timothy's Journal: I want the perfect coffee maker!

Apparently, Americans drink something like 20 gallons of coffee per person per year; that's fine, but I guess I'm driving up everyone else's quota, because I probably have a cup of coffee every few weeks, on average.

However, that's not because I don't like coffee, exactly: I just don't like *most* coffee enough to drink it frequently. A good espresso, I like! A nice cup of coffee is pleasant next to a slice of blueberry pie, or pumpkin pie, or apple pie, or blackberry pie, or cherry pie ...

I've been impressed with my brother's pod-based coffee maker, though -- I think it's a Senseo. Really good, rich, smooth coffee, (Coffee snobs may now begin their nose-lifting aerobics.) What I don't like about pod-based coffee makers is the old razor-then-blades sales strategy; I don't want to be tied to a given maker of coffee pods, or be stuck with a useless maker if the size I choose fades in popularity.

I am thus intrigued by the coffee maker made by SimpleHuman, which is compatible with various types of coffee pod, and thereby removes one of my complaints. They list the following pod types as compatible:

Molto coffee
Molto tea
Archer Farms
Black Mountain Gold
Cool Beans pods
Folgers Home Cafe pods
Gevalia
Green Mountain
Jacobs
Java One
Java Pods
Millstone Home Cafe Pods
Sensations
Senseo

I suspect that there are now some generic same-size equivalents to at least some of these (and I guess that some of these *are* same-size equvalents to some of the others), but since I'm not generally in that market I haven't sought them out.

Multi-pod compatibility doesn't erase the problem that coffee pods are so expensive per cup, but it at least provides a wider field in which to hunt bargains.

This maker has gotten some pretty nice reviews; I don't find the design all that exciting, but it's no worse than most of the competition. So I'm tempted ...

Coffee Snobs

[FortKnox]

I have found the best cup of coffee in the world. No fancy 'mocha cream' flavored stuff. I'm talking straight bean coffee. I offer it to those people that buy 1 or 2 $5 cups of starbucks daily, and they think its amazing coffee. Then I tell them what it is and they never believe me.

Dunken Donuts coffee. Straight from the bean, add in a touch of heavy whipping cream. Best damn coffee, and not terribly expensive. As far as the maker? Buy expensive. You get what you pay for, there. Senseo, IIRC, is

Re:

[timothy]

I do rather like DD's coffee; they claim to be the leading seller of in-store drip-coffee in the U.S., and by a considerable margin. And not just inexpensive -- with coupons (which they offer in profuse variety) it can be downright cheap.

Senseo, I think is not an Italian name at all despite the Italianesque name; according to Wikipedia (which is naturally without flaw), "Senseo is a registered trademark for a coffee brewing system from Dutch companies Philips and Douwe Egberts, a subsidiary of Sara Lee Corp

I am deeply in love with coffee...

[Joe Snipe]

and I've learned the type of bean and the roast is twice as important as the brewing machine, so avoid a pot that uses proprietary pods (pods can get stale, can't control the roast, bean etc.). For espresso I use a standard stovetop espresso pot [espressozone.com], but if you are looking for a good cup of regular coffee, get a vacuum percolator [espressozone.com]. They produce a great cup of coffee, and are fun to watch.

Now for my question: What the hell happened to backslash? I like it, I miss it. Why have they stopped?

Re:

[timothy]

a) You're right that roast / bean / freshness are the real factors. However ... since I'm a lazy student with a small apartment for most of the next 2 years, and drink coffee mostly as sometimes alternative to hot chocolate or tea, I'm torn between instant and a pod-maker. I do like and enjoy high (or at least higher-) end coffee, but convenience is (at this time and for this purpose! :)) the biggest factor.

The aerobee maker really sounds like a good one, though, and I might end up nabbing that. It's high o