brewing coffee

The 5 Best Coffeemakers

Jeffrey Pu — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:36:32 +0000

Recently, I shared what I considered to be the best coffee grinders available for purchase. Now that you hopefully have the tool necessary to grind your coffee at home, it's time to look into the right coffeemaker to brew that cuppa you wake up to in the morning. (See also: Better Brewing: 12 Ways to Make Coffee at Home)

What Is a Coffeemaker?

A coffeemaker is (obviously) a cooking appliance that is used to brew coffee. There are many different types of coffeemakers that utilize different brewing methods, but the one that we are going to focus on is the most common — drip coffeemakers. A drip coffeemaker works by placing the coffee grounds in a filter inside a funnel. Water is poured into a separate container, heated to the boiling point, directed into the funnel and then allowed to drip through the coffee grounds, essentially turning into your cup of coffee.

Best 5 Coffeemakers

Mr. Coffee BVMC-SJX33GT 12 Cup Programmable Coffeemaker

A Consumer Reports Best Buy, CR cites the Mr. Coffee BVMC-SJX33GT to be one of the most highly recommended drip coffeemakers they've tested. Users agree, stating that its removable filter helps make it easy to clean and that it produces high quality, hot coffee. This Mr. Coffee can make up to 12 cups of coffee in a single brew and has a pause-and-serve feature that allows you to pour a cup of coffee while the machine is still brewing. Finally, it can take both glass and thermal carafes — if you're using glass, it can keep your coffee hot for two additional hours. Currently $39.99 on Amazon.

Cuisinart DCC-1200 Brew Central 12 Cup Programmable Coffeemaker

Another user favorite, the Cuisinart DCC-1200 has a brewing capacity of 12 cups and comes with a number of features to help facilitate the creation of your coffee. The quality of the coffee that comes out of this Cuisinart is highly rated, helped in no small part by the charcoal filter inside the coffeemaker that filters chlorine out of the water that goes into your coffee. The brew-pause feature on this Cuisinart allows you to remove the carafe for up to 30 seconds to pour yourself a cup before brewing has completed. Finally, the DCC-1200 contains a 24-hour advance start, automatic shutoff, and small-batch features. Currently $75.00 on Amazon.

Cuisinart DCC-3000 Coffee-on-Demand 12 Cup Programmable Coffeemaker

Highly recommended by Consumer Reports, the Cuisinart DCC-3000 is built with its own 12-cup coffee reservoir, allowing you to brew and dispense coffee without the use of a carafe. With a push of a lever, the DCC-3000 dispenses one cup at a time and contains an easy-to-read gauge that tells you how much coffee is left. The DCC-3000 contains all of the features found in the DCC-1200, including the programmable 24-hour advance start, auto shutoff, and small-batch settings. Finally, both its coffee and water reservoir are removable for easy cleaning. Currently $91.50 on Amazon.

Hamilton Beach Two Way Brewer — Single Serve and 12 Cup Coffeemaker

The Hamilton Beach Two Way Brewer allows coffee lovers to brew their coffee in one of two ways — into a traditional glass carafe that can hold up to 12 cups of coffee, or as a single cup serving. A "carafe side" and a "single-serve side" lets you choose how much coffee you want to make in that session. Other features of the Two Way Brewer include 24-hour advance start, 2-hour automatic shutoff, brew strength selector with choices between Regular and Bold flavor, and a packaged 14 oz. stainless steel travel mug. Currently $77.49 on Amazon.

Cuisinart DCC-2800 Perfec Temp 14 Cup Programmable Coffeemaker

Another coffeemaker recommended by Consumer Reports, the primary feature of the Cuisinart Perfec Temp is the advanced heater design that brews higher temperature coffee than what most other coffeemakers produce. This Cuisinart also comes with brew strength control and a brew pause feature. Currently $96.37 on Amazon.

And with that, you should have all the necessary ingredients to begin making the perfect cup of coffee right at home. As always, be sure to check out the Wise Bread Buying Calendar to learn when and how to buy just about anything!

This article is from Jeffrey Pu of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Pour-Over Coffee: Better Than Brewed?

Andrea Karim — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 09:48:09 +0000

If you’ve never had a cup of pour-over coffee before, you’re missing out on a great cup. More meticulous than machine-drip coffee, brighter and cleaner than French press brew, and less dangerous than a stove-top percolator, pour-over coffee is often seen as purely the realm of coffee snobs and “cuppers”. But that’s a shame, because not only is pour-over coffee delicious, it’s easier to make than you might initially realize. (See also: Simply Good Coffee: The Chemex Coffee Maker).

Upon viewing the process of creating a perfect cup of pour-over coffee, your initial reaction might be something along the lines of “Why bother? My regular old coffee maker can do this for me.” While it’s true that pour-over brewing is a bit more labor intensive than pressing the “On” button on your DeLonghi, the resulting coffee might just change how you view your morning Joe altogether.

How It Works

The idea is pretty straight-forward — grind your coffee beans, add coffee grounds to the (rinsed) paper cone inserted inside the pour-over container, and pour water carefully over top. The resulting coffee that collects in the carafe or coffee cup reservoir is bright, flavorful coffee that should highlight the best of the roast’s flavor without any of the bitterness. Details such as how hot your heat your water, your water-to-coffee ratio, how much you rinse your filter, and your rate and style of pour are entirely up to you. Fortunately, the Internet is full of advice on the topic of how to brew Chemex coffee.

