Good coffee maker?

[cats]

I had told my husband I would like a thermal carafe coffee maker for Christmas. Nothing wrong with the glass carafe one we had, just liked the look of the thermal type. Anyhow, he gave me a beautiful looking Mr. Coffee brand thermal coffee maker. The thing was horrible :!: It leaked all over the counter when brewing the coffee. The button on the carafe lid that had to be pushed in to pour coffee out of the carafe was very difficult to depress and the coffee only poured at a trickle and also dripped onto the counter. And as if all that wasn't enough, the carafe didn't even keep the coffee hot, so it had to be nuked to reheat a cup. So, anyhow, we took it back today and I didn't see any other one I particularly wanted. My husband felt bad about it, but I told him that the one he purchased for me would have been exactly what I would have chosen myself from the selections available so, in no way was he at fault. Who would have thunk that a Mr. Coffee brand coffee maker could be such a disaster? So, with all you smart folks out there, could I perhaps hear some recommendations on any preference you might have for a thermal coffee maker? The one we had purchased was $59.99, so I would kind of like to stay in that general price range, but could go higher if I hear of something really great. Thanks so much and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

[norgeskog]

I have coffee pot from Gevalia, but use it only to heat the water. I make my coffee in a French press, one cup at a time. Yeah, it is rather a pain in the patoot but it is always fresh and hot. The French press seems to provide a better tasting coffee, IMO. I will not drink a cup of coffee that has been standing on heat for more than 20 minutes, the taste changes and is ugh, worse than yesterdays reheated. Glad you took the pot back, too bad it did not work for you. My current one is similar and no heat element, and it does not stay hot very long.

 

[SierraCook]

The best coffee pot of any type that I have bought was a Bunn for our coffee club at work. They are expensive, but they work good. We have had our current one a work for at least 5 years and the thing works like champ. Bunn has thermal coffee pots, but they run about $140.00.

 

[Caine]

Krups makes the best coffeemakers in the entire world. You will pay more than 60 bucks, but I have Krups coffeemakers that are so old I have no idea when I bought them, and they are still going strong.

Stay away fromDeLonghi. I've had two, (I bought one, and DeLonghi gave me the second one to replace the first) and they were both "hangar queens." Spent more time in the repair shop than they ever did in my kitchen.

 

[PolishedTopaz]

I like the Cuisinart grind and brew. 150. 00 bucks and worth it. Pain in the butt to clean, however got a high rating in Cooks Illustrated. Nice fresh pot of coffee with a thermal pot that keeps coffee hot for hours. Great product.

 

[Lugaru]

My roomie works at starbucks (I used to) and they are fasing out the cincos I think... one of the higher end brewers. I think they are fasing out the athenas too... so if you frequent a store talk to the managers and they might be able to get you a great price for the brewer that they are probably going to have to "dispose" of. At Tom's store they gave two to a guy in exchange of him donating like a dozen gifts to the holiday drive, which he gladly agreed to given the fact that they are top of the line brewers.

 

[Lifter]

Good topic, if challenging to reply to!

Where I live, Tim Hortons coffee "rules"!...I note this for a couple reasons...

The "Tim's" chain advertises that their coffee is always "fresh" as if it hasn't "sold" within 20 minutes of brewing, they dump it out and make a new pot...which I have witnessed, and so "hold to be true"...on the other hand, their pots sit on a heated burner, and so get more bitter/acidic over any time...

At the "office" we bought a coffee brewer that you turned on the heat to "drip" the water through a paper or gold foil filter (I like the paper better) through "fine ground" coffee into a receptacle that is a "Thermos", not requiring further heating...this provides results between "good" and "great", and only needs to be "refreshed" after 3-4 hours, depending on how many staff are in for the day and how fast they go through it...

Note we are "truly blessed" in that we have fantastic water sources here in Canada, that may not be available in other parts of the world, and in mid-summer, you might want to shift the water from the "tap" to a "Brita" filter, or bottled water...

Likewise to use a CLR formula, periodically, to clean out the pipes in the coffee maker (makes a horribly "enormous" difference!) and rid yourself of lime and scale...

For Christmas, Margaret got me a bagfull of "Second Cup" decaff "Royal Blend" beans, that I can grind myself, and these taste fantastic...(I freeze them, which is a small "sin" as I've been given to understand)

From a SIL, a bag of "Starbucks" de-caff, that I immediately gave to a daughter, as I don't like the taste of this stuff...nor the "Kona" coffee of Hawaii, or Mexico...

When I was much younger, I liked the "USN" tweak of pitching a spoon of salt into the coffee basket, while brewing, its not to my taste now, but 30 years ago, it was fantastic...

"Ingredients" are so much to "taste", aren't they?

I'd go to the "thermos" receptacle type coffee maker, rather than one that placed a constant heat under the pot, and cooked it down...

My opinion only...

Lifter

 

[Lugaru]

Oh, btw... not exactly what you are looking for but it does make coffe and makes a dang good cup. I highly recomend a french press... personally its the only coffe I can drink.

I dont like coffee (I have extremely sensitive taste buds so I cant stand bitter things) BUT when french pressed it brings out every last delicate flavor that you normally would miss, even though it is a much more concentrated cup. At starbucks this is the only method used for tastings, and well for this kind I recomend avoiding the darker coffees and focusing on latin, indonesian and african single origin coffees or blends you like.