Here I will help you explore some of the most common coffee maker types, as well as some coffee makers that are truly for the coffee crazy. I have tried to cover some of the benefits of using different coffee brewers depending on your personal needs.
If you lead a busy life and your always on the go a single cup maker maybe just the answer to keep up to your active lifestyle. There are one cup makers available that deliver a mug of hot brew that you make and take with you. Most brew quickly through the lid into a thermal mug and shuts off automatically when done.
A single cup maker is an ideal gift for commuters, college students, professionals always on the go, newlyweds or the single java drinker household. Benefits from a single cup coffee maker include a perfect cup of freshly brewed hot coffee in a flash. Excellent for the office or dorm, you can also make hot water for tea, hot chocolate or instant soups. The k-cup coffee system made by Keurig has it's own formula for brewing a fresh single serving . It consists of a single portion of ground beans in a container with a filter built-in.
Thermal coffee makers are another option as we all strive to have our brew remain hot and fresh, most of the companies that produce thermal makers claim that you will have up to 4 hours of hot fresh coffee. I have a thermal maker and while it is true that the brew is still warm after a fashion I prefer to start over as I prefer to have fresh java, but my wife loves it.
If you are not as picky as I am then perhaps a thermal coffee maker is right for you. There are a wide variety of options as far as color and size, one of the benefits is the ability to bring and place the crafe at the dinning room table while you entertain your guests.
Space saver coffee makers are a great way to make your small kitchen bigger. Most manufactures make an under counter maker that can give you more space on your counter tops and it offers a great alternative to smaller makers like the single cup makers that we discussed earlier or 4 cup makers. Most all of them have a removable water reservoir that makes filling more efficient and prevents spills and cleaning the reservoir is much easier. You can still get your 10 or 12 cups that you require while keeping your kitchen less cluttered. Excellent for galley kitchens or apartment size kitchens and RV owners.
The French press , also known as a press pot, coffee press, coffee plunger or cafetière, is a brewing device popularized by the French. Its operation is simple and can produce a stronger pot of coffee than some other types of java makers. The press pot consists of a narrow cylindrical container usually made of glass or clear plastic, equipped with a lid and a "plunger" also made of metal or plastic, which fits tightly in the cylinder and which has a fine wire or nylon mesh acting as a filter which can be cleaned and reused.
The java is brewed by placing the coffee and water together, leaving to brew for a few minutes, then depressing the plunger to trap the grounds at the bottom of the container. Because the grounds remain in direct contact with the brewing water and the grounds are filtered from the water via a mesh instead of a paper filter, java brewed with the French press captures more of the brews flavor and essential oils, most of these are generally trapped in the paper or wire filters we use in the drip method of brewing. Because the used grounds remain in the drink after brewing, French pressed coffee should be served immediately so as to not become bitter. A typical 8-cup French press is considered expired after 20 - 25 minutes as there is no warmer plate as in many makers.
Beans for use in a French press should be of a consistent, coarse grind. The use of a hand coffee grinder or manual coffee grinder gives a more consistent grind than the whirling blade variety of electric grinders. The ground should be more coarse than that used for a drip coffee filter, as a finer grind will seep through the press filter and into the coffee. A French press is also more portable and self contained than other makers. And make a great solution for a travel maker in such cases as back packing or camping. Despite the name, the French press is not noticeably more popular in France than in other countries. In most French households, coffee is usually prepared by drip brewing, using an electric coffee maker and paper filters.
A vacuum maker brews coffee using two chambers where vapor pressure and vacuum produce brew which is clean, rich and smooth compared to other brewing methods. This type of maker is also known as vac pot , siphon or syphon coffee maker and was invented by Loeff of Berlin in the 1830s. These types of makers have been used for more than a century in many parts of the world.
The chamber material can be pyrex, metal or plastic, and the filter can either be a glass rod, or a screen from cloth, paper or nylon. The Napier Vacuum Machine, presented in 1840, was an early example of this technique. While vacuum makers are generally to complex for everyday use, they were prized for producing a clear brew and were quite popular until the middle of the twentieth century.
The idea of a vacuum coffee maker is to heat water in the lower vessel of the brewer until the expansion forces the water through a narrow tube into an upper vessel that contains the coffee grounds. When the lower vessel has more or less emptied itself and enough time has elapsed, the heat is removed and the resulting vacuum will draw the brewed beverage through a strainer back into the lower chamber from which it can be stored. The device must usually be taken apart to pour into a mug.
An early variation of this principle is called balance siphon. This variation has the two chambers arranged side by side on a balance like device, with a counterweight attached to the heated chamber.
Once the vapor has forced the hot water out, the counterweight is activated and a spring-loaded snuffer which smothers the flame and allows the initial hot chamber to cool down thus creating a vacuum and causing the brewed coffee to seep in. Thus - as believed by some creating the perfect cup of java.
Turning on my drip coffee maker is a soothing ritual for me , as I awake climb-out of bed , dress and without even a pause I head straight for the maker which is pre-loaded from the night before . With a push of a button I feel comfort in knowing that I can continue on with what lays ahead for the rest of the day.
Most drip filter makers function in the same simple manner: a paper filter sets in a basket (usually plastic) which holds the finely ground, almost powdery bean. Cold water is poured into a chamber where it is heated and poured over the grounds. The brew is quickly extracted into a waiting carafe usually glass or thermal steel . The process is very simple, and extremely reliable.
Some have proclaimed that automatic drip coffee makers produce "off-tasting" flavors in the cup. I feel that those people need to either change or modify their coffee grind , do not use reusable filters or should clean the drip maker as per the manufacturers directions.
It has been a long time since I have used a manual drip coffee maker but I do have limited experience with them. I began many years ago to use the single cup model as I was the only java drinker in the household at the time. If you can boil water and measure a tablespoon full of coffee the hard part is done, one can easily make a great cup using the manual drip method and is certainly cost effective as they are generally inexpensive. The larger styles can brew 8- 10 cups at a time.
In most cases, the larger type of manual drip comes with a glass carafe, which is then used to serve the coffee. The drip part is a cone shaped basket, where a filter is placed. The basket is then filled with the desired amount of grounds. For stronger brew, usually a generous tablespoon per cup is recommended. The basket sits on the carafe or( coffee pot), or on a single mug. The hot water is gradually added to the basket, creating very fresh cup. You have to be very patient when adding water, as too much water will flood the drip cone, causing a unwanted mess of grounds and water all over the place.
I hope this has given some insight to the great selection of coffee brewing methods available to consumers today, my suggestion is to keep it simple when selecting a coffee maker for every day use and to step out of the box when you have time to enjoy the art of brewing coffee while you are relaxing.
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