Coffee Makers (OLD THREAD 2006)

Hello Tuggers,

My wife loves coffee but I don't drink it so I need some help. I want to buy her a new coffee maker for Christmas. I heard about the ones that make individual cups and you can pick what flavors you want. Should I go that route or just buy a good coffe maker. Please help with suggestions on both ideas !!!!!!! She drinks about 3 or 4 cups a day and never at night. She drinks it black so must really like the taste of coffee. Right now she has the typical $40 coffee pot and buys whatever coffee is on sale but loves buying Starbucks or wawa coffe so I figured it's time to upgrade her



Thanks
Fletch

I enjoy my Capresso-MT500 coffee maker (approx $160) and Milstone Columbia Supreme coffee (smoother than Starbucks)...Enjoy.

Hi Fletch,

The best coffee maker I have owned so far came from Gevalia. I ordered their sample starter and received a really nice coffeemaker. Here is a direct link to their new offer for a really nice stainless steel coffee maker with two stainless steel travel mugs:

http://www.joingevalia.com/Promo/Gev0607/promo_001_12adcssmug.htm?keycode=112529*

I continued to order Gevalia coffee for a few months, (I set it up so that my coffee order came every two months), until I found another online store that has many more flavors. I now order my coffee at www.spotafjavacoffee.com* and have tried about 8 or 9 different flavors so far.

If your wife likes coffee as much as I do, she' ll love this!

Diana

*I am not affiliated, nor do I gain anything by you visiting/purchasing from either website.

We tried the Gevalia machine that makes the single cups of coffee. We are not very impressed. The coffee is very weak, even if we use two of the little pods. I think we'll be donating it to the Goodwill.

We just returned from Italy and loved their simple espresso coffee maker so much that we bought one while there. Now, of course, I see them in all the kitchen stores here, but had't noticed them before. You use very fine espresso grind coffee and it makes a single small cup. Or you can get a slightly larger machine and make a regular size cup of coffee. Here's a link to the most popular brand of Italian coffee maker. You can search online for a store that sells them. Amazon.com has them.

http://www.bialettiusa.com/bialetti/index.html

We also have a Melita Mill & Brew coffee that grinds the grounds and then brews. We really like that a lot.

I got the 12 cup Gevalia stainless coffee maker on one of their promotions, it was $15 including shipping. I love it, it's comparable to the $129 coffeemakers at Bed Bath and Beyond.

eta: and for a stocking stuffer, why not add some really good coffee? I love the Guatemalan HueHueTenango from Delaware Coffee Roasters on ebay....

Sir Newf said:

I enjoy my Capresso-MT500 coffee maker (approx $160) and Milstone Columbia Supreme coffee (smoother than Starbucks)...Enjoy.

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Tried the Millstone - hate it.

Love my Starbucks Gold Coast or Sulawesi. I can make a potent brew, without the bitterness. Not all bold or strong roasts are equal - Starbucks French Roast, for example, doesn't cut it. Pay a bit more and get the good stuff. When you get good coffee, you can increase the strength without making it undrinkably bitter.

As the strength goes up - and your palate adjusts - the whole coffee experience changes. There are many more flavors in good coffee than you experience in a "traditional" cup of coffee. If the coffee isn't strong many of the flavors don't have a chance to come out of the beans, or the flavors aren't there in the first place. Merely roasting the coffee as "bold" doesn't work if the flavor isn't in the beans in the first place. That's the difference between Starbucks French Roast and Starbucks Sulawesi - they're both bold, but the French Roast is lesser qualtiy beans (that's why the French Roast is cheaper).

I drink one large cup of coffee per day - about 20 ounces - that's the capacity of one of the beautiful mugs sold at the Banana Patch ceramic studio in Hanapepe town on Kaua`i. I use four to five tablespoons of freshly ground coffee (depending on how I feel in that morning). That completely satisfies me for the day.

When I use an lesser quality of coffe, that strength of coffee becomes undrinkably bitter. I just finished trying out a bag of the New Mexico Piñon coffee that I picked up at Trader Joe's. Supposed to be good coffee but it was the same story - I had to brew about 40 ounces of coffee to control the bitterness, and then the lack of body (i.e., all of the complex background flavors) was apparent.

*******

BTW - I grind it in a Capresso burr grinder and brew it in a Gevalia unit that I got for free on one of their promos.

At the time I also tried the Gevalia coffee - I tried every variety they had except for the foo-foo flavored stuff. Hated all of them. Wound up giving away the last two pounds (of peaberry) just to get it out of the house.

Went back to the Gold Coast and asked myself why I wasted so much time and money on the Gevalia junk.

FWIW I absolutely hated my one cup coffee maker. I too found the coffee to be weak tasting and for the size mug I regularly use I had to brew two large cups. The water tank was at best akward to fill, though not impossible. I had a Senseo and a Melita onene. Both used the pods. The melita I found particularly troublesome since only their own brand of pods fit well. Anything else that was supposed to fit just made a mess.

I've since changed over to a french press. Love it. If you stick with an automatic coffee maker, my only suggestion would be to go with a thermal carafe. We have the cuisinart grind n brew which I like, but the next one will not have the grind feature since it's a pain to clean. The carafe is the big bonus.

For a ton of info on single serve coffee check out the forums at http://www.singleservecoffee.com/

I have 3 singler serve coffee maker-Black and Decker, Krupps and Flavia...and love them all!

If she really loves the flavor of good strong coffee, you might want to consider a French Press. After drinking French Press Kona in Hawaii in May, I immediately bought one upon returning home, and I love it. I have the Bodum 8 cup, which would make about two good-size cups, and costs about $30. For coffee, I can't recommend Greenwell Kona Peaberry beans highly enough. See links:

http://www.amazon.com/Bodum-Chambor...r_3/104-1089230-6819927?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden

http://www.greenwellfarms.com/Merch...roduct_Code=peaberry&Category_Code=konacoffee

Try this coffee pot and these beans

I have hated the coffee out of my pot lately and read up on the Coffee thread from a few weeks ago. (I happen to hate Starbucks coffee - tastes burnt to me so I never get my info from there.)

On Thanksgiving I stayed with family that owned a single cup pod coffee maker. Wow - great coffee! I asked if they thought it was the coffee pot, the coffee, or the water. They seem to think it is the coffee, but just in case, here is what we used:

Keurig Elite B40 Single-cup Brewer

I see it online today at www.gourmet.org for 99.99 and a slightly bigger model for 149.99

The coffee was in pods made by Timothy and by Green Mountain. They also both have websites.

I like the pod concept because in our house we all like different kinds of coffee. I am sure it gets quite expensive vs standard coffee by the pot (especially if you just buy anything on sale), but if you read the coffee thread, it says never let coffee sit more than 5 minutes anyway. Hence, get a single cup maker!

I'm sure whatever you get will be a much appreciated gift. Happy shopping!

sammy said:

I have hated the coffee out of my pot lately and read up on the Coffee thread from a few weeks ago. (I happen to hate Starbucks coffee - tastes burnt to me so I never get my info from there.) !

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If you're evaluating Starbucks coffee based on the drip they sell in their stores, I'm not surprised you reach that conclusion. I drink their Sulawest regularly at home, and love it. It is decidedly bold, but far from burnt. I've had the Sulawesi from their stores, however, and it doesn't come to close to what that coffee is if prepared with even a modest bit of attention to brewing technique.

Starbucks does a terrible job with the drip served in their stores - but they're really not in the drip coffee business either.

Of course, no matter what you do with their French Roast, it's probably going to come out tasiting burnt if you try to make it to proper strength.

T_R_Oglodyte

Thanks for the Starbucks tips; I hadn't realized there would be a difference. I'll have to give them a try!

sammy said:

On Thanksgiving I stayed with family that owned a single cup pod coffee maker. Wow - great coffee! I asked if they thought it was the coffee pot, the coffee, or the water. They seem to think it is the coffee, but just in case, here is what we used:

Keurig Elite B40 Single-cup Brewer

I see it online today at www.gourmet.org for 99.99 and a slightly bigger model for 149.99

The coffee was in pods made by Timothy and by Green Mountain. They also both have websites.

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They were demonstrating the big Keurig at Bed Bath and Beyond over the weekend, and I had a cup of coffee that it made. It was really good, even with (ugh) Cremora. (If it can overcome Cremora, you KNOW it's good.) BB&B also sells the pods; mine was from Timothy's. The pods are expensive but, on the bright side, BB&B always has 20 percent off coupons and $5 off $15 coupons. And of course you can get 20 percent off the coffeemaker, too.

I liked the big water reservoir.

wackymother said:

....BB&B also always has 20 percent off coupons and $5 off $15 coupons. And of course you can get 20 percent off the coffeemaker, too.

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BTW, my BBB says they'll honor competitor coupons that are not expired, and their own coupons even if they ARE expired, so stash them away for whenever!!!

combo coffee grinder, coffee maker

Has anyone had experience with the coffee grinder, coffee maker things? I'm getting so lazy that many mornings I'll just use the Folgers because it's already ground. I'm wondering how the combo machines hold up.

sammy said:

T_R_Oglodyte

Thanks for the Starbucks tips; I hadn't realized there would be a difference. I'll have to give them a try!

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Yes - there are huge diiffernces in coffees, and as your palate becomes adjusted you'll find that it's worth paying more to get premium beans.

