In the market for a new coffeemaker

In My Humble Opinion
1

Well, I’ve decided it’s time to put my 10 dollar “brew-and-brew-alone” coffee maker to sleep, and pick up something a little more functional. The choices out there are fairly staggering, and now with the new breed of pod coffee makers, I’m stymied. First, the pod makers.

There’s the Senseo by Phillip, Melitta One, Black & Decker Home Cafe. All serve the same basic premise - insert a prefilled “pod” of coffee, dispense freshly brewed hot coffee one cup at a time, instantly. This would probably fit me perfectly: I drink coffee frequently throughout the day, but if I make a pot, it might be hours before I go for the next cup. I can do the carafe thing, yes, but, well I do like this idea. My concerns are 1) actually taste quality and 2) likelihood of the products being around for a while. Anyone have one of these, or tried the coffee that they produce? Is this good coffee? Or is this the same as those “instant coffee in a pouch” things that some people thought were so clever in the early 90s? As for 2: what are the chances that a year (or less!) down the line, I’ll suddenly find out that apparently, I’m the only person to have bought them, and won’t be able to find the “pods” anymore, thereby stuck with a useless (albeit cool looking) coffee maker?

If I skip the pod route, and go with something a little more conventional, then I’m really stuck, because, well, I’m really irrationally picky about coffeemakers. I want something that looks nice on the counter, does everything I want it to, but costs less than $100.00. So, what do I want it to do/have?

Must. Be. Programmable.
An adjustable “auto-off” would be nice as well - I hate having to run into the kitchen every 2 hours to zap the thing back on again. (Yes, I know, a carafe would fix this. But I hate carafes. They’re a pain in the ass to clean. The good ones are too expensive and too easy for my clumsy ass to break. Enough with the carafe suggestions, already! :wink: )
Adjustable warmer plate settings.
Adjustable brew strenth settings.
Removable water basket.
Drip-proof carafe would be nice. OK, if it COMES with a thermal carafe that it dispenses into, I’ll give in on the carafe deal.
An in-maker grinder would be nice, but I really can’t find one that I like that has all the other features, and I have a grinder anyway, so it’s not really necessary.

There ya have it. I have found plenty of coffee makers in my price range that have all but one or two of the options I’m looking for; I’ve found none at all that have ALL the options that I’m looking for. I had a B&D that I loved - had everything except the permanent filter - but I gave that to my last roommate as an apology for having to leave sooner than planned.

So, weigh in. Will the pods last long enough to be worth a 60 dollar investment? (I’m not at all encouraged by the fact that Senseo’s US-based site - www.senseo.com/us - only works some of the time) Does the coffee taste good enough to warrant the cost? And if not, what coffeemaker do YOU like?

2

What about a French Press? It’s a little more work than a drip maker, but you can pour the coffee into a thermos or carafe after it brews and it’ll stay hot that way.

The taste difference is incredible, IMO. I have a French Press and a small 4-cup drip machine, and I prefer the taste difference the press puts out, even though it’s a little extra work. It’s just a richer and fuller taste.
You have to boil the water in a tea kettle, and then pour it over the grounds in the press, put the screen thing/lid on, wait about 4-5 minutes and then press the screen thing/lid down and pour your coffee.
Here’s one. I’ve seen them cheaper; about $20 or so.

You have to have the beans ground rather chunky, not fine like for a drip machine, or you end up with grounds in your coffee.

3

I have a single-cup brewer (your “pod” model) and I love it!

Ours is a Keurig and it rocks. We buy our coffee and tea from Green Mountain usually, and you can get Dietrichs and Celestial Seasonings products as well. We can brew hot or iced coffee and tea (for iced tea, just run the tea into a cup of ice!). Green Mountain sells lots of different coffees and teas in “K-cups” for the Keurig brewer.

The coffee tastes great, there is no wasted coffee, and each person can choose a different coffeeflavor, regular or decaf, or pick tea if that’s what they’re into.

I would HIGHLY recommend the machine I have.

www.keurig.com

www.greenmountaincoffee.com
Email me for more info if you like.

4

I second this. I got one for christmas, and it’s fantastic! I won’t go back to coffee from a drip machine, the difference really is staggering. I’ve also seen them for about $20, so they’re also much cheaper than other coffee makers.