If hand-pouring water over your coffee grounds seems arduous, take heed of some coffee-expert advice. Jesse Raub, author of the java-enthusiast website Bitter Press, tells us that “regular drip coffee makers don't evenly wet the coffee grounds, which leaves your coffee unevenly extracted. Hand-pouring the water offers you an easy, controlled method for ensuring even distribution.”

Cost Breakdown

It’s hard to argue against the elegant simplicity of the pour-over coffee maker itself. Among the most iconic modern pour-over brands are the Chemex (pronounced “KEM-ex”) and Hario. Chemex is a favorite among pour-over enthusiasts and fans of simple design for its handmade simplicity; in fact, the Chemex is featured in a MoMA collection of objects designed by Peter Schlumbohm, a German innovator who was known for creating simple, usable products for the home. At approximately $35 for an 8-cup carafe, the Chemex seems like a relative bargain compared to high-end coffee makers.

Chemex paper filters cost $8.50 for 100, which a bit less than 10 cents per filter. If you’re not a fan of paper filters, the current “It Girl” of pour-over accessories is the Coava Kone, a metal filter design to mimic the function of a paper filter, while allowing more aromatic oils to seep through during brewing. Reviewers have generally reported that the Kone produces less sediment than other metal filters. At $55, you can be forgiven for hesitating. But consider that you will never have to worry about running out of paper filters on a lazy weekend again, and the Coava Kone might seem like a relative bargain. And really when you add up the cost ($35 + $55 + shipping), you’re still looking at about $100 for a coffee maker that should last a lifetime.

The advantage of a pour-over coffee maker (instead of a French press or percolator) should be obvious — the Chemex and Hario are much easier to clean and don’t involve nuts and bolts. The Coava Kone can be run through the dishwasher, although more fastidious owners prefer to hand-wash their entire coffee brewing apparatus. And wash it you must, because one of the side effects of an inexpertly cleaned coffee making apparatus is bitter, burnt-tasting coffee (the result of rancid oils that need to be scrubbed away after each use).

Pour-Over Coffee: Pros

Clean, minimalist design
No moving parts to break
Generally cheaper than electric coffee makers
Easy to maintain, can be washed in dishwasher
Greater control of coffee flavor outcomes
No hot plate means your coffee doesn’t continue to cook after brewing

Pour-Over Coffee: Cons

More work-intensive
You officially become a coffee snob

This article is from Andrea Karim of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread:

Simply Good Coffee: The Chemex Coffeemaker

Kentin Waits — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 13:00:07 +0000

Call me a cynic, but the days are numbered for my electric coffeemaker. How can I be so sure? Well, it's not the first one I've owned, and after three or four years, they all die. I predict it will simply stop brewing, or the heating element that keeps the carafe warm will short out, or some other seemingly simple, yet sufficiently complex issue will require that I scrap it for another.

Perhaps all this mechanical failure in the objects around us suggests something about the overly-mechanized nature of our world. Coffeemakers brew coffee, keep the coffee warm, wake us up in the morning and tell us the time. With all of these bells and whistles, aren't we signing on for the failure of a bell here or a whistle there each time we choose a hyper-produced item? How revolutionary would it be if coffeemakers just made coffee? What if I decided not to solve my "coffee-brewing dilemma" with another nuclear option?

Recently, I stumbled on a brewing throwback that has always had somewhat of a cult following among serious coffee connoisseurs and is enjoying a growing respect among us regular folks too. The Chemex coffeemaker looks deceivingly simple — there are no moving parts. It doesn't light up, it doesn't tell time, and there are no alarms that I can see. It is, simply, a glass carafe perfectly designed to efficiently brew the ideal cup of drip coffee.

Chemex coffeemakers quietly entered the coffee-brewing world in the late 1940s. Invented by chemist Peter Schlumbohm, Chemex brewers are made from heat-resistant Pyrex glass. Short of a drop kick or bar fight, they're indestructible. The conical shape of the top portion of the carafe, together with a special paper filter, removes sediment, oils, and fats from your final cup — no bitterness, no grounds, perfect every time. The narrow neck of the carafe fits your hand perfectly and protects it from the hot surface by a band of wood secured with a leather strap. A subtle groove molded in the glass serves as a spout. Just remove the filter and grounds in one disposable package and your brewer becomes your carafe.

Chemex brewers may require a bit more hands-on effort, but they are by no means labor-intensive. Simply bring a kettle of water to a boil, insert the Chemex paper filter and grounds into the upper cone of the carafe, slowly pour the hot water over the grounds and voila! The slow drip result is better than your bitter taste buds can imagine.

The success of the Chemex's design lies in its restraint. It attempts to do nothing other than brew coffee. Its shape is purposeful, the collar of wood and leather around the neck a functional nod to the Arts and Crafts Movement, when our household objects weren't divorced from the materials around us every day. Brewing and taste aside, it looks absolutely elegant next to my big, clunky, black plastic and stainless steel groaning behemoth. The Smithsonian and The Museum of Modern Art thought so too — a Chemex is part of the permanent collection of each.

So, when your old coffeemaker's brewing days are over (and they will be, sooner than you think), consider a Chemex. I'm not an investor or a salesman — simply an admirer of good design that gets back to the heart of a thing and pares back form to essential function. Let's skip the Brewmaster 4.0 (with optional iPod docking station, LED nightlight and remote control) and embrace Chemex's 1.0 solution. It will last forever.

This article is from Kentin Waits of Wise Bread, an award-winning personal finance and credit card comparison website. Read more great articles from Wise Bread: