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Choosing a Home Coffee Maker
There are two main considerations when buying a coffee maker for your home or small office: type of brewer and features.
Choosing the best coffee maker for your needs can be accomplished by evaluating how many people will be drinking the coffee, coffee drinking patterns and how much money you want to spend.
Somebody who lives alone and makes one cup of coffee to drink on the commute to work, for example, will have very different needs than a small office with 4 or 5 employees who drink coffee sporadically throughout the day.
You can pay very little money and get a drip coffee maker for your home that works perfectly fine, as they all work basically the same - they pour hot water over coffee grounds and then filter the coffee into a decanter of some sort. On the other hand, it doesn\’t cost too much more to get a coffee maker that has lots of extra features and will last for many years to come. Prices generally run the gamut from a $29.95 special on up to over $200.
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There are basically four types of coffee brewers - Drip, Pod, Thermal Carafe and Chemex-type brewers.
• Drip Brewer - the drip brewer is the old stand-by - pour the water in the top and the coffee is served up in a glass decanter that site on a warmer. The decanter sits on a warmer that keeps it warm. Consider a brewer with an auto-shut-off if you are worried about leaving the warmer on.
• Thermal Carafe - the thermal carafe brewer brews into a thermal carafe instead of a decanter. There is no need for a warmer, as the thermal carafe keeps the coffee warm and preserves the flavor and aroma for hours. Another advantage to the thermal carafes is that they do not break as easily as glass decanters. Variations on thermal carafe models include thermal mugs and double thermal carafes.
• Pod Brewer - the Pod Brewer is the hot new entry in coffee brewing. For each cup you brew, you insert a prepackaged coffee pod into the brewer. The machine brews the cup, then you dispose of the pod. There is no mess because the coffee comes in the filtered pod and is thrown away in the filtered pod. The negative is that the pods cost a bit more than regular coffee and filters, plus, you can only brew one cup at a time.
• Chemex - the Chemex brewer was developed about 50 years ago by Peter Schlumbohm, a New York state chemist and coffee connoisseur. With it\’s elegant design featuring a one-piece, hourglass shaped vessel made of high quality, heat-resistant glass, it has earned a place in the permanent collection of New York\’s Museum located in Corning, New York, the Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Additionally, the Illinois Institute of Technology has selection the Chemex brewer as one of the 100-best designed products of modern times.. Besides making what many consider to be the best cup of coffee they have ever tasted, it\\’s classic blending of design and function. Additionally, it brews what many consider to be the best cup of coffee they have ever tasted.
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All coffee makers employ different features to accomplish different needs. Features that may be included on more expensive brewers include a clock/timer to enable programmable brewing times, water filtration, stop-and-serve and auto shut-off. Also, some brewers may be combination machines that include an espresso maker or a grinder. Here are some options to consider:
• Programmable - you can program the machine to have the coffee brewed before you walk into the kitchen.
• Volume: Options range from brewing on a per cup basis to brewing into a 12-cup carafe.
• Speed: Bunn coffee makers feature a hot water reservoir that enables the machine to brew a pot of coffee in 3 hours.
• Integrated Grinder: some brewers have a built-in grinder that grind the beans and then dumps them into the filter basket. The advantage is less mess and less work on the part of the operator. A disadvantage would be that there are more parts that can break and make the whole unit useless.
• Water Filtration: greatly reduced mineral build-up in the water reservoir.
Please consult our Home Coffee Maker Comparison Chart at CoffeeMakersEtc.com for more information on home coffee makers.
Choosing a Bunn Commercial Coffee Brewer
There are a few considerations to make when buying a coffee maker for your office, restaurant, church or other large volume application. Making a few decisions at the beginning of the process can significantly focus your search of brewers that will be best for your specific needs.
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The first main consideration is Pourover versus Automatic:
• Pourover - you pour water into the top of the machine to make coffee. All Bunn brewers feature a hot water reservoir, which allows the brewer to make a pot of coffee in less than 3 minutes. Available for regular, airpot and thermal Bunn coffee brewers.
• Automatic - the brewer is hooked up to a waterline. The hot water reservoir is automatically filled up. Most automatic brewers feature a pourover option, which means that if the machine is not hooked up to a waterline, you can still brew coffee by pouring water into it. Digital Brewer Controls models do not have a pourover feature.
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The second consideration is Type of Brewer:
• Regular/Drip - brews coffee into pots. Warmers keep coffee hot. Numerous models to choose from.
• Pod - brews coffee by the cup using coffee pods instead of grounds.
