We’ve a Krups that grinds the beans first and then brews a darn fine cup of coffee. It also has a nifty shaped carafe. There’s a picture of it here.
Recently we visited my husband’s aunt in Atlanta. She has a Bunn coffee maker that heats the water instantly. It was amazing. You had to have the coffee in the filter and the pot on the heating element because as soon as you turned it on, hot water was filtering through. It was cool but I don’t think I’m ever in that much of a rush.
So, what kind do you have and does it do anything special?
I have a Melita, which also grind beans and brews. The thing I really like about it though is that unlike the Braun units I have seen, the Melita can be completely disassembled and put in the dishwasher. In the Braun my sister has, the place where the beans are ground cant be removed and washed and gets pretty gunky after a while. With mine you just pop the parts in the dish washer when your done and its clean from head to toe!
We have got a Siemens (Saeco with a Siemens label) it grinds the beans, then starts moaning and this is followed by some really black coffee after that the coffee gets out pretty fast and in the end it has got foamy toplayer. Fresh coffee with a nice and special taste to it.
Lately I’ve been using a manual drip that has “Gemco” on the side. Before that I was making coffee in the French press. Sometimes I’ll use the stovetop espresso maker (I have two – plus the single-demitasse one I got at the camping store). I have an electric percolator and a stovetop percolator. And of course, I have a pair of Vietnamese coffee makers.
I know that all of the coffee purists will yell at me like they did the last time I mentioned this, but here it goes.
I have an old fashioned stove-top percolator. It’s just a stainless steel carafe with the tube and basket assembly inside and a tight-fitting lid. I grind my beans fresh, dump the coarse grounds into the little basket, heat it until the water is bubbling up the tube into the plastic knob on top, then reduce heat and let it perk for 6 minutes.
I love it. It makes the best coffee I’ve ever had, IMHO. Apparently, though, I’m a philistine because everyone [sub]cough[/sub] knows that coffee should never be boiled. Whatever.
IMHO, no coffee maker really gets the water hot enough.
I use the old kettle on the burner.
Filter holder on coffee pot, couple of big spoons of coffee in the filter and then pour water through in two or three pours.
By the way, if you want to make stronger, fresher coffee from even the cheapest can of Folgers (or whatever), simply take the ground coffee and re-grind it briefly in an electric coffee grinder.
It “freshens” the grind, makes it a bit finer (so coffee is brewed better) and you don’t need as much to make a much stronger cup.
This can even make visiting Germans happy with American coffee - which has the reputation of being the worst (weakest) in the world.
Capresso. I live and die by Capresso coffee makers, because they’re the only drip-type maker that makes decent coffee IMO. They’re pieces of shit, however, as far as manufacturing goes. My first one died three times before I finally quit trying to get the company to fix it and threw it out. I went out and tried a couple other coffee makers, and didn’t like the results, so bought another Capresso. So far, it’s held up for 3 months. We’ll see how it goes…
For what it’s worth, I guess the reason it makes such good coffee is that Capresso actually heats the water hotter than most makers. I dunno if that’s it or not, but it definitely makes better coffee than most.
I have ye olde Mr. Coffee. Brews the coffee pretty darn hot, doesn’t take forever to get done, and keeps it hot. No timers, no fancy schmancy stuff, just an ‘on’ button. I’ve had this thing for ages, I’m not exactly a connoisseur, but the coffee is pretty good.
And a regular coffee maker for larger amounts - making espresso is hard work, dammit! I don’t even know what brand it is, a Braun or something. It’s white.
Gevalia Thermal Carafe. I like it because it keeps the coffee hot without a heating element. The coffee stays fresh and doesn’t get bitter/burnt tasting.
Oh bullshit. I’d love to have another percolator! I had one in law school, but it got lost in a move and I’ve been missing it ever since.
Mmmmm. . .percolated coffee. Tastes like camping.
At home on the counter I have a Braun with a timer, so I can set it up the night before and have the smell of fresh coffee greet me when I step out of the shower.
I have eine Braun, which of course I call Eva. I had a bad run with coffeemakers. The Braun I’d had for ten years finally started going bad about 18 months ago. I replaced it with a Krups that had its own grinder - disaster! It was a pain to clean, and although I was pretty rigorous in keeping it sparkly within four months it was dying. (I notice the price of that model has dropped dramatically, I suspect because of bad word-of-mouth.)
So I went with a separate burr grinder and coffeemaker, figuring there would be fewer parts in each to go wrong. Braun for both. And it was Good.
Then I had a power surge, which was an object lesson on how many appliances now have chips in them. Everything that was on a surge protector came out fine - but of course I hadn’t even thought of the coffee pot. Which was very dead. Wouldn’t-turn-on dead. Dead-dead-dead.
Happily, it was still under warranty and, miracle of miracles, I’d kept the receipt. Bed Bath & Boys (it’s in Chelsea, you see) let me return it, no questions, and its replacement is doing fine.
Opengrave (nice name, btw), I was thinking of getting that Gevalia coffee maker/thermal carafe because I’d like to use the carafe when I have people over. I didn’t however, want to receive their coffee every week, though.
