OT: Coffee and #$%@$Keurig

[Paul Franklin]

I like coffee and I drink a fair amount. I'm not that fussy. I drink it black, no flavor, nothing added, you get the picture. I enjoy the occasional esspresso and would drink it more if it was convienent and relatively cheap. What I really want is decent Joe fast and easy.

I've tried percolators, drip brewers, french press, instant, and coffee bags. And then I got a Keurig.

The Kerig makes acceptable coffee. More than good enough for me. It wins hands down on convenience, speed, and ease of use and cleanup.

One problem: the machines themselves are crap. They just don't hold up. Read the comments on amazon or any other board you like and you'll see it over and over: "I love my keurig when it works, but it never works".

I use double filtered water, descale regularly, follow all the instructions, yada yada. Machines are still crap. I'm on my third in a couple of years and have had enough.

So....looking at pod machines, CBTL machines, ESE, etc.

If you love the way you make coffee and it meets my priorities of decent coffee, fast, easy to use and clean up, and RELIABLE equipment, tell me what you got. I'm the only coffee drinker in the house so single serve is ideal, and most of the time the Joe's going in a travel mug. Oh yeah, $200 is the high end.

TIA,

Paul F.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Bo problem with pours so far. W use RO filtered water always. We have two Keurig coffee maker one is small one cup maker. The other is full size. We got both of them as a gift, so can't complain even if it breaks down.

[Vic Smith]

You might be overthinking this. I tried a number of single serve makers, and didn't care for any of them. So I make a single serve cup in a 12-cup Mr Coffee or any other drip maker. Main thing is making sure the plate to basket height will fit your favorite mug. I've got a tall mug now so pour from the carafe. I prefer paper filtered because it absorbs some coffee acids I don't like. It's trivial dealing with a paper filter, and they're cheap. It's trivial rinsing the carafe. Sometimes I use extra grounds if I want a good hit. However you prefer it brewed, it's the coffee itself that tells the tale.

[Doug Miller]

Paul Franklin wrote in news: [e-mail]:

[...]

I use a Black&Decker automatic drip coffee maker, so old that it was made in the USA. Bought it at Salvation Army for eight bucks. Works great, makes fantastic coffee. What more could I want?

[Percival P. Cassidy]

We have had a two-cup Cuisinart for many years (they call it a 4-cup, but they are no doubt referring to demi-tasse cups). We use it at least twice each day. The coating (non-stick?) has worn off the hot-plate, but other than it keeps chugging along. $35 at Bed, Bath & Beyond.

Perce

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Bo problem with ours so far. We use RO filtered water always. We have two Keurig coffee makers one is small one cup maker. The other is full size. We got both of them as a gift, so can't complain even if it breaks down.

[Robert Macy]

Hamilton Beach Brew Station Deluxe - old version

A company I worked at had it for about a year when the little tab that opens the flap to pour coffee into your mug broke. They bought the new HB and everybody complained about how the spout did not extend far enough over your mug and caused coffee to often rundown the back of your mug!!

During the year that the original HB opearted I had noticed a ring now and then left under the brew sstation, but thought little about it.

So I asked if I could have the HB, and they said sure, going to trash it. I took a piece of brass shim and glued it over the broken tab and voila! the coffee pot worked again!. Then I discovered what was causing the once in a while rings, now turning tinot significant leaks. The pot itself is not apparently well glued, It's like they count on the heat and expansion to make the bottom swell up to form a tight seal inside - not good! So some one here gave me a link to FDA approved high temp RTV in a caulking tube. and I slopped that all over the inside 'gap'

Now for three years I've had one of the BEST, EASIEST to use coffee makers I've ever seen! Makes twelve cups, keeps them just hot enough, but not so much as to burn the flavor. Clean it sometimes once every two or so monthes with a fast swish out of bleach. Us any water in it I want, except certain CA City Water which always maeks black cottage cheese crumbs on the sides of your cup.

The thing has automatic shut off if you forget it, so it doesn't hurt itself. Great, original cost in the range of 100-150 I think. But remember, it's the early version with the pour further ovr your cup than the newer versions, so you have to watch it if you have a 'fat' mug lip, like those thermal cups.

[DerbyDad03]

Same Same.

I just make sure I use a mug that is heavy enough to hold the spring loaded lever in so that the machine thinks the carafe is being used.

I was just talking to a few friends about their Keurig machines at work today. They said if you buy the pods the coffee costs about $37 a pound. Holy crap!

They said they bought a refillable pod and can use their own coffee so that makes it cheaper, once they recover the $15 they paid for the filter.

Cleaning the filter seems like it's more work than it's worth.

[Vic Smith]

Since I sometimes make a shorter cup, I pull that thing off as soon as I see it.