• Airpot - brews coffee into airpots. The advantage of using an airpot is that the coffee stays hotter and fresher longer. Since airpot brewers do not have warmers, the airpots can be taken to a different location for use. Some Bunn airpot brewers feature a gourmet funnel, which means the funnel is larger to accomodate the larger amount of coffee grounds you need for brewing gourmet coffee.
• Thermal - brews coffee into thermal servers or thermal carafes. Similar advantages and features as airpot brewers.
• Satellite -brews large volumes (.5 to 1 gallon batches) of coffee quickly. Multiple servers can be used with brewer and can be set on warmers in different locations.
• SoftHeat - similar to satellite brewers. Can brew .5, 1 or 1.5 gallon batches of coffee. Patented server heat control automatically shuts off once target temperature is reached. Can be set to 175º-190ºF (79.4º-87.8º).
Electronic grinder interface communicates to grinder on exact amount of coffee for selected brew batch size.
• ThermoFresh - brews .5, 1 or 1.5 gallon batches. Stores individual coffee recipes so operator can easily brew many varieties. Smart funnel allows wireless brewer-grinder interface for error-free operation. Coffee extraction controlled with pre-infusion and Pulse-Brew™, digital temperature control, and large sprayhead; coffee strength controlled with variable by-pass.
• Liquid - for large volume production using liquid coffee concentrate. Can brew over 125 - 5 oz. (1.48 litre) cups per hour with a 120 volt, 15 amp electrical connection or over 500 - 5 oz. (1.48 litre) cups per hour with a 240 volt / 30 amp electrical connection.
• Urn - for very large brewing capacity - from Brews 11.4 to 18.8 gallons of coffee per hour depending on model.
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Once you’ve made some decisions on the above considerations, your choices should be much more narrowly focused. Here are a few other options to consider:
• Hot Water Faucet - Hot water faucets are an option on regular, airpot and thermal brewers. (An “F” in model name means that model has a hot water faucet.) Pourover models do not have hot water faucets. Hot water faucets are standard on larger brewers - satellite, urn, etc.
• Number of Warmers - For regular/drip brewers. Options are from 1 to 6 warmers.
• Digital - Models with “DBC” in model name feature Digital Brewer Control - touchpad digital technology gives you more control over your brewing process by offering better temperature control, more hot water from faucet, faster recovery time, higher brewing capacity, automatic shut-off and built-in electronic diagnostics.
Please consult our Bunn Coffee Maker Comparison Chart for more information on our home coffee makers.
Where art meets science and brews great coffee - 10 Reasons to Choose a Chemex Coffee Brewer
It sounds scientific - maybe because it was invented by a chemist - but it also is beautiful, artistic, and it brews great coffee. Why you should make your next coffee brewer a Chemex.
1. Pure - When you make coffee in a Chemex brewer, the water touches nothing but glass, the paper filter (get the unbleached filters) and the coffee grounds.
2. Hot - We get lots of calls from people who want to buy the brewer that brews the hottest. With a Chemex, you control the temperature, so the water can be as hot as you want it to be.
3. Basic - the process of brweing wih a Chemex reduces coffee brewing to it’s most fundamental level.
4. Beautiful - The Chemex has a beautifully classic, yet functional, hourglass shape.
5. Nothing to Turn Off - Not electricity is involving (except, mabe, in heating the water), so there are no worries about burning the coffee, your kitchen, or your house.
6. Better Coffee - The simple approach of brewing coffee the Chemex way means better, less adulterated coffee.
7. Easy Clean-Up - When you are done brewing, just take the filter containing the grounds out and throw it away. Rinse the Chemex or throw (don’t throw) it in the dishwasher.
8. Relaxing - Pour, Relax, Repeat - there is something beautiful and zen-like about pouring the hot water over the grounds, watching the grounds swell up with water, smelling the aroma rising up with the steam, then doing it again.
9. Conversation Piece - Having a Chemex sitting on your counter invites instant loqaucity and glee amounst friends and neighbors alike.
10. Reliable - Until you drop it and break it, there is nothing that can really go wrong with a Chemex brewer.
Please take the time to explore our Chemex products here.
CoffeeMakersEtc.com Welcomes Grindmaster as a New Supplier
Adding to our commercial supplier coffee equipment line-up, CoffeeMakersEtc welcomes the addition of Grindmaster.
Grindmaster was founded in 1933 by Richard Schulman. There first products were coffee grinders. Since that time, they have added a full line of commercial coffee equipment and frozen drink equipment (formerly marketed under the Crathco name).
With headquarters in Louisville, KY, three manufacturing facilities in the United States and one in Thailand. Grindmaster has truly grown into a world-class supplier. They now market beverage dispensing equipment in over 90 different countries.
