OT: Coffee Makers

Personally I use the $20-$25 Mr Coffee type units and replace them every 18-24 months when they start spitting and sputtering more than usual.

For me I like a french press. It's almost as fast as the mr coffee types, and so much better coffee IMHO.

I have a Cuisinart that stores the coffee internally and dispenses it one cup at a time and like it. The first one did go bad after 2 years (3 year warranty) and Cuisinart replaced it pronto with a brand new one which impressed me. Picked it up at Sam's for around $50 although sells elsewhere for around $100. I would recommend it.

While I have not attained the status of "coffee snob" yet, I do enjoy a good cup. I prefer to use whole beans, so I use a Cuisinart Grind and Brew. Don't remember how much I paid for it, but is wasn't one of the cheap ones. Maybe a little more trouble cleaning and loading, but I can do it pretty fast...even when I'm in my groggy, hypnotic state, early in the mornings. Good luck.

Have had a Capresso MT500 for a few years now. Absolutely love the thing. Brews in 7 minutes, easy to operate, makes an outstanding cup of joe and bullet proof.

Downside, pricey. I did the replace a cheap unit every few years thing for a while and decided to invest in a better unit. So far, very happy and don't think I'll need to replace it for many many years.

http://www.capresso.com/coffee-makers-mt500.shtml

any coffee maker that drips 200° water onto the grounds is going to makes similar coffee . what your paying for is bells and whistles.. you [and i] want the coffee ready to pour as soons as you are finished taking the morning whiz.. go with the bunn,,, mr coffee
$tyle$ will make the same coffee cept you will have to wait..why bother? get the bunn... french press for special occasions or a rancilio sylvia and rocky doserless grinder if you like espresso based drinks

First of all I highly suggest getting a burr grinder. It is by far the biggest bottle neck in making good coffee. With little to no more effort. Also getting water to the coffee as quickly as possible after grinding it. I picked up an old manual grinder and could not be happier. Also it helps to keep the brewwed coffee in an air tight container. Coffee pots should dispense water at 180 degrees, from what I have read not many of the cheap ones do. I second judy foodies suggestion of the aero press.

I third the Aerobie Aeropress.

Its coffee is smooth, rich, balanced and flavorful. Differences between beans and roasts are suddenly more obvious, something like the way a great new stereo makes you notice things you never noticed before in a favorite recording. The coffeemaker is completely portable, a single filter will last for dozens of uses, and coffee is ready in around 2 min 30 sec (2 min to heat water in microwave, 30 sec to use the Aeropress).

I usually put a cup of water in the microwave, and while it's heating I grind a single serving of beans. The Aeropress is much easier to clean than a French press and to my taste makes far better coffee, comparable to espresso machines that are >$500. It can be used for plain American-style breakfast coffee or for barista-style drinks (espresso, cappucino, latte), although technically what it makes is not espresso.

Disadvantages: it isn't ideal for making lots of coffee at once, so if you need to prepare coffee for 6 or 8 people at a time it's an awkward choice. Also, it uses a bit more fresh coffee per cup than a drip machine.

Nevertheless, I'm very pleased with mine, and I frankly enjoy my home-brewed Americanos and lattes much more than the stuff at $tarbuck$. At $4 per latte it paid for itself within a week.

http://www.aerobie.com/Products/aeropress.htm

If you want to see how it works, there is a demo video here.

ive got the big commercial bunn at the shop, its probably 20 years old, im a 12 to 15 cup a day drinker. cant kill that thing. at home i have a 50 year old plus 3 cup electric perculator and a 5 cup old fashioned stove top perc, i like the little electric one and the new ones are much faster. i like a strong perced coffee best with "heavey cream" not that sissy stuff called half and half.

FWIW I like the bunn, we're on our forth. Miles out.

I like the idea of a manual grinder. I bought a Cuisinart burr grinder and hate it. Even on "Coarse" it produces a fine powdery grind that goes right through the screen on my press.

Check out the first site below. You can also find them on ebay for roughly 30-50 dollars. I bought a PE-DE and I set it so that I no longer get fine stuff in my french press.
http://www.orphanespresso.com/
interesting reading.
http://www.kwilson.fsnet.co.uk/burrs.htm
good forum.
http://coffeegeek.com/forums/espresso/grinders

Cuisinart Grind and Brew here as well. Now, we usually buy our coffee at central market each week, and grind it there, since I prefer to not have to clean the grinder every night.

The beautiful thing? You get done preparing a meal on the egg and as your doing dishes, you turn around, load the coffee, fill the water, hit two buttons and some how there is a fresh pot of coffee prepared every morning by the time I leave for work.

No on/off since the stainless pot holds coffee at a drinkable temp for 3 hours.

Great coffee pot. I have one of these at work and the Capresso E8 at home.