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Coffee Makers


Escoffier

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Grover and I have both a Senseo and a Melitta pod coffee maker. (and for you purists, we also have 3 different French Presses, a Braun automatic coffee maker and more tea pots than any one person should have). Coffee pod makers are fast and (with the right coffee) make pretty decent coffee. Anyone have a favorite coffee pod maker?
I buy coffee from Community Coffee in Baton Rouge and they just started making coffee pods for all coffee makers. I ordered one each of the dark roast and medium roast. So far the dark roast is the only one I've opened. It will work in both the Senseo and the Melitta machine. The coffee it makes is dark, rich, has a nice nose and is very smooth. It beats the Melitta coffee hands down.

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I'm a huge fan of our plumbed-in Keurig system at work. It's hard to clean, apparently. That is to say, they only clean it once every few months so it starts to go downhill after a while. It's very good before then, though. The coffee itself comes in at least 12 varieties (most of which are actually alright...I prefer the regional blends) and one pod makes 10 ounces.

--Matt

The Guy Who Always Seems To Try To Want To Make The Cup Just After Somebody Should Have Emptied The Spent Pod Bin So Has To Empty The Bin Before It Will Make Coffee

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I'm a huge fan of our plumbed-in Keurig system at work.  It's hard to clean, apparently. That is to say, they only clean it once every few months so it starts to go downhill after a while.  It's very good before then, though.  The coffee itself comes in at least 12 varieties (most of which are actually alright...I prefer the regional blends) and one pod makes 10 ounces. 

--Matt

My new job has a plumbed-in Keurig system too! The last job had coffee so bad I wouldn't offer it to my worst enemy so this is a revelation. Every cup fresh and some interesting varieties are offered. I'm trying to work my way through but keep getting stuck on the French roast.

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I have a Melitta too - I've only tried the Melitta pods because I just bought it. Now its time to reorder - Do all pods fit in the Melitta machine?

I like the convenience, but I find that it makes a little bit of a mess- the water kind of leaks out (down the front, behind the spout) and then I have to spend as much time cleaning it as it would take to brew a regular pot. But I rarely want more than one cup (or two, if my Domestic Partner aka boyfriend wants me to make him some too), so it works for me.

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I have a Melitta too - I've only tried the Melitta pods because I just bought it. Now its time to reorder -  Do all pods fit in the Melitta machine?

I like the convenience, but I find that it makes a little bit of a mess- the water kind of leaks out (down the front, behind the spout) and then I have to spend as much time cleaning it as it would take to brew a regular pot.  But I rarely want more than one cup (or two, if my Domestic Partner aka boyfriend wants me to make him some too), so it works for me.

All pods will fit in all machines (with the caveat that you have to be careful to tamp that little devil down so nothing exends over the rim)...I use the Dark Roast from CommunityCoffee.com and it's extremely good (and $4.99 for 16 pods it's a decent buy as well).

When you put the pod in the holder, make sure nothing is above the silver rim. I used to have this problem as well but now that I'm packing the pods down...no problems. I also use the ice tea spout as opposed to the coffee spout and that makes it easier to get a mug under the spout. I also use both buttons...large cup button first, small cup button once the water heats up the second time. Makes about a 12 ounce cup of good coffee (and quick as well).

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The Aeropress, a sort of glorified giant syringe from the mad scientist who invented the Aerobie, has been drawing very favorable notice from coffee geeks over the last year or two. Has anyone here played with one of these contraptions? Handy replacement for the venerable French press, or expensive plastic toy?

aero_press_04.jpg

Obligatory pod content: on a whim, I bought (and subsequently retired) a Senseo from Costco about two years ago...partly on the theory that it could be a passable teamaker. It was sorta convenient, but eventually I replaced it with an electric vacuum pot and a "perfect teamaker" from Teavana. As for making coffee with it...meh. What's with that fakey crema?

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we have settled into the french press in recent years because it seems to brew the best tasting coffee. it's not entirely convenient, especially in an office setting, but at home the ritual is easy, and you can experiment until you find the method that's just right for you. i grind the beans quite fine and don't mind some fortifying sludge at the bottom of the cup. we had a fun alessi press wrapped in a green plastic alien, but eventually had to abandon it when it started cracking. currently, we are using an eight-cup chrome-plated bodum (from sur la table), which is holding up much better than the alien at well under half the price. I still warm up the pot with hot tap water even though it is made of heat-resistant borosilicate glass. the filter is easy to loosen and clean.

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The other day I got one of these puppies for my office. The noise it makes when the beans grind automatically is like a jet taking off ( a good thing), and it brews a pretty decent cup. Neeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaarrrrrr (grind, grind, grind). I'm into sound effects.