Please take the time to explore our Grindmaster products here.
A Brief History of Coffee
• 1-500 AD - According to local legend, coffee is discovered near present-day village of Choche in Ethiopia by a goat-herder who notices his animals “dance” with an unusual amount of energy after eating wild, bright-red Arabica coffee berries. Locals began consuming the coffee “cherries” (coffee beans with husk) as a stimulant, either eating the beans mixed with animal fat, or by making a weak brew with the cherries and coffee leaves. There are other theories that coffee was first discovered by a similar goat-herder in Yemen on the Arabian peninsula.
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• 500-600 AD - The first coffee houses are introduced in Cairo and Mecca. A vessel called the Ibrik is used to brew a weak coffee using unroasted coffee cherries.
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• 1400’s - The first extensive planting of coffee trees takes place in the Yemen region of Arabia. Arabians become the first to roast and grind coffee before brewing it. The use of coffee beans spreads throughout the Arabian peninsula and later via the Ottoman Empire to Turkey, where the first coffee shop, Kiva Han, allegedly opened in Constantinople in 1475.
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• 1500’s - Coffee drinking continues to spread in Egypt, Syria, Persia and Turkey. Cafes flourished in cities like Baghdad, Constantinople and Cairo.
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• 1600’s - Coffee brought to Europe by Venetian traders. Coffee houses open in Europe - in 1608 the first one opens in Vienna, Austria; the first one allegedly opens in England in 1652. Many women in England band together to try to ban coffee drinking because their husbands are spending too much time in coffee houses. It becomes common to roast and grind beans before brewing. Coffee comes to America in 1607 with Captain John Smith. In 1690, the Dutch become the first to transport and cultivate coffee in Ceylon and the East Indies.
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• 1700’s - Before the time when filters were used, coffee is prepared by boiling coffee grounds with water. Many coffee pots are designed, all with the purpose of trying to trap the coffee grounds before the coffee is poured. Typical designs feature a pot with a flat expanded bottom to catch sinking grounds and a sharp pour spout that traps the floating grinds. Other designs feature a wide bulge in the middle of the pot to catch grounds when coffee is poured. In France, in about 1710, the Infusion brewing process is introduced, which involves submersing the ground coffee, usually enclosed in a linen bag, in hot water and letting it steep or “infuse” until the desired strength brew is achieved.
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• 1723 - Gabriel Mathieu do Clieu, French naval officer, transplants a stolen coffee seedling on the island of Martinique - the first planting in the western hemisphere.
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• 1773 - The Stamp Act of 1776 places a tax on tea, which was then the U.S.’s national drink, thus making tea more expensive and nudging people over to drinking coffee. Continental Congress declares that coffee is the new national beverage.
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• 1780’s - The first coffee brewers to feature a place for a filter, called Mr. Biggin coffee pots, began to surface and become very popular. Coffee is made by placing a cloth sock across the mouth of the brewer, putting coffee grounds into the sock, and then pouring hot water over the grounds. Coffee was then dispensed from a spout on the side of the pot. The quality of the brewed coffee depends on the size of the grounds - too course and the coffee is weak; too fine and the water doesn’t go through the filter. A major problem with this brewer was that the taste of the cloth filter - whether cotton, burlap or an old sock - transfers to the taste of the coffee.
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• 1790-1810 - There are lots of innovations from France. With help from Jean Baptiste de Belloy, the Archbishop of Paris, the idea that coffee should not be boiled gains acceptance. The French Drip Pot is developed. In this method of brewing coffee, two chambers are stacked one upon the other, with a cloth filter placed in between. Finely ground coffee is packed into the upper chamber and boiling water is poured over it. The coffee slowly drips into the lower chamber, from which it is served. The process is slow and the resulting coffee not very hot. Count Rumford, an eccentric American scientist residing in Paris, develops a French Drip Pot with an insulating water jacket to keep the coffee hot. The first metal filter is developed and patented by French inventor.
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• 1818 - Americans make Cowboy coffee by pouring ground beans into a pot with water, then heating the water until it boils. The coffee is then strained before it is consumed. Some people place the grounds in an old sock before placing them into the water.
A Parisian metal smith named Laurens invents the first coffee percolator.
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• 1820-1850 - Louis Bernard Babaut creates the first known espresso machine. The machine works by using steam pressure to push steam through a chamber containing coffee grounds in a special filter. In 1843, the machine is commercialized by Edward Loysel de Santais and then exhibited at the Paris Exposition in 1855, where it is able to produce 1000 cups of coffee per hour. Although a great advancement, the machine is subject to blowing up and also produces a bitter coffee when it overheats or is not operated correctly.
