Posts Tagged ‘Home Coffee Maker’

Review of the Krups Moka Brew

Thursday, April 24th, 2008

Krups has returned the Krups Moka Brew to the US. We received our first stock a few weeks ago, and I have been looking forward to trying one ever since.

(There have been some reports that the brewer is due to be discontinued in the US market. We asked our contacts at Krups, and the responded with the following: “F468  (Moka Brew) is a mainstay of the specialty store program. It continues for the foreseeable future. Thanks.”)

A little history (about all I know) – the Moka Brew has been a hit with coffee connoisseurs in the past, and it is very popular in Europe. The main advantage to the Moka Brew is that it brews by steam, which means that the water will always be at least 195-200F when it hits the coffee – just the right temperature for brewing.

First impressions: an odd-looking contraption, for sure, but very stylish and modern-looking. Only an 8-cup brewer. Brew time was about 7 minutes – slower than most home brewers, but not interminable. The temperature of the coffee right after brewing