OT: PING: Coffee affecionados

[terpkristin]

Well, I've had my current coffee maker since Fall, 1997, and it's really starting to show its age. The biggest problem is that the burner/hot plate that the carafe sits on is melting a bit. Alas, it's time for a new one.

My current coffee maker is a 4-cup Krups. The WORST feature of it is that the filter basket and carafe both have to come out if you just want to remove the carafe to pour coffee. That part is just DAMN inconvenient.

I don't think I'm looking for a pod coffee maker, unless someone can make one hell of a compelling argument for them. They don't have the greatest reviews in Consumer Reports, plus I like to grind my own coffee...and I hate the price and poor selection of the pods themselves.

So, which coffee maker would y'all recommend? I already have an espresso machine, so I'm really looking for a plain simple coffee maker. Color is irrelevant, though I usually only need a 4 cup one, because as of yet I'm single.

Suggestions/links are muchly appreciated. :)

/tk

[sovereignstar]

This weekend, if I can remember, I'll see what my dad uses. He's pretty hardcore when it comes to coffee. Interestingly enough, he had some surgery on his knee yesterday.
:)

[Poli]

Paging Coffee Warlord.

[Franklinnoble]

You might check out the single brew machines from Keurig (http://www.keurig.com). We had one of these at a place I used to work, and it was awesome! They've only recently started selling ones for home use. There is a pretty wide variety of coffee available from them.
We have one of these at work. I don't even like coffee that much, but these things are teh roXX0r!

[cartman]

You might check out the single brew machines from Keurig (http://www.keurig.com). We had one of these at a place I used to work, and it was awesome! They've only recently started selling ones for home use. There is a pretty wide variety of coffee available from them.

[Draft Dodger]

you know, I've never ever tried coffee

[Hurst2112]

the single cup machines are nice...for homos!!!!!

sorry, just kidding.

I tend to drink lots of coffee, especially when i am in session. 12 hours with no break to eat, caffine and cigarettes are the only source of 'nutrition' i have. If you can't make good coffee in a studio environment, you won't make it in the music business.

I prefer the displacement kind of coffee makers. The ones that hold the hot water. The cold stuff you put in pushes the hot out. Fast coffee, but not good if you don't use it everyday.

I have a bun now at home. I don't use it that much, but it works find. It has a timer on it which is good. That's all I can suggest getting on a coffee maker.

[MacroGuru]

I like to use a french press...however, I rarely drink coffee....

[Qwikshot]

Just make sure your coffee is fair trade...

[sterlingice]

I think we all know who is the only man to answer this thread.

SI

[terpkristin]

Hmm to answer SOME of the questions/statements posed here...

1. Where the heck is CW?!?! I figured he'd be the first response!!!
2. I've used a french press before, and while the coffee is pretty darn good, it's just not really practical for me right now.
3. The best coffee I've ever made was using a manual drip filter, but besides being time-consuming, I've managed to break more of those filters than I care to admit. Grr.
4. As far as the fair trade coffee, I do my best to buy FT beans but it's not always practical. I usually get my beans from a local coffee house (well, local to my parents' house) because I've known the owner since he opened up the shop. He's a great guy, and I like to support the local business and the bonus factor is that he has some great coffee (and great food, if you're ever in Columbia, MD, ask me about it for a good lunch!).

/tk

[KWhit]

WTF is a pod coffee maker?

[cartman]

WTF is a pod coffee maker?

This:

http://www.senseo.com/content/images/ph_kza1.gif

[jeff061]

Krups Aromacontroll 229. Been very pleased with it, I'd go with a thermos based one over a carafe any day.

[jeff061]

I assume these single brews and pods only make crappy coffee ;).

I go down the street and buy from a place that roasts the coffee the day you buy it, right there. I am a coffee snob.

[KWhit]

What makes a pod coffee maker different? And is it considered better/worse than drip?

[jeff061]

Just easier I assume, and you are forced to buy those crappy little packets, rather than some nice whole beans.

[KWhit]

...you are forced to buy those crappy little packets...
Ah. Then count me out.

Thanks.

[terpkristin]

Pod coffee makers pressure-brew. Word on the street is that it makes the coffee more flavorful and more "coffee-house" style. I assume that means the slight foam on top.

The major downsides of pod coffee sets are a) price of the thing itself (not terrible), b) price of the pods, c) selection of pods/types of coffee.

From everything I've heard in terms of reviewers, it's not worth the price of the pods for the "similar to coffee-house coffee." Personally I'm a coffee snob, too, and the lack of variety in the coffee pods available (since I like my coffee freshly ground etc) will keep me from buying one.

And jeff061, if I had a job, I might be able to afford to go down the the coffee shop and get fresh-roasted coffee...but not yet. Plus I think I make a pretty mean cup of coffee using my fresh-ground coffee, filtered water, etc. :D

Hmmm, I like the idea of the thermal carafe instead of the hot plate. Though I'm not really sure I need/want a 10-cup maker. The larger capacity, the harder it is to make smaller quantities of GOOD coffee...

/tk

[Fonzie]

you know, I've never ever tried coffee

Communist.

[Glengoyne]

I'm a big fan of the Bunn Coffee pots. They work as mentioned above by storing hot water in a tank, that is displaced when water is added manually(and I think they have a timer based version now as well). I like it because it is near instant coffee. Pour in the water, hit the head, come back and there is a nice hot pot of coffee ready.

I do actually think I prefer coffee made in a french press. It is nearly as fast, except you have to boil the water first. I had a cheapish one with a plastic handle that I unfortuneately stored on the stove next to the tea kettle. My wife turned on the wrong burner one day, and reduced the plastic portion of it to a puddle on the rangetop.