Coffee makers

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I've been using a little Gevalia BCM-4C (4 cup) for about 15 years, since it's just me. The electrics tend to fail first, so I have ebayed some spares. Takes #2 Melitta brown paper filters. I fill my Nissan Thermos 14 ounce tumbler with an ounce of heavy cream and the rest with the coffee from the Gevalia - a half cup of beans and 16 ounces of reverse osmosis water. Some research tells me that Gevalia designed these to brew a little cooler than most other makers, 195F to 200F, which makes a better tasting coffee. I buy Jamaican Blue Mountain roasted beans and grind them here. It's the very best coffee I've had anywhere.

Yeah, I've heard that temperature thing also.
I recall an expert telling me that 191ºf was the ideal temp to pull the flavor from the beans, but won't extract the bitter acids from the outer shell of the bean.

[762 shooter]

Wife uses a Ninja coffee bar.

I started using an Aeropress because it's like reloading.

762

[Big Tom]

I'm a coffee snob. Roasting my own green beans (about $3.10 per lbs) and have a fully automatic coffee maker (Saeco) that makes one cup at a time with grinding the beans, heating the water etc. Have been doing that for about 10 years now and will not go back to other ways of making coffee. Ever

[Bmi48219]

Fifty years ago there weren’t many varieties/ brands of coffee available, at least not in our neighborhood. My folks favored ‘Chock full Of Nuts’ or ‘Eight O’clock’ brand. Most processors canned three different grinds; Drip, percolator and Regular. Although I’m not sure what style coffee maker used regular.
My buddy’s mom had a glass pot with upper & lower chambers. When heated on stove the water was drawn up into the top chamber and then drained down through the grounds.

[376Steyr]

I've had instant coffee from a package of C-rations made with lukewarm water in a metal canteen cup. Just about anything is a step up from that. I use a Mr. Coffee and have a spare one, still in the box, stashed away just in case it dies on me. There's also a big jar of Taster's Choice instant stashed in the pantry to get me through the first month of the zombie apocalypse.

[ripshod]

Aeropress for me.Throw away the paper filters and get the metal screen.

[winelover]

Fifty years ago there weren’t many varieties/ brands of coffee available, at least not in our neighborhood. My folks favored ‘Chock full Of Nuts’ or ‘Eight O’clock’ brand. Most processors canned three different grinds; Drip, percolator and Regular. Although I’m not sure what style coffee maker used regular.
My buddy’s mom had a glass pot with upper & lower chambers. When heated on stove the water was drawn up into the top chamber and then drained down through the grounds.

I remember that type well. Ours was all stainless steel except for the glass rod that held the grounds at the top. There was a rubber gasket sealing the top from the bottom carafe. I still have the bottom carafe. Don't remember what happened to the funnel like top. I'm pretty sure the gasket was shot and no longer available. Over the years of use, the glass rod broke and Dad (a toolmaker) made a new one out of aluminum. Was my job, every morning, to have the coffee made and bicycle to the bakery for fresh bread and donuts.

Winelover

[762 shooter]

Aeropress for me.Throw away the paper filters and get the metal screen.

I have a metal filter but never used it.

762

[almar]

Nothing cheaper, simpler and more reliable than pour over or an aeropress. Nothing makes a better coffee either. But i roast my own. Work has that keurig thing...its tastes like dishwater to me, its the worst coffee i ever had.

[DougGuy]

I also roast my own green coffee beans in a roaster that I fabricated myself in a converted gas grill.

For brewing, I use a vintage Farberware Superfast model 134 2-4 cup electric percolator and I simply unplug it after the brew cycle. Percs got a bad rap way back before the microwave was invented because the "keep warm" heating element would boil the coffee and ruin it.

I hunt out specific percolators, I prefer the early original "Gold Badge" models with the TWO LINE address on the bottom, 1955 - 1966. Later gold badge models used a three line address with either LCA or Kidde Corporation in the address 1966-1972. After 1972, the badge changed to red and gold on black.

The originals seem to have the best brew cycle, they didn't heat quite as fast so the coffee was in the immersion phase longer and to me they brew more consistently although there may be slight differences in one to another. Some make more of the knocking sound when brewing, some seem to hang on to the last minute of brewing until the water is just hissing through the siphon, these are the keepers! They make the BEST coffee IMO. Every bit as strong and robust as a French Press, 75% less sediment in the cup.

I used to be able to buy these on ebay for around $35 shipped, pre-pandemic, now they are bringing $50 to $60 but you can still find some very nice models. I got one recently that was almost new, it had hardly ever been used. I paid $50 for it shipped. These vintage pots will still outlast any of the new China made pots.

Ok late breaking news... I can't post a link to auction but I can give you an item number for the EXACT vintage Farberware Superfast percolator that I hold in the highest esteem, and priced pre-pandemic to boot!! This is a GOOD DEAL on the best vintage percolator you will find, gold badge, 2 line address.. Look up 224694988298 somebody's going to get a GOOD one!

For reference, this is the "Gold Badge" emblem 1955-1972:



This is the TWO-LINE address on the bottom 1955-1966:



Farberware has an interesting history, starting with Simon Farber, a Russian immigrant in 1897, the company was founded in 1900 and have produced some of America's best loved and longest lasting cookware and other kitchen tools and implements. The company was sold many times over during the last 120+ years.

[Nueces]

I have heard the gripe that paper filters strip out oils from the brew and also have heard that metal elements in the brewing process contribute a bad taste. Dunno, I'm a trained investigator but, once I achieved the best coffee I ever had, I was OK with stopping there. I used a metal screen years ago, but like the paper filters.

Doug, thanks for the heads up on that Farberware perc, it's on the way here! If it does not thoroughly beat the little Gevalia, I'll put it on here in SNS.

[DougGuy]

Doug, thanks for the heads up on that Farberware perc, it's on the way here! If it does not thoroughly beat the little Gevalia, I'll put it on here in SNS.

Ha! Good one! I saw it gone and my heart sank, GLAD you got it! MERRY CHRISTMAS! Santa gonna hook you right up!

Trick of these is getting the grind just right. Store bought drip grind is too fine, it will fall through the basket too easy, although if that's all you have it will work. I use an old Grindmaster commercial grinder and set it between perc and drip, it churns out the perfect grind.

Oh, and you want to start with cold water. My daily mix is water to 1/2" below the bottom of the spout, and coffee 1/8" below the stem in the center of the basket. Usually I put it flush with the end of that stem, but some coffees taste better if they aren't too strong. You will like this pot.. Of all the methods of brewing coffee, this to me is the best of all of them. Be sure and put the slot in the spreader to the front.

Do NOT immerse the base in water! Water inside the phenolic base will corrode the heating element really quick.

Furthermore (LOL) at the rate scientists and coffee snobs are uncovering nutritional and medicinal benefits in coffee, I believe one day that they will come out and say something like "Americans are throwing away one of the most beneficial aspects of coffee, every time they empty their coffee maker and throw away the paper filter."

We know there are antioxidants in caffeinol, the oil in coffee, but paper filters remove most of it before you pour your cup, and there is a lot of dietary fiber that is filtered out as well.

[RogerDat]

I have no desire to buy little cups that allow me to make my own coffee as expensive as buying it from a barrista at Starbucks.

I use a Melitta which has the cone shaped filter and one pours in the hot water at work. Only 6 cup pot but I can microwave the water and do a pour through pot in a few minutes.

Home we had (still have in the basement) a nice Bunn. I loved it. Stores the water in the tank hot enough to brew with. From pour to pot is very fast. Doesn't have a burner auto off so wife banished it. Or maybe it was an auto off on too short of a timer so coffee was cold. I don't recall exactly but she didn't like so gone it is.

She buys a steady stream of different Mr. Coffee or clones which are "ok" but nothing special. All work better than grounds boiled in a clean tube sock. AKA what you do when ex packs only the electric coffee pot on a rustic camping trip.

I have a 6 cup Faberware percolator that is great. Thing must be 30 years old but still makes good coffee and fast. Smells great brewing as others have mentioned. It keeps getting snatched out of the pantry and moved to the basement to keep the Bunn company. But I like it enough I bring it back. Also take camping for when we camp with electricity. In a pinch can even run off of the inverter and battery.

Use a stove top percolator for camping. Big old stainless that makes about 16 cups. I can have after dinner coffee and fill a pre-warmed thermos to have coffee first thing in the morning because that monster takes a long, long, long time to perk the morning pot. Works on Coleman stove, camper stove, campfire. I know it will work and can be relied on.

Have a couple of french press makers, small and large. Both from thrift stores. Have literally made the best cup of coffee I ever made in one but way too much fiddling around for too small output. I want a pot of coffee not a demitasse cup of the stuff.