How easy is it to clean? Although I have long been tempted, I have resisted getting an integrated bean grinder / coffee machine because I have heard reports that the grinder mechanism gets damp from the brewing and gets to be a little messy in the clean up. Is this true? For now, I just use a separate bean grinder. Anything that can save me an extra 10 seconds in the morning would be well worth it. :blink: Thanks.

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it's not entirely convenient, especially in an office setting
I actually have a small 1.5 US cup french press I keep in my desk and, honestly, I think it's more convenient than dealing with the machines or running to Starbucks. Cleaning it takes all of 5 minutes and that's something you just do on the fly when you have some downtime. Sure, it's not as convenient as having the coffee ready for you in the pot, but honestly, since most of us are gourmands here anyway, wouldn't you rather have the better tasting coffee for just a fraction more effort?
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wouldn't you rather have the better tasting coffee for just a fraction more effort?

bodum makes a portable press as well, i believe. however, i stopped drinking coffee in the office long ago, when i was getting enough jitters without it. there is nothing short of tranquilizers that will prevent me from staying up half the night if i have had too much coffee during the day, and at this time of the year, with the carpet beetles forcing themselves through the mesh of the window screens to lay their eggs in our home, that would be an absolute nightmare, even with the minute spiders waiting for them with their traps spun on the sills.

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How easy is it to clean? Although I have long been tempted, I have resisted getting an integrated bean grinder / coffee machine because I have heard reports that the grinder mechanism gets damp from the brewing and gets to be a little messy in the clean up. Is this true? For now, I just use a separate bean grinder. Anything that can save me an extra 10 seconds in the morning would be well worth it. :blink: Thanks.

I don't think it's that messy-you just have to get the system down. Really hungover, it's a little messy maybe. Set up near the sink and drag the trash can to you. I wash and dry well between uses and have it queued to go on a whim (b/c you never know when you'll want to crack out on coffee).

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I have been using a french press for the last few years with mix results. A few weeks ago, I came home to find the glass insert missing. I found out later that night that the cleaning people broke it and threw it in the trash, this really pissed me off at first. However, I did not make a fuss about, as these things do happen. So last week I decided to purchase a stove top expresso maker, just to try something new. The results have been a more consistent cup of coffee, I love it. and will never go back to the french press.

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I bought a small french press for work, since I am the only one drinking decaf. (I used to be able to drink the full-leaded stuff, but no more as I get too jittery) Last year, surprisingly, my cholesterol did go up unwarranted and this is the only thing I could attribute it to, as my dining and lack of exercise habits had not changed. I stopped drinking the french press coffee as soon as this report came out, and my cholesterol came back down.

So, I resorted to purchasing a good thermal carafe to keep the leaded stuff hot when I want to brew some decaf for myself. We just have a Basic Braun drip, but we purchase good coffee from Royal Blue Organics. To me the difference comes in the ratio used for making the coffee ~2 T per 6 oz of water is the way to go! (That's the benefit of being the only decaf drinker--I don't have to put up with those who only will drink coffee made with 1T per 8 oz of water)

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I bought a small french press for work, since I am the only one drinking decaf. (I used to be able to drink the full-leaded stuff, but no more as I get too jittery) Last year, surprisingly, my cholesterol did go up unwarranted and this is the only thing I could attribute it to, as my dining and lack of exercise habits had not changed. I stopped drinking the french press coffee as soon as this report came out, and my cholesterol came back down.

Well here is one interesting quote from the article. Seems like you need to average a pretty hefty amount before you need to worry about it. I am keeping my French press.

They found that drinking an average of six cups of coffee a day was associated with increased total cholesterol and LDL, the harmful type of cholesterol. Nearly all of the rise in cholesterol was linked to unfiltered coffee.
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Well here is one interesting quote from the article. Seems like you need to average a pretty hefty amount before you need to worry about it. I am keeping my French press.
Agreed. Even if you were drinking only regular, filtered coffee, wouldn't drinking six cups of that stuff result in adverse health effects anyway? Seems like the old adage "everything in moderation" is applicable here.
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I love my Nespresso!! At home, we have the Nespresso Concept, which makes near-perfect cappuccinos in 2 minutes flat, including clean-up. Jlock and I agree that it is one of the best purchases that we have ever made (even though we thought we might be wasting our money when we bought it), and we have used it every single day since we bought it 2 years ago. At work, I have the Essenza, which I thought was necessary because I got so spoiled by the coffee at home, but really, I probably don't use it enough to justify the purchase (that might be due to a decrease in caffeine consumption that I undertook soon after its purchase).

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Well here is one interesting quote from the article. Seems like you need to average a pretty hefty amount before you need to worry about it. I am keeping my French press.

As well you should. I don't dispute it, I just know that the tie-in worked for me (I call 'em as I see 'em...) I actually prefer being able to use the coffee maker, as it means less time futzing and cleaning the french press. Plus it's easier to multi-task while the coffee is brewing.