Many inventions are introduced in Europe for various steam-powered coffee makers, plus grinders and roasters. Madame Vassieux of Lyons develops the first vacuum pot, where water is heated and the steam rises to an upper compartment where it saturates the coffee grounds. When the heat source is removed, and the steam condenses in the lower compartment and creates a vacuum which draws the coffee back through the filter into the lower compartment. Many of the early vacuum pots are made of glass, which sometimes blows up from the pressure.
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• 1859 - The Raparlier vacuum coffee pot is invented, which can simultaneously heat water and brew coffee. It has a glass upper bowl with graduated lines, which display how many cups of coffee have been brewed. The Raparlier pot features a hemp filter, which fits between the two compartments and is disposed of after each use. The filters are cheap and do not impart any unpleasant tastes in the coffee.
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• 1889 - Illinois farmer named Hanson Goodrich patents an American percolator coffee pot. (Other sources claim American James Mason patented the first coffee percolator in 1865.) Similar in principle to the vacuum pot, the percolator works by heating the water near the bottom of the portion of the percolator and forcing it through a tube into the top potion of the percolator. The water then percolators down through the coffee grounds back into the bottom portion. The percolator is removed from the heat source when the desired strength is reached. The significant difference between a vacuum pot and a percolator is that the desired temperature is maintained in a vacuum pot, whereas the coffee in a percolator is brewed with boiling water, which makes the coffee bitter.
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• 1890’s - The plunger filter, now known as the French Press coffee brewer, is invented. It works by having the coffee grounds in a filter compartment that is lowered into the hot water and then pulled up with a rod when brewing is complete. The idea behind the plunger filter is that the grounds could be removed before the coffee becomes bitter. French press brewers are still very popular today. Other sources claim an Italian named Calimani invents the French Press brewer in 1933.
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• 1903 - Decaffeinated coffee is invented. The brand name is Sanka, from the French phrase “Sans Caffeine”.
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• 1905 - An Italian, Desiderio Pavoni, buys a patent from Luigi Bezzera and forms the first company (La Pavoni) to market a commercial espresso machine. Pavoni incorporates the talents of famous designers in the design of his machines.
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• 1909 - After being invented by Japanese American chemist Satori Kato of Chicago, an English chemist named George Constant Washington introduces the first mass produced instant coffee. The coffee, known by the name “George”, becomes popular with the American soldiers during World War 1.
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• 1912 - Germans housewife Melitta Benz invents the Melitta coffee filter paper using blotting paper borrowed from her son’s school supplies. The filters eliminate the need for linen or cloth filters and create an efficient disposal method for coffee.
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• 1926 - A Trademark is registered for “Maxwell House Good to the last drop”.
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• 1935 - Italian Francesco Illy invents a machine called the Illetta, which makes espresso by using compressed air for pushing the steam through coffee grounds. His machine was a vast improvement on earlier machines, which only used steam for creating the pressure and frequently blew up.
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• 1938 - Freeze-dried coffee invented and marketed under the name Nescafe.
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• 1947 - Achille Gaggia designs the first espresso machine to use a spring-loaded lever to force water through the coffee grounds. By using a lever, the pressure applied to the coffee by a spring was independent of the pressure in the boiler. At the same time, the water temperature used became independent of the temperature in the boiler so that a stronger, quicker and controllable filtration was possible. Gaggia machines were the first to produce crema on top of the espresso -’Caffe crema di caffe naturale’ - coffee cream from natural coffee.
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• 1950 - Ernest Valente develops the first espresso machine that uses a rotating pump driven by an electric motor to create the pressure needed to produce espresso. The pump provides steady water pressure and allows for a more continuous delivery of water. The first espresso machine with a pump is marketed under the brand name Faema.
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• 1962 - The International Coffee Agreement regulates coffee export quotas on a worldwide basis. When the cartel collapses in the 1980\’s, prices become volatile, creating uncertainty for coffee traders and diminished prices for coffee farmers.
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• 1963 - The Bunn Corporation introduces the automatic drip coffeemaker. Designed for use in restaurants, coffee maker heats water, brews the water with the coffee, and keeps the coffee warm on a heated plate.
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• 1971 - Starbucks opens its first location in Seattle’s Pike Place Market.
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• 1972 - Vincent Marotta invents the Mr. Coffee - the first automatic drip coffee maker for home use.
