Which Coffee Maker?

_mike_

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I am on a quest and maybe some of you fellow coffee drinkers can chime in here.

These are the feature I am looking for.
1) Thermal carafe, no hot plates please. It must be stainless steel inside and out (no glass). Keep the coffee hot for more than 2 hours.

2) Removable water resevoir desirable, but not a must.

3) Removable coffee basket.

4) 10-12 cup capacity.

I have looked at some of the Mister Coffee models, Black and Decker, a Bunn model, Krups, and Delonghi. They all seem to be poorly made except for the Bunn model.

If you have used or are using a model that fits my list of requirements please share with me your experiences.

Thanks,
Mike
 

javafool

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Hi Mike,

I use a Bunn coffeemaker and really like it. One disadvantage to a stainless thermal carafe is that you should preheat the carafe with hot water so it doesn't cool the coffee when it brews.

I never use the warmer on the Bunn. I either pour the coffee into a thermos, a separate carafe, of just let it cool and nuke it later.

I'm really not all that picky when it comes to coffee though. I just roast all my own, grind immediately before brewing, use primarily bottled water and try to never drink coffee that is older than 9 or 10 days after roasting.

TerryF
 

Charles Bradshaw

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I went to a 35 cup coffee maker (urn). Every drip maker I have had either quit and/or malfunctioned in some way (like water flowing down the outside of the carafe (just hot water - a Mr. Coffee).

That is 5 - 6 days of coffee for me. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

LEDmodMan

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Mike,
With reference to what you were LOL at javafool about, you might want to take it seriously. You won't be disappointed.

A Coffee thread for the Café...

This thread goes into some of the details of home coffee roasting, including a roaster that can be had for only $10 at a national retail chain.
 

_mike_

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LEDmodMan,

Basically I was LOL'ing javafool's preface statement .... "I'm really not all that picky when it comes to coffee though." I thought that was kind of cute.

However, I agree with you and do understand that there are ways to make better cups of coffee than how I'm doing it now. But man, right now I just want a carafe style pot where the coffee comes out hot and stays hot in the carafe for more than an hour. You would think it could be done considering how well a thermos works. I mean, I'm a simple guy ..... the less fuss the better. I take it black, buy whatever is on sale in a can. Just want it better than luke warm. I might have to buy a commercial unit. But I have heard that Starbucks Barista Aroma Grande may be what I'm looking for. My wife has a friend who works at Starbucks so we can get a decent discount. I'll have to ask her about that one. It sure looks like my old Kitchen Tools coffee maker though.

Mike
 

CM

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Don't visit the cafe often but this topic caught my eye. Expanding on LEDmodMan's link, I roast my own coffee. I didn't think it would make a difference but after you do, you'll say Starbuck SUX! Yes, there's nothing like fresh roasted coffee, roasted to the level you desire and not what the commercial roasters desire. Even cheap green coffee beans freshly roasted can compete with the premium roasts. I was not a "serious" coffee junkie before I tried roasting but now I'm hooked. OK, I'm done raving.

CM
 

_mike_

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NO! Stop it you guys! Man, I don't need something else to do like roast coffee beans! I can't hardly find anything decent to brew it with anyhow. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I never have liked Starbucks coffee, it's all burnt tasting to me. They just happen to have a coffee maker that looks like my old one.

Mike
 

BB

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[ QUOTE ]
_Mike_ said:
I never have liked Starbucks coffee, it's all burnt tasting to me. They just happen to have a coffee maker that looks like my old one.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is this like an ex-wife or something???? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

-Bill
 

js

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Mike,

Why do you require a thermal carafe coffee maker?

As javafool pointed out, you must preheat the carafe, otherwise it robs the coffee of heat due to a lack of a hot plate. Some models do have a warmer under the carafe, but that doesn't help. You need to warm the INSIDE of the carafe. When I do the carafe thing I just use a separate vacuum bottle; I always pour boiling water in first and let it sit for a half a minute, then pour the coffee into it. No need to pay a lot of money for a special carafe that is only useful for your coffee. Why not get a vacuum thermos bottle? Multi-purpose. Inexpensive. More attractive. More portable.

But seriously, coffee that is kept hot by ANY means loses much of its original flavor and aroma. Why do you need to have it kept hot for so long? Why not brew more than once?

In any case, whatever you decide, check out www.coffeegeek.com. They have a consumer reviews section that is just great. Very helpful. Nice to know about all the little annoying things that you might run into before you buy that $120 krups POS.