Remember the mice that got cancer after drinking the equivalent of 800 cans of diet soda? Saccharin was banned due to those studies! At least, for now, the decision is up to each individual.

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They found that drinking an average of six cups of coffee a day was associated with increased total cholesterol and LDL, the harmful type of cholesterol. Nearly all of the rise in cholesterol was linked to unfiltered coffee.
Do they mean six ACTUAL cups of coffee (Say like 'large' cup or 'medium' cup), or six wussy six-ounce 'servings' you use to measure out how much coffee you need, a laughable system based surely on some mid-19th century supersitition about the devil, or perhaps war rationing? :blink:
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I have one of these Jura Capressa. This is the second one I have had, the first was recalled and they replaced it with this one. It is incredible! No cleaning, it cleans itself. Easy coffee, just press a button. Better than anything else out there. (Commercial machines excluded). It has easily paid for itself over 7 years! (The one I bought originally was the demo model and I got it very cheap).

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For the past year or so, I've used the Toddy cold brewing system at home. My wife, who is bothered by coffee's acidity and to a lesser extent, caffeine, believes the claims that this system results in less of both. She also brews tea with it, so we've got containers of both concentrates in the refrigerator. We simply boil water in the morning and add it to a few ounces of concentrate in our mugs, the ratio of water to concentrate depending on our respective preferences. A review of the Toddy system

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Do they mean six ACTUAL cups of coffee (Say like 'large' cup or 'medium' cup), or six wussy six-ounce 'servings' you use to measure out how much coffee you need, a laughable system based surely on some mid-19th century supersitition about the devil, or perhaps war rationing? :blink:

I'm sure they are referring to the wussy "cups" that no one really drinks. Sort of like:

1. "Serving" size. By the official definition, a Ray's cowboy cut is more than nine servings of meat.

2. "Sleeping through the night." By the official definition, a baby sleeps through the night if said baby sleeps for FIVE consecutive hours. I don't know about you, but I don't think a baby who sleeps from 8PM to 1AM has "slept through the night."

But I digress...

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Well, not a pod, but a plug for a small size (8-cup) thermal carafe machine-Capresso. It's at least 10 years old, has been used almost daily, & I'd buy one again. I grind my beans every 2-3 days, have a Capresso grinder, but preferred the Braun grinder I had earlier (had a timer)....

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French press here. Spoiled me for anything else, Starbucks included.

There is more futzing, true. Leftover grounds go into the composter or the garbage disposal. The messy pot and filter goes into the dishwasher the night before, or if not, by the time the pot is washed and the beans are ground and measured, the water is boiling.

A timer keeps me from wandering off and forgetting about it.

If there is method of making coffee that doesn't require cleaning grounds, it may be pods, but if you must have pods, couldn't you put pods into a French press pot?

My cholesterol was OK last time I checked, but at any rate, giving up coffee would be unthinkable.

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I only saw one reference to the aeropress in an old post. Not sure how many coffee connoisseurs there are on here, but thought I'd report on the aeropress. My boyfriend picked one up recently and after a weekend of drinking coffee from it I have ordered my own. Not only is it incredibly easy to use, easy to clean, and quick, it produces coffee that has lower acidity levels which means my stomach doesn't suffer like it inevitably does from the store-bought stuff, or even the stuff I make in my french press. I didn't think I could be so enamored with a coffee maker until using this. It's available online for $25 (free super saving shipping if you buy from Amazon). I may end up buying a second one for my office.

I really sound like a sales ad, but I swear, I am just happy that I've discovered it. Oh, it makes espresso too.

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I'll second that. I don't use my Aeropress daily because it requires much more coffee (ground) than other methods do, but it does make great coffee. More specifically, I think it actually makes an Americano. What you get out of it is espresso, and then you add hot water to make it an Americano. But anyway it is highly recommended :lol:

(For daily use I have a Chemex. I bring my Aeropress with me when I travel.)

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I'll second that. I don't use my Aeropress daily because it requires much more coffee (ground) than other methods do, but it does make great coffee. More specifically, I think it actually makes an Americano. What you get out of it is espresso, and then you add hot water to make it an Americano. But anyway it is highly recommended :lol:

(For daily use I have a Chemex. I bring my Aeropress with me when I travel.)

That is the one drawback that I've noticed as well.

I'm a little curious about the Americano description. I've been adding enough water to get to the 2 level and with that, I get what I consider a normal cup of coffee (I don't add water afterward). This is with 2 rounded T of coffee grinds. I like my coffee strong, but don't feel what results is any stronger than what you'd get at say Starbucks. So what's the deal?