How Coffee is Decaffeinated
First, let’s start with a really quick history. Coffee was first decaffeinated by Ludwig Roselius, a German coffee merchant, in 1905 after he received a coffee shipment that had gotten soaked during a storm at sea. He experimented with the brine-soaked coffee, and found out that benzene could be used as solvent to bond with the caffeine. Since caffeine is water-soluble at temperatures above 175°, he could boil the solution to separate the caffeine from the coffee. With his process, the coffee was decaffeinated, but it had lost much of its flavor.
For the record, Ludwig improved on his process and went on to sell his discovery under the Sanka brand name. Benzene is no longer used, as it is not considered safe for human consumption.
Today there are 3 commonly used methods available for removing caffeine from coffee, with dozens of variations of those methods. Two common variations are Direct and Indirect Method.
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• European or Traditional Process - Direct Method:
The direct process involves softening the beans by steam first, then washing them for about 10 hours with either a methylene chloride or ethyl acetate solution to absorb the caffeine from the bean. The solution is discarded, the beans are re-steamed to remove any remaining solvent (methylene chloride boils away at 114°; ethyl acetate at 104°), then the beans are dried to their original moisture content.
• European or Traditional Process - Indirect Method:
Instead of being steamed, the coffee beans are soaked in very hot water, which extracts the caffeine along with many of the oils. This solution is then treated with either methylene chloride or ethyl acetate, which bonds with the caffeine. Then the solution is heated to the temperature at which the caffeine and either methylene chloride or ethyl acetate compounds evaporate. The oils are then reintroduced to the beans, and the beans are then dried.
About 80% of decaf coffees are processed by the Traditional, or European Process, and many serious coffee drinkers believe this method makes for the best-tasting coffee. Others worry about the chemicals involved. Methylene chloride is considered a superior solvent since it can evaporate at a lower temperature and leaves virtually no trace in the beans, but it is an environmental hazard to workers at decaffeination plants, and it is known to harm the ozone layer. Ethyl acetate can be extracted from various fruits and vegetables and so it is considered a “naturally-found” chemical, but most ethyl acetate used for decaffeinating is synthethically produced.
• The Water or Swiss Water Process:
Also known as the water process, this process uses no chemicals, but rather hot water, steam and osmosis to remove the caffeine from the coffee in two steps. In the first step, which is similar to the Traditional, Indirect Method, the beans are soaked in a hot water solution to remove the caffeine and the flavor oils. The beans used in this step are then discarded. The solution is run through activated charcoal filters to remove the caffeine, but leave the flavor oils. A new batch of beans is then soaked in the solution. According to the laws of osmosis, the caffeine leaves the beans to go to the uncaffeinated solution, but the flavor in both the solution and the beans is equal, so no flavor leaves the beans.
The beans are then dried and shipped to the roasters. The disadvantage is that the water processing removes more than just the caffeine. Some of the oils from the coffee bean are removed as well, making it less flavorful.
• The Hypercritical Carbon Dioxide Method:
In this method, which is not as popular as the other methods, the beans are soaked in a solution of liquid carbon dioxide to remove the caffeine. The get to a liquid state, the carbon dioxide must be highly pressurized (73 to 300 atmospheres), which makes the logistic cost of this method a bit higher than the other methods. After the caffeine is absorbed by the carbon dioxide, either the pressure is reduced and carbon dioxide is allowed to evaporate, or the solution is run through a carbon filter to remove the caffeine. Although more expensive, the advantage of the Carbon Dioxide Method is that since carbon dioxide is not a harmful gas, the method is not harmful to health or the environment.
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• Other Methods:
Since there’s no consensus best-way to remove caffeine from coffee beans, there are still new methods being developed.
One new method is the Triglyceride Process. In this method, green coffee beans are soaked in a solution or hot water and coffee to draw the caffeine to the surface of the beans. Then, the beans are transferred to another container and immersed in coffee flavor oils that were obtained from spent coffee grounds. The flavor oils contain triglycerides are a naturally-occurring combination of fatty acids and glycerol, and , after several hours at high temperatures, they are able to remove the caffeine from the beans while not affecting the flavor.
Another new method, and possibly the future of decaffeinated coffee, is the cultivation of Naturally Caffeine-Free Coffee from trees that have recently discovered in that produce coffee with no caffeine. Depending on the variety of coffee, the caffeine content already varies significantly, from about 75 mg to 250 mg per 6 oz. cup. Arabica coffee varieties normally contain about half the caffeine of robusta varieties, and dark roast coffee usually has less caffeine than lighter roasts since the roasting process reduces caffeine content of the bean. An arabica bean containing a tenth as much caffeine as a normal bean has been found, so the possibility of developing or finding a bean with no caffeine is probably a matter of time.
Interested in buying some coffee? We have decaffeinated coffee available here.
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