What kind of relationship do you have with your coffeemaker? Do you want to show it off to your friends or crush it with a sledgehammer, or something in between?
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
Mine is okay, but the pouring lip demands I pour my coffee in slow-motion if I don’t want half of it on the counter.
My Hamilton Beach has no carafe. It has a dispenser similar to a cafeteria machine. One less thing to break. And the thing was actually pretty cheap to buy.
Try lifting the lid when you pour. I think you’ll find that you spill a lot less.
I want to crush Megan McArdle’s coffee machine with a sledgehammer.
I should have bought the kind you can pre-set the night before. Otherwise, no problem. It brews a lot faster than the old one. Drinking some coffee right now, actually.
I use a French press. Very basic, but makes excellent coffee.
We had a Capresso coffee machine. It was good, but it broke.
I love my French Press. Only downside is that you have to drink the coffee quickly–this is not a problem in my house but for non addicted folks it could be.
We also have a Cuisinart with a thermal carafe that is BPA free and allows us to set the timer so we have brewed coffee for the morning.
I really like both!
Yes, a French press is the answer. So simple, so easy to clean. Make a full pot and what you don’t drink, stick in the fridge for tomorrow. Nothing to break, nothing to lose.
I have one of these:
http://www.capejava.com/userfiles/b60Add(1).jpg
your link isn’t woking – or maybe you already crushed it with a sledgehammer
It works, you just have to copy and paste the whole thing. For some reason it didn’t hyperlink the entire thing and stopped at (1).jpg
yes, Keurig. Have tried it at offices – cannot get it to make coffee as strong as I like.
Everywhere I went over Christmas someone was either giving, or getting, this as a gift. They have one at my bank, where I tried it for tea, which was good. I keep wondering, though, whether it’s bad for you to have have all that steamy water going through a plastic container. Not a problem?
Not that I know of. I’d say the biggest reason to oppose one is the cost; those little packets are pricey. My parents got one because it’s quick and simple. If you make a lot of coffee, it’s probably not practical.
Over the years we’ve had a bunch of ’em of the Mr. Coffee type by various makers. We drink so much coffee it’s on roughly 14 hours a day. They last a year or two, then break as they are all made like crap.
The best one we ever had was a Bunn, which seemed to shoot the coffee out of a cannon it was so fast. However, the wife hated it saying it used more coffee and didn’t brew hot enough.
When the power went out during Sandy, I bought a stovetop Bialetti, which is nice for when you need one more cup but don’t want to make a full pot. If I had my druthers I’d buy a small commercial Bunn.
All the Mr-Coffee type machines I’ve owned still work, but they all have the same problem of spilling at least some down the front no matter how fast or slowly you pour it.
These days we use a french press, but as the screens fray around the edges almost immediately, there’s always a bit of seepage of coffee grounds into the cup unless you use a secondary strainer.
I like how the press allows the grounds to actually steep into the water a bit rather than the pour-over-the-top approach of most electric coffee makers, but it’d be nice to have something programmable, too. I wonder if there are programmable percolators out there. I think I’ll have a look. I think I’m looking right now.
The Mr. Coffee carafe we have now dribbles. I found you can get a clean pour by cracking the lid up with your pouring hand thumb. Try it.
I have tried that. It works most of the time.
I drink a lot of coffee, so I got the Cuisinart coffee maker that brews 14 cups, which in reality is about six mugs. It has different settings for brew strength (Bold, naturally) and caraffe temperature (hot) and I can preset brew times for when I get up in the morning. I love it.
Keurig is all the rage these days, but I would go broke using pods. The Cuisinart has a two-hour timer which automatically shuts off, and I can reheat as needed. It’s the best coffee maker I’ve ever had.
My coffee machines have all gone the way of the garbage can as they never seem to last all that long. I finally have settled, happily I might add, on just boiling a pot of water and pouring it over the grounds in a gold filter with a paper insert. I can control heat, no electronics and always good coffee.
I burned through various Cuisinart/Mr Coffee/Hamilton Beach models over the years–they either seemed to lose their efficiency or not heat the water hot enough to begin with. Sprang for a Technivorm a couple of years ago after reading all the rave reviews. I like it a lot–it’s fast, and the coffee is good and strong without being bitter. Zippo bells and whistles–no timer, clock, grinder. It just heats water to the optimal temp and shoots it over the coffee.
I have a French press, but can’t seem to get the hang of it. I may still give it a try because friends claim it makes the best-tasting coffee.
Mojo for the Tehnivorm, it’ll be my next. I’ve had various Krups machines that were good but lately the quality has dropped. I’m currently using the Zojirushi machine which makes very good brew.
Had to look up Technivorm, and it prices at around $300 for the machine on sale at amazon. Fine if you want to invest that much in a coffee maker, but that also sets up some very high expectations as to taste and daily wear and tear.
No way today I would risk that much on a coffee maker. Been there done that. I’m sticking with the $30 French Press.
Coffee maker:
1 wire strainer that can hold a standard 10-cup coffee-maker filter.
1 bowl or measuring cup large enough to hold strainer
10-cup coffee-maker filter
Saucepan to boil water
Everything is multipurpose.
BTW the classic was a large Erlenmeyer pyrex flask and a large pyrex funnel to hold a filter.
Mine is an old decrepit Mr. Coffee type. I would be ashamed to have anyone else see the shape it’s in. It’s supposedly a six-cup machine, but I long ago discovered that one large mug of water and one heaping scoop of coffee make a pretty decent single mug of the kind of grog I grew up with.
The motions of making coffee with it are so ingrained in muscle memory that I can put on a cup literally without thinking. More than once I’ve gone into the kitchen to do something else, only to discover I forgot to do the something else when I hear the coffee maker going through its death-rattle routine instead.
So far it seems to be me, not the coffee maker why my coffee is so terrible, though I’m doing ok with the commercial coffee maker at work by adding part of an extra pak of coffee.
I don’t drink coffee. I used to drink Mt. Dew in the morning, but I’ve given up caffeine.
I have an old Melita Espresso Mini that has been working fine for 10 years – every morning. I replaced the glass carafe when it broke with a stainless milk jug I bought at a garage sale – much more durable.
It’s practical and makes great coffee every day.
I just use an electric percolator. It’s hotter than a Mr Coffee, and I don’t like fussing with the drip papers–seems like a waste to me.
I just use a standard Mr. Coffee coffee maker. Sure, it’s not sexy, and it doesn’t make the best cup of coffee, but it works for my purposes. I just want a cup of wake-up juice, and it does that and nothing more.
How did this, of all topics, get 25 comments in less than two hours? That’s what I want to know.
My coffee machine? Uhm . . . had it since August, a gift from my parents; haven’t figured out how to use it. Makes great coffee at their house.
This topic is preferable to discussing David Gregory’s interview with the President this morning: shaking his finger at Obama, “Why don’t you think the Republicans like you?” Then Gregory tried the “Both sides do it,” and Obama pushed back and said, not the other side, but Republicans are at fault.
If you didn’t listen to the discussion afterwards, it was bearable but only if Gregory wasn’t there. Who does he think he is to shake his finger at the President?
Cecilia Johnson is right !
Our national media discourse is painful to observe. Better to talk about coffee machines than to give Dancin’ Dave any of my brain space.
Jan Brewer groupie?
watched the video. DG implied or stated directly with every question that Obama singlehandedly is preventing us from having our ponies. DG’s obnoxiousness, however, gave Obama the opportunity to make his point.
French press is the way to go for high quality taste from a minimum investment ($30 or less). Mine has lasted 4 years intact except for the plastic top cover that presumably locks in the flavors during the steeping.
The downsides are minor — it takes a few minutes longer to make coffee, working from whole beans, compared to most auto/electric brewers. And we’ve found it necessary to use a secondary strainer during pouring to catch the inevitable several too fine grounds.
Love….. It never fails me….
Great post Booman! Seems it’s a good topic this Sunday morning.
My Nespresso Coffee Bar is my favorite place in my house!! I buy the Nespresso airtight capsules online and they are fantastic — it’s just like opening a fresh can of coffee every time. The coffee maker is quiet and the capsules are cheaper than going to Starbucks –not to better coffee and ambiance.
lol –my coffee bar area is the first thing I show my guests and often have people over for a light breakfast with coffee.
http://instagram.com/p/SMJoPMzMN7/
Darn. I hate when I don’t proofread. It’s supposed to say, “not to mention better coffee and ambiance”.
Happy New Year everyone!
I hate it when happens…
Is that a Pixie? I’ve had my eye on the Citiz in red….
I have a Keurig. I love my Keurig. The first cup from the pot every time. I don’t think I want babies with my Keurig, they’d probably come looking like Joe Dimaggio.
But I do love my Keurig.
don’t have a coffeemaker.
I…gasp….when I have coffee at home…
use INSTANT COFFEE!!
the horror!!
LOL
instant can be good – the coffee I make at home is so terrible I’ve simplified – put instant in milk and heat it in the microwave. or have “iced coffee” i.e. instant in cold milk. delicious
I have a very simple relationship with my coffee machine:
Codependency
I left a Mr. Coffee in California with my ex. Bought a mini Mr. Coffee when I began my bachelor life in Beaverton. When I moved in with my girlfriend she gave away Mini Mr. C. and makes excellent coffee through those filter thingies. With Peets. I think my hair is growing back.
No coffee machine, and no coffee in the house. My father in law used to tell my wife..”how hard is it to have freeze dry in the house? Just put it on the shelf and forget it until I come over!” Nope. She told me when we were going out “coffee is a line, you start drinking it, we’re done’ I have only had coffee once in my life, 35 years ago.
It absolutely ruins your gums. She’s a dentist.
.
Coffee is a line? Unbelievable.
I try to keep the coffeemaker stowed behind the junk on the kitchen counter and crush my friends with a sledgehammer. Or something in between.
I bought myself a Keurig with Christmas money & gift cards pooled together. Loving it. They also sell a $10-15 basket that allows me to use my own coffee grounds so after I plow through the four boxes of variety flavors that I splurged, I’ll be back to my Just Coffee addiction.
Try this: https://www.alpinevalleycoffee.com/index.php?main_page=login
They have pretty good prices if you can afford to buy a lot at a time.
I usually buy about 700 kcups at a time.
ooops. Ignore the login part
I don’t drink coffee.
It’s ok if done in moderation. But it’s highly addictive, the caffeine jolt, the taste and the aroma. It took the otherwise highly self-disciplined Tesla nearly a decade before he could kick the habit.
I’m probably a tad over the line, but have been drinking more brewed decaf lately. Don’t wanna end up like Balzac, guzzling pots of thick brew all day and dying of stomach cancer a few decades before my time.
Some of us are lucky in that we don’t get addicted to substances very easily. Sometimes I drink coffee in the morning, sometimes I don’t. I mostly drink it for social reasons. My best friend and I drink it in her car at night after work and talk for hours. Same thing with cigarettes. Maybe suddenly I’ll become addicted, but I’ve done it with the same frequency for a good 6 years now.
I find the smell and taste of all coffees generally unpleasant.
Brodie, you do realize that there have been studies on exactly this type of thing, and that none of them have done better than simply accuse without proof.
None of them have proven anything. And I’m not talking about ciggarette “no proof”. I’m talking no proof period.
Well,we have a cuisenart with a lever that one presses for each cup. Makes a great very hot cup of coffee – which I really crave in the morning. But I believe it’s the freshly ground Columbian beans that makes it so good. Not sure that the coffee maker matters so much. My daughters each have a Kuerig ( sp) … One loves it; the other sold hers on Craigslist .
Happy New Year to you, Booman and your family…and to all the regular commenters on this site whose responses I look forward to reading.
Evolved from drip coffee maker (worked okay, kind of messy and occasionally burnt) to french press (liked a lot, but coffee is “unstable” due to find grounds getting through the filter) to espresso machine (wedding present, works awesome, but pain to operate) to Aeropress (best of both worlds between the french press and espresso machine).
Seriously, try the Aeropress. The only drawback is the amount of grinds it uses.
I only make Turkish coffee at home, so my “coffee maker” consists of a Turkish coffee pot and a stove top. My problem is not with the implements. it’s with myself. Every so often I turn my back on it at the wrong moment, and it boils over, ruining the coffee and making a mess. Luckily I have a glass stove top, so it’s not as difficult to clean up as it could be.
I’ve had this Bunn coffeemaker for about 6 years or so and it still works like new. I think I bought it at Lowe’s. It takes about 3 minutes to brew a pot.
Since it keeps a batch of hot water inside it all of the time, you ideally should be making coffee every day. If you go away for a few days, you should turn off the water heater unit or unplug it. Also, it requires Bunn filters (they’re taller to handle the increased water flow rate) and they’re not available everywhere, so you learn to stock up when at a store that carries them. I think it’s lasted so long because I use filtered water in it so no mineral deposits.
Best coffeemaker I’ve ever had. No complaints.