I would go with the Melitta or even a french press for camping due to just needing hot water BUT the metal ones are very pricey and glass camping equipment is a pain. Probability of breaking increases based on distance or difficulty involved in getting a replacement.

[RogerDat]

The old Faberware pots can get water into the lower heating element area and the thermal strip with contacts can get corroded which is an easy fix. One center screw to remove the bottom. Clean the area well. Run some really fine wet/dry sand paper across the contacts and it is good to go for another several years.

Have done that to my parents pot twice over about 30 years. My own got it a year or so ago. Cuts out the power too soon or won't get hot and perc. Check those contacts first, and the connections in the pot bottom.

Figure if is already broken.... you can fix or not fix, in which case you are not any worse off than when you started unless you lose the center screw.

[warren5421]

I know this is an older post but I was served a cup of coffee today at cards that was some of the best. The lady had a a wood platform with a cloth filter she put 2 tablespoons of Costa Rican Peaberry med roast coffee, set a 16 oz mug under it then poured boiling water into the filter, when cup was full she handed it to me and it was to die for. She said it was the way her mother made it and the way her marine husband liked his coffee.

[BLAHUT]

I like it strong, stand a spoon up in it, my tea the same way. Started making cold brew coffee, put very fine Growns in a fine SS mesh cylinder and soak in cold water over night.
No bitterness, all the flavors and oils remain. Put coffee in cup and in microwave for a minute or two. Hot anytime.

[CastingFool]

After many, many years of drinking percolate coffee and grinding beans, to use in a French press, I've gotten lazy. I hate grinding coffee and I'm not that picky that I have to have fresh ground, so I tried bustelo instant expresso. While it's not great, it's good enough, and I enjoy the ease if preparation. I'm the only one in the house that drinks coffee anyway.

[Wayne Smith]

I just ordered my mix - two pounds of Tanzania Peaberry medium roast and one pound of Colombian dark roast. Whole bean, combine them and grind each morning. I have tried about all styles of coffee makers and started with a French Press recently - broke a carafe, then broke the center rod, ordered a Stainless Steel Mueller French press and have been satisfied. It uses a double screen, but still needs a relatively coarse grind to avoid grounds in the water. Nothing has broken in the past three years.

[DougGuy]

I just ordered my mix - two pounds of Tanzania Peaberry medium roast and one pound of Colombian dark roast. Whole bean, combine them and grind each morning. I have tried about all styles of coffee makers and started with a French Press recently - broke a carafe, then broke the center rod, ordered a Stainless Steel Mueller French press and have been satisfied. It uses a double screen, but still needs a relatively coarse grind to avoid grounds in the water. Nothing has broken in the past three years.

I got away from the French press because of more sediment than I wanted, and of course the likelihood of breaking the glass carafe. I have been seeking out and using the Farberware Superfast percolators that have a gold badge on the side and a two line address on the bottom, those are the original first model made by Farberware 1957-1962 before it was sold off to LCA or Kidde Corp. These to me seem to have the longer and more consistent brew cycle.

These nice old vintage percs usually cost $50 or less from auction, I have given quite a few away as wedding gifts, housewarming, etc, they will still outlast the current Asian made offering in the box stores and people love them because of the coffee that comes from them.

Coffee every bit as good as the French press, 75% less sediment.

I have long had a feeling that eventually they will figure out that a lot of the fiber, andioxidants, and other beneficial parts of coffee are found in the sediments, and they will announce that a study shows that Americans throw away the most beneficial part of their coffee every time they toss the paper filter with the grounds into the trash.

Yesterday was a perfect day for roasting coffee. I roasted about 25lbs in 2.5 lb batches, coffees from Yemen, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Brazil, the show stopper? Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Konga-Sede Natural (sun dried process) Gr. 1

When they say Gr.1, that's Grade 1 and they aren't kidding, after a dark roast sits for a bit, opening the lid will pleasantly reward your senses with the strong baker's chocolate aroma, which years after radiation destroyed most of my taste buds, this is the aroma and taste I go for. Ethiopia Yirgacheffe does not disappoint. It's also quite costly compared to other coffees, but not near as costly as the Jamaican, with green coffee beans, sourced from a reputable supplier, you pretty much get what you pay for.

Here's a youtube from May of this year of my home made roaster at work..

[farmerjim]

Any kind of coffee maker is fine as long as the coffee is community dark roast.