Personally, the best coffee maker (electric drip) I have ever met is my KitchenAid 4 cup maker, which I got for $30. If I want a lot of coffee, I brew twice. Fresher that way, anyhow.
 

javafool

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Hi Mike,

Me again. I'm glad you appreciated my little bit of humor exactly as I intended it. I still recommend the Bunn, even the one with the thermal carafe. It brews very fast, about 3 1/2 minutes per pot.

Fast may not always be good. But with coffee it extracts the good flavors out of the coffee without overextracting to the point that it is beginning to pull the undesirable bitter flavors you get from some brewers. I like my Bunn and the $30 KitchenAid is also a good brewer. A couple of fresh pots does have a lot of flavor advantage over even carafe coffe that has set around for a couple of hours.

TerryF
 

Al_Havemann

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[ QUOTE ]
_Mike_ said:
I never have liked Starbucks coffee, it's all burnt tasting to me.


[/ QUOTE ]

I agree, I hate Starbucks coffee. They use cheap beans and burn them. All their coffee tastes like s***.

For what it's worth, use a Melita brewer with the 1450 watt heater. It's quite inexpensive at about 30-50 dollars depending on whether it's on sale or not but it makes good tasting and hot coffee, something few of the other brands can manage with their 900 watt heaters. Most inexpensive coffee makers struggle to get the water above 160 degrees and coffee tastes best when the brewing temp is over 190.

The only downside is that I recently had a Melita melt the plastic bottom of the coffee maker, fortunately it was sitting on a ceramic trivet (something I always recommend) which prevented damage to the counter top. When I called their service number and complained, they sent me a new, top of the line Melita to replace the damaged one and a refund check. Not bad considering the original was a couple of yeas old.

Al
 

CM

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Burn't tasting? OK here I go again. If you roast your own, you can control the level of roast. You like it full city? No problem. Even lighter? No problem either. You like it Turkish roast (if you think starbucks taste burnt, try Turkish roast) piece of cake. Guess I wasn't done raving. Now go get a roaster /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

James S

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I actually like some of Starbucks blends and roasts quite a bit. The Columbian is pretty good. I don't like their darker roasts, I don't think thats a good flavor but rather a contest to see who can drink it without puckering /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Problem in many of those stores is that they don't move enough beans and so they get stale. There is little worse than coffee brewed from beans roasted too long ago. The folks that are into the freshly roasted coffee will tell you all about that /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif I've had freshly home roasted coffee now as several friends are starting to get into the habit and it's wonderful. Doesn't quite fit my lifestyle at the moment to add yet another step to my morning ritual... But someday I plan to do this. The best alternative is to find a local shop that roasts specialty batches themselves and don't keep any for more than a week.

As others have already mentioned, you want something that will keep the hot water on the coffee long enough to get all the good stuff out of it, but any longer and you start to get the bitter flavors.

I also like the idea of the new drip coffee makers that deposit your coffee in to a thermal carafe instead of into a pot over a heater. I have a regular brawn drip machine and it makes great coffee unless you leave it sitting there too long. It just cooks the heck out of it, even on low. So I pour my first cup and then turn it off. If it takes so long for me to get back to my second cup that I need to warm it up a minute in the microwave works great and the coffee doesn't get that burned nasty flavor.
 

_mike_

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The reason for the carafe is that they shut off after the pot is finished. They also don't sit there and reduce the pot to tar by cooking the contents. I do the pre-warming of the carafe thing, have for years.
We lose power around here several times a year. We do have a generator which makes it like there is no power outage. But running a hot plate for coffee is not exactly a priority (though making coffee is!). I'd rather be able to make a pot, then be done with the need for power. That's where a carafe suits us over a hot plate setup.

You all make good points. Man, who would ever have thought it would take so much effort to get a new coffee pot.

Mike
 

LEDmodMan

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Mike,
You might want to seriously consider a vacuum bottle. I really recommend the stainless ones made by Nissan (a Thermous subdivision). These keep the coffee plenty warm for nearly all day if it was brewed the same morning (no kidding!).

Try and get one of the newer Nissan ones that has Thermax insulation, they perform better. If it doesn't say something about the Thermax insulation on the package, it it the older style and doesn't have it. Most stores still have old stock that doesn't have the Thermax insulation. However, Sweet maria's does have the newer ones, and their prices aren't too bad:NEW Nissan vacuum bottles.

Also, check out the other pages at Sweet Maria's for a variety of other coffee products. You may consider buying your coffee maker there too. This site is also where most people will point you to buy green beans for home roasting. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

This site has a wealth of knowledge too, so look around! Enjoy!!!

Mike, don't read this next line, it isn't meant for you:
I think we're getting the hook set guys, keep on plugging... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
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