correct grind for the machine, the coffee should be brewed for about a minute per cup. You can change this depending on the grind, but cheap makers will be too slow or too fast to ever get a decent cup.
Ease of cleaning. A dirty machine will never produce good coffee. I’ve seen some drip machines that are flat-out impossible to clean. Don’t buy one of those.
Of course, as NAF1138 states, the coffee itself is also very important, probably the most important element. Cheap coffee is going to be bad no matter how well it’s prepared. I just wanted to point out that you can indeed get an excellent cup of coffee from a drip machine if you purchase a high-quality drip machine, and they are absolutely NOT all the same.
Thanks for the advice! Is this the Bodum thing you’re talking about?
I know her favorite brand of coffee; it’s Oren’s. Should I go there and ask them for advice?
P.S. I just saw your post, Athena (and strangely enough, that’s the name of the company she created… it’s a sign!). I’m definitely willing to spend the dough; have you ever heard of a french press machine that works on a timer? Or should I just get both, do you think?
Nope, unfortunately I’ve never heard of a French Press on a timer. Every one I’ve seen is just plain manual.
If you’re going to go for drip, I’m not a fan of the Cuisinart you linked; I had one and got rid of it because I didn’t like the coffee it made. One brand I’ve always liked for drip makers is Capresso - I’ve had at least a couple of those and also recommended them to people and have always had good results.
Honestly if you have a good grinder, a good electric kettle, and a clean french press it should not take long at all to make coffee in the morning. I suppose if she’s not a morning person at all you could fill the kettle and grind the beans the night before but really your only saving a minute or two.
Like others I say don’t compromise. If she really likes her coffee do it right.
Good whole beans, good burr grindar, good french press.
My last two coffee makers have been Capressos, and I’ve been very happy with them. The first was replaced only because the glass carafe broke and we decided we wanted a thermos version instead. My parents also have one and are very happy.
Edit: specifically, we have the predecessor to this model.