Can you recommend a good coffee maker?

tonyb

Tornado Red wrote: »

Their stuff is fair trade and organic,

Huh ? Give me the stolen stuff grown in horse **** or plastic dirt. I don't care as long as it tastes good.

Not a dark roaster myself, reminds me of the old "Ellie May Clampant" special brew. In other words...mud. I'm more of a Jamaican Blue Mountain or Kona guy. I tried the Kick A$$ before and couldn't leave the bathroom for like an hour. However, if you want to cleanse your system of any suspected parasites, it might be your huckleberry.

txcoastal1

Damn Tony...you sure do pick the right time to be blunt and crack me effing up....had a couple beers

Cheers
Ron

tonyb

Glad to be of service Ron, having a few Corona's myself. Cheers !!

treitz3

Hello, pglbook and good morning to you. The link below is a thread on another forum that might help you in your decision. There are some suggestions within your price range contained within the thread. Good luck and happy sipping.

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?6246-Suggestions-for-a-Coffee-machine

Tom

tonyb

Like audio, it's what's on the inside that counts in coffee makers. Is the tubing plastic or copper ? Quality of the boiler ? How fast it heats up, consistency. Drip makers under 100 bones....I'll stand by my comment that you won't find too much difference in them between brands for quality of the brew.

Once you start getting above the 150 buck mark, you expect some quality and it to last longer than a Black and Decker. Again, like audio, parts are of concern too. If you have to ship the thing to Australia.....defeats the purpose.

Had a Capresso.... best brewer.....worst in cleaning and repairs.
Cuisinart...good brewer.....noisy, small buttons....didn't last any longer than other brands
Numerous box store brands....all the same....2 years max and caput.
Kitchenaide....so far has been solid, going on 3 years
Bunn....fantastic brewer, and fast....lack of bells and whistles is a turn off, like pause to brew, timer.

Just my take on drip machines.....another world opens up when you get into used car money.

pglbook

Thanks again to everyone for all of the great suggestions and comments.
And thanks, Tom, for the link to the other thread. Lots of interesting stuff.

I decided on the Cuisinart and ordered it from Amazon so I should be getting it in a few days. I'll let you know how I like it.

I am a coffee junkie and it is tough going a few days, especially a weekend, without a coffee maker.

Regarding types of coffee, I really like Costa Rican Tarazu coffee. And Mexican coffee is great as well - either from Coatepec (Veracruz), Oaxaca, or Chiapas. My wife is from Mexico and visits family in Mexico City every year or every other year (we are going together this year) and brings back good Mexican coffee from there when she goes. It only costs about 10 dollars for a kilo (a little over 2lbs). It is very good coffee. I do not like strong and bitter coffee and Mexican coffee is a full-bodied, but not bitter, flavorful coffee. Costa Rican coffee is a little smother, I find, but Mexican coffee is excellent. Unfortunately the Mexican coffee you get in the U.S. (even at the gourmet coffee shops) is not the same. Besides being about twice as expensive, the taste is not the same. I suspect it is mixed with some other things here.

PolkieMan

My Bunn VP-17 is almost twenty years old, use it every day to make coffee and tea.

http://www.capitalcityrestaurantsupply.com/prodDetail.cfm/1589764

pglbook wrote: »

My Bunn B10 coffee maker finally died on me yesterday.
I will need to buy a new coffee maker and was wondering if anyone could recommend a good one.

My budget is about $100 and my main criteria is that it brew a great cup of coffee. I am a big coffee drinker and do not need all of the bells and whistles (although programmable might be nice). I just want it to make a great cup of java. I liked the Bunn coffee makers a lot but this is the 2nd Bunn I have owned that did not last too long. They only last about 3-4 years in my experience.

I thought I would try a new brand other than Bunn.
Cuisinart gets good reviews. Does anyone have any experience with them?
Any other brands or models I should look at?

Thanks.

PolkieMan

The best timer (for my Bunn) I have ever had.
http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-timer-95205.html

tonyb wrote: »

Like audio, it's what's on the inside that counts in coffee makers. Is the tubing plastic or copper ? Quality of the boiler ? How fast it heats up, consistency. Drip makers under 100 bones....I'll stand by my comment that you won't find too much difference in them between brands for quality of the brew.

Once you start getting above the 150 buck mark, you expect some quality and it to last longer than a Black and Decker. Again, like audio, parts are of concern too. If you have to ship the thing to Australia.....defeats the purpose.

Had a Capresso.... best brewer.....worst in cleaning and repairs.
Cuisinart...good brewer.....noisy, small buttons....didn't last any longer than other brands
Numerous box store brands....all the same....2 years max and caput.
Kitchenaide....so far has been solid, going on 3 years
Bunn....fantastic brewer, and fast....lack of bells and whistles is a turn off, like pause to brew, timer.

Just my take on drip machines.....another world opens up when you get into used car money.

Tornado Red

One would like to think you'd get twice the life from a $200 machine vs a $100, but who's to say, lots of variables. Just my opinion, but I think the best thing you can do once you get a new coffee maker home is to use high quality filtered water, better yet distilled. Without the crud build up inside from tap water, especially areas that have hard water, I think will go a long way to giving some longevity to the machine. Of course the trade off here is now you're likely paying more for your water :rolleyes: Anyway, enjoy your new coffee maker pglbook!

PolkieMan

Nope just good ole hard Pearland water passes through a PUR sink filter. Remember the Bunn I have is made very heavy duty it is all metal stainless and copper restaurants use these 24/7. The decanter is not glass, ever tried to find a new decanter when your glass one on the Mr. Coffee broke? You can get a new decanter anywhere you can rebuild the entire unit it's not throw away.

Tornado Red wrote: »

One would like to think you'd get twice the life from a $200 machine vs a $100, but who's to say, lots of variables. Just my opinion, but I think the best thing you can do once you get a new coffee maker home is to use high quality filtered water, better yet distilled. Without the crud build up inside from tap water, especially areas that have hard water, I think will go a long way to giving some longevity to the machine. Of course the trade off here is now you're likely paying more for your water :rolleyes: Anyway, enjoy your new coffee maker pglbook!

tonyb

Tornado Red wrote: »

Of course the trade off here is now you're likely paying more for your water !

I guess if you go buy it all the time. You can just boil water, let cool and store in a jug in the fridge. Empty milk jugs work good or a pitcher.

Tornado Red

tonyb wrote: »

I guess if you go buy it all the time. You can just boil water, let cool and store in a jug in the fridge. Empty milk jugs work good or a pitcher.

I pay $5.95 for a 5 US gallon jug of distilled water for my water cooler. It's our drinking water and is used in the coffee maker, just a lifestyle choice we make. Tony, boiling the water, though likely sterilizing it, will not make it distilled, and the minerals that clog up cheaper coffee makers like mine are still there. Distilled is the condensed steam coming off the boiling water, hard to do economically at home, much to my chagrin. I also use distilled for the rad and battery in my car

PolkieMan has a tank for a coffee maker, bet he could pass beer through that sucker....say, didn't they have a beer/coffee drink on the old Drew Carey show?

jeremymarcinko

Reverse Osmosis much more economical than buying bottled water. This is similiar to my system.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-Reverse-Osmosis-Filtration-System-GXRM10RBL/202073853#.UdoTVPk729g

PolkieMan

Thing makes two 1/2 gallon pitchers of green tea in about 15 minutes it's the SDA SRS 1.2tl of coffee makers :cheesygrin:

Tornado Red

jeremymarcinko wrote: »

Reverse Osmosis much more economical than buying bottled water. This is similiar to my system.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-Reverse-Osmosis-Filtration-System-GXRM10RBL/202073853#.UdoTVPk729g

A great choice Jeremy. Just a side note to anyone who drinks reverse osmosis or distilled water on a regular basis, they both remove the minerals from the water, some of which your body needs. It was strongly recommended to me to ensure I have a healthy diet with lots of fruits and veggies, plus taking the right supplements, to make up for this deficiency.

tonyb

Hey Red, just an observation. Let me see if I got this straight. You pay 6 bucks for distilled water, then pay again for supplements to put those minerals back that distilled water removes. Kinda confused on that pal.:biggrin:

With the cost of supplements these days, you could buy a new coffee maker every 6 months. I don't get it pal, not trying to be an early morning a&&hat, just observing is all.

Tornado Red

The supplements I take are quite cheap actually (Vitamin D, zinc, Centrum multi and B-12 (I'm old :cheesygrin:), and some have nothing to do with the particular water I drink. There are many minerals among other things in tap water, at least here, that I don't care to have in my system. I'd rather start with a clean slate and put in what I think is right. Like I said, I'm just sharing the lifestyle I lead, I certainly am not touting it for anyone else, to each their own I say. And yes, I can see that you don't get it :cheesygrin:

scubalab

Our Bunn is still going strong after 7 years. Just replaced a broken caraffe, but that was the granite counter's fault...

GospelTruth

Not a big coffee drinker myself, but Cook's Illustrated usually does it right when testing kitchen appliances. I've used their advice many times for buying kitchen stuff and it's always proven helpful. Here's video link to their test of coffee makers.

Cook's Illustrated Coffee Makers

Enjoy!

JimKellyfan

Depends on use or needs. I use my Cuisinart stainless model and works great and has a nice filter system. That said, the cheaper ones did just fine as well, and in the restaurants, the Bunn does a fantastic job, if you need volume. The new fad has one cup makers, which I would consider, as my Cuisinart is just for me unless we have company. So, it depends on use, counter space and what color / finish. good luck

cristo

Here's my Coffee maker - very cheap and does a great job but requires a little user effort.
http://bodum.bodum.com/us/en-us/shop/detail/10682-01US/?navid=262
Of course, you need a decent grinder for a great cup of French press coffee, here's mine:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VAWXOU