At one time I never seriously considered Starbucks much for beans, because the coffee they served didn't come up to the standards of the excellent brews that I had occasionally had and was seeking. A couple of times I tried their French Roast, and was disappointed.

I had literally reached a point where I was ready to conclude I was never going to be able to make that cup of coffee I was seeking without a lot of additional help.

Then I started getting together with my best friend every Saturday morning, and he would make coffee for us. His coffee was consistently great - the coffee I was looking for. I noticed that he wasn't doing anything different from me. the only difference was the coffee. He was the one who turned me on to the Starbucks Sulawest. I bought some beans, started using them and was hooked. I've explored most of their premium bold and extra bold varieties, but I always come back to the Sulawest and Gold Coast.

****

One of the advantages of Starbucks - or any other decent coffee store - is the number and varietycoffees they do have available. It's worth exploring in the premium end of things.

****

Oh, and if you don't want burnt coffee, it's important that you get the coffee off of heat as soon as it brews. If your makes has a thermal carafe, that's great. Mine doesn't; I just get the coffee into a mug or a carafe as soon as it finishes brewing.

Luanne said:

Has anyone had experience with the coffee grinder, coffee maker things? I'm getting so lazy that many mornings I'll just use the Folgers because it's already ground. I'm wondering how the combo machines hold up.

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we have the Cuisinart Grind Brew Thermal Carafe model. Love it, but it's a PIA to use. I've read mixed reviews on it. We bought a white box one (refurbished), and have had it for 2 1/2 years with daily use and no problems.

BSQ said:

we have the Cuisinart Grind Brew Thermal Carafe model. Love it, but it's a PIA to use. I've read mixed reviews on it. We bought a white box one (refurbished), and have had it for 2 1/2 years with daily use and no problems.

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Thanks for the input. What makes it a PIA?

cleaning out the grinding mechanism is messy. steam gets in there and gunks it up. It's akward to take apart (I think).

Some quirks of it ... if you fill up the water tank too far there's a hole in the back that the water runs out ... and overflow precaution I guess, but it makes a mess none the less. If the carafe top isn't on just right, you end up with coffee all over the countertop (can be challenging when you're half awake). I'm a light sleeper. When the timer goes off, rather than waking up to the smell of fresh brewed coffee I wake up to the infernal racket of the grinding mechanism.

Mostly I let BubbaQ do the cleaning since He uses it more than I do.

BSQ said:

cleaning out the grinding mechanism is messy. steam gets in there and gunks it up. It's akward to take apart (I think).

Some quirks of it ... if you fill up the water tank too far there's a hole in the back that the water runs out ... and overflow precaution I guess, but it makes a mess none the less. If the carafe top isn't on just right, you end up with coffee all over the countertop (can be challenging when you're half awake). I'm a light sleeper. When the timer goes off, rather than waking up to the smell of fresh brewed coffee I wake up to the infernal racket of the grinding mechanism.

Mostly I let BubbaQ do the cleaning since He uses it more than I do.

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Yep. the steam from the brewing coffee seeps into the grinder area and get it damp causing the left over grinds to get sticky and turns into "gunk." I only on occasion will use that grinder now...like if I really need to wake up early and need the coffee ASAP!

BSQ said:

cleaning out the grinding mechanism is messy. steam gets in there and gunks it up. It's akward to take apart (I think).

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Thanks. I think I will stick with the separate grinder and coffee maker I have now.

sammy said:

BTW, my BBB says they'll honor competitor coupons that are not expired, and their own coupons even if they ARE expired, so stash them away for whenever!!!

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Yes, BB&B will honor Linens N Things coupons and their own expired coupons. I think this is company policy. My BB&B will even let me use one coupon for each item in my order. Whenever I go there I'm like the coupon fairy --I sidle up to people and mutter, "You have a coupon for that, right? No? Take one of mine!"

I have the Cuisinart Grind n Brew and we use it daily and send it up the night before with the timer. I don't think it's that much of a hassle to clean at all (takes about one minute to rinse it all out). I can't imagine having to grind the coffee beans in another machine and then put the ground coffee into the coffee maker-that seems like a hassle to me. Would never go back to a coffee maker that uses already ground coffee--never fresh enough tasting. The filter needs to be replaced about every six weeks if you use it daily and that makes a difference in the taste of the coffee. I'm on my 3rd grind n brew in about 4-5 years (one time just to change the color of it) and I'm real happy with it. Got it for sale at Macy's for $99 but I did see one (wrong color) at TJ Maxx for $60.

speaking of filters......

I got to thinking about mine. It is the paper type with charcoal or some other black substances inside. I just changed it recently, but before that had gone a year or two!!! without replacing it (not easy to find). Couldn't they breed mold and bacteria sitting in a dark, warm place and wet all the time?

Hamilton Beach Brewstation

This is the best coffee maker I ever owned. $40.


Charles