5

I just bought one of these: “Cuisinart Grind & Brew Thermal Coffeemaker”
(http://www.cuisinart.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi/en/item.cgi?item_id=DGB-600BC)
and I love it.
I think it has all the features on your list:

  • Timer/programmable
  • built-in grinder
  • you can adjust the strength by the amount of coffee
  • and the thermal carafe keeps the coffee warm all day. Seriously, I made coffee this morning and I’m drinking a still-warm cup right now. Prior to this it was reheat, reheat, reheat.
    The only pain is that you have to clean the grinder each time you use it, because the steam gets up in there, but it goes in the dishwasher.

They “list” for $200, can be found readily for $150. I got mine at Overstock.com for $85 (refurbished but perfect), but they appear to be sold out right now.

I’ve had one of those one-cup things (my former office), and while it was OK, I didn’t like being tied to having to buy their (expensive) packets, and I like a big mug o’ joe, not those little 8 oz. cups they make.

6

I meant to mention in the OP that I had tried the French Press - searched high and low for one as a matter of fact before finally finding one at HomeGoods. While I do like them, they’re too much work for me in the morning when I’m going nuts trying to get ready for work. So French Presses are not a good option for me.

wireless, your suggestion sounds very good, very suitable to my needs. I read the reviews at Amazon, and it seems to be one of those machines a person either loves or hates. From what I can tell though, the problems people have had with it are usually the result of operator error to begin with. Have you had any trouble with overflow, or messy cleanup, that kind of thing?

7

We have a Starbucks Barista. There are three different sizes, from 4 to 12 cups, ranging from about $80 - $150. We love it. The coffee brews into a thermal carafe, which will keep the coffee inside hot for hours. There is no warmer, so the coffee doesn’t “cook” as it sits in the pot.

http://www.starbucks.com/retail/dripBrewers.asp

8

Ah yes, the French Press. The Linux of coffee makers.

9

Well, funny you should mention that - just yesterday morning, I forgot to put a paper filter and basket back in (removed for rinsing). When I hit “start” and the grinding began, the grounds came out of the “spout” for the grinder section and went all over the basket area (mid-section) and the carafe (and the carafe holder and the counter and …). And it was a PITA to clean the basket area and basket holder because they don’t remove. So, yes, it was messy, but it was also operator error.

And yes, because you can program it, it can be very quick in the AM if it’s set up the night before, but, as mentioned previously, having to clean the grinder part every day means clean-up takes a little longer than for a regular coffee pot.

One positive note - the stainless carafe cleans up nicely - minimal water spots or finger prints like stainless can get.

Hope that helps!

10

I have one of these too, and something very similar happened to me two days ago. I had it set on ‘auto’ and when the grinder started the basket door popped open just a little bit. When I returned to the machine (innocently expecting a fresh cup of coffee) I saw a mound of dry coffee behind the carafe. Somehow, the water still made it into the carafe, but it was a pain in the ass to clean up. I think that enough coffee grime had gummed up the basket door mechanism and it didn’t latch properly. I also have the problem with the dripping carafe. I have to pour the coffee over the sink, or have a towel ready to wipe up the countertop.

Don’t underestimate the frustration you feel at 6 am when you walk into the kitchen expecting hot coffee and finding a huge mess that takes 15 minutes to clean up instead. And then you have to wait another 15 minutes for it to brew the next pot.

I’d pass on this machine.

11

I have the Krups Aroma Control. It’s a brew-carafe style with timer available with a either a plastic/glass or all stainless carafe. I have one of each–nice if you tend to have decaf-drinking people over. I tend to use the black carafe more because it’s lighter, but if I had to choose only one I’d probably pick stainless.

Poking around froogle and mysimon leads me to think these are good deals:
http://www.kitchen-universe.com/detail.aspx?ID=23 - white
http://www.boscovs.com/commerce/product.asp?dept_id=7050115&pf_id=2809775531994G - black
http://www.cafemaison.com/krups-aroma-control-coffee-maker-two-carafes-fmc.html - black w/two SS carafes

Costco had them for a time for I think around $60, but I haven’t seen one there in a while.

12

:smiley: I do dearly love my French Press.