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That's interesting. I use the scoop that came with the Aeropress, which is a larger volume than a tablespoon. So if I use two scoops and fill to the 2 level on the Aeropress, I am making a stronger brew than you. I then add water afterward to taste. I should try it your way! Do you use an espresso grind, or something more coarse (like drip)?

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  1. Heat a cup of milk, froth it with a wand (less than $20 - mine was $1.99 from IKEA)
  2. Pop 2 scoops of espresso-grind dark roast into the Aeropress, fill to a little under level 2, work that vacuum magic.
  3. Combine the two and watch your weekly latte budget take a huge nosedive.

I love my Aeropress.

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I never heard of an Aeropress so I checked out their website. In addition to this coffee-making device, the company makes various frisbees.

I'm a little skeptical of buying my coffee maker from Wham-O.

Removing my "normal person" disguise for a moment, the Aerobie is much, much cooler than a Frisbee. Here's a link if you want the gory details, but the crux is that the airfoil is designed to be more efficient flying "backwards" than forwards, because the trailing edge of the ring has to fly in the turbulent wake of the leading edge.

Inventor Alan Adler, I gather, needs a lot of coffee. Here's an episode of Weapons Masters in which he makes a brief appearance (about 17 minutes in) explaining his flying rings. And yeah, that's the Capitol in the background...portions of the show are filmed here in DC.

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Doe anyone use a Cuisinart coffee maker - we have tired off Senseo and the french press is not our best morning option, so I am considering a drip machine. I am open to either a simple brew machine or one that grinds and brews. Other brands/particular machines anyone favors?

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Doe anyone use a Cuisinart coffee maker - we have tired off Senseo and the french press is not our best morning option, so I am considering a drip machine. I am open to either a simple brew machine or one that grinds and brews. Other brands/particular machines anyone favors?
I reccomend avoiding the grind and brew. While it is convenient that it can be set to automatically grind for you, it is terribly inconvenient to clean. Unless you are really excited to set the machine up the night before and come downstairs to a pot of fresh ground brewed coffee, the difficulties of cleaning the wet grounds out of the machine after each use outweighs the positives on these models, I think.
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I'm a big proponent of the Melitta-style pourover method of brewing, for both the quality and simplicity of it. All you need is a way to make boiling water, a coffee grinder, a Melitta drip cone and filters.

It takes me all of 4 minutes to make a cup of coffee that rivals (or exceeds) any drip machine out there. With one exception that I'm aware of, home drip machines don't get water hot enough to properly extract enough flavor from the coffee. The result is a relatively lifeless cup of coffee with very little complexity or nuance.

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Nespresso! It changed my life.

ETA: I just noticed that I mentioned this about a year and a half ago earlier in this thread. For me, however, it is worth mentioning again, because I continue to love it!!!!!!! (As do the multitude of people who show up at my house and immediately insist on cappuccino.)

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I'm a big proponent of the Melitta-style pourover method of brewing, for both the quality and simplicity of it. All you need is a way to make boiling water, a coffee grinder, a Melitta drip cone and filters.

It takes me all of 4 minutes to make a cup of coffee that rivals (or exceeds) any drip machine out there. With one exception that I'm aware of, home drip machines don't get water hot enough to properly extract enough flavor from the coffee. The result is a relatively lifeless cup of coffee with very little complexity or nuance.

I was a Melitta guy for many years and in the past year have come to prefer my French press. I also stopped buying the ridiculously priced coffee at the Safeway preferring the insanely cheap whole bean varieties at Trader Joe's.

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I was a Melitta guy for many years and in the past year have come to prefer my French press. I also stopped buying the ridiculously priced coffee at the Safeway preferring the insanely cheap whole bean varieties at Trader Joe's.

Looks like our arcs swung in opposite directions. I used to do almost only French press, but in the last year or so, Melitta's been my go-to. Thing is, some coffees are better suited for the full-body that the press pot gives, and others are more delicate and lend themselves to filter.

Either way, just enjoy what you're drinking!

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What did you throw out?

Not the Technivorm? Is it too late to rescue it?

I've read this entire topic thread and didn't see any mention of grinders. Okay. Okay. The topic is Coffee Makers. Still, I am dismayed to read that some are using PODS! Ack. This is not proper good coffee. Freshly roasted quality beans and a good burr grinder are the most important factors contributing to good home brewing. Water quality and a steady hand are also helpful.

I'm a bit fed up with french press and am buying a Chemex Classic with a polished wood collar and leather tie. Such a dandy thang. http://www.chemexcoffeemaker.com/Coffeemakers.htmand

And a cloth filter http://barismo.com/2008/11/cloth-filter.html

I like the Chemex Hand Blown Water Kettle as well.

Sensual. Simple. Ritual.

Happy holidays to me. Happy holidays to me. Great coffee is the only thing that can purge my Grinchetteness.

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