Hope it's very good coffee.

That's a metal screen pod I'm guessing. I never liked metal screened "filters" because the paper filter absorbs something I don't like in my coffee. It's a bitter taste to me. Takes all kinds.

[Ed Pawlowski]

How about a thermal carafe? Make coffee and it keeps fresh and warm for hours. If it cools down, nuke it for a minute

My wife loves out Technivrm, but it is past your budget. This seems to be as good for less and I'd buy it if I was buying today

[Doug]

Yeah I like good coffee too and drink about 2 or 3 cups a day. I was considering the expensive models up to $2000 but then I said to myself, am I nuts.... for that price I can go to McD or Starbucks (prefer McD to be honest) and buy a lot of cups of coffee. So now I use the one my daughter gave me for free because she doesn't use it and mine broke after about 10 years of use. It's a 12 cup cheaper Mr. Coffee maker but makes decent coffee. Oh yeah... I only buy Starbucks expresso roast from the grocery to drink at home. And when I get a real craving, then I go to McD or Starbucks if I'm near one. And as some pointed out, even if you get an expensive unit, there may be repair costs to consider so all in all I'll just go to McD or Starbucks when I'm in the mood and let them pay for the repairs. Meanwhile I'll drink my coffee at home which is good enough for most days for me.

[HeyBub]

I buy my coffee makes at Walmart, about ten dollars. I have two: one in use, one in the closet.

They last about two years in constant use. When one breaks, I toss it and activate the backup pot. At my earliest convenience, I replace the spare.

[Mark Storkamp]

I prefer to drink just espresso, and I used to start with green beans and roast them myself. In the end it just got to be too much like work, so I got a Nespresso pod machine and it's the best coffee investment I've made yet. Simple, easy, reliable and best of all consistently good coffee. (never the 'god shot' strived for but rarely seen with manual equipment, but always very good) But the 1-1/2 oz shots likely won't fill most travel mugs.

[Norminn]

Mr Coffee has been my brand for years...upgraded about 5 years ago to the model with adjustable brew strength and warmer temp. Hard water, used every day. I'm no connoisseur, as I add cocoa and flavored creamer to my brew, but this is a workhorse. Cheaper versions of MC lasted about two years on average. There is a lot of goofiness in the coffee biz, including the outfit that provides "free" coffee makers.

Prior to MC, I had a coffee maker with insulated pot so's no reheating was done. Prior to that, we had the boil-the-water-and-pour-it-through-the-cheap-drip-pot method; best coffee when my taste buds could tell the difference. I think that might be key - if yer old enough to afford the fancy expensive machines, yer taste buds have faded :o)

[Thomas]

I use fillable tea bags. I'll grind my beans and take a teabag to work and add hot water. (Their coffee sucks) Steep for 5 minutes or so. At home a teabag with 14 gm, filtered water and in the nuke till hot enough.

The bags come in a box of 100 for about 3 bucks. You can take a look here:

or something close to that.

[Doug]

I didn't know they have fillable tea bags.... neat idea. Unfortunately right now, that URL didn't work for me :( but I guess I can google on it too. Thanks.

[Doug]

I like that idea of a backup. I may take you up on that idea from Walmart. If you are right, that's $5 / year for the ability to brew coffee and that works for me. A lot better than spending $2000 and then cry when it breaks. Heck I can run with your idea and still afford to buy coffee drinks for McD or Starbucks and I like that idea . Thanks.

[Jon Danniken]

For the last couple of decades I use nothing more than a filter cone, a gold filter, and a mason jar. I take my coffee black, of course, like any sane human being.

Bring 620mL water to a rolling boil, take off stove. Add coffee. Now leave the room for a couple of minutes while it steeps (that's the hard part). Pour coffee through filter into mason jar, remove filter, rinse filter in hot water in sink.

After you fill your cup, you put the lid on the mason jar to keep it stable.

This is basically the same as using a "french press", except without the useless french press.

Jon

[Arthur Shapiro]

If you're attracted to the "pod" type of coffee maker, than other folks talking about various cone and automated coffee makers aren't of particular use to you.

We've had a contraption called a Melita "One:One" pod maker here at the office for quite a while. I'm a bit of a coffee snob - hand-grind and brew my own in a single-cup maker every day - but have tried the Melita in the past. I thought the resultant coffee was more than acceptable; far, far better than the pots of weak Costco alleged coffee out of some commercial "Newco" contraption, sitting next to the Melita, that the company provides for free.

While I ultimately prefer my own approach - I can select the coffee I want rather than the limited set available for the Melita, and it's more cost-effective - I could live with the Melita if it became necessary. And it seems to be standing up to its moderate use without problems.

Art

[chaniarts]

bialetti

it comes in sizes from 1 to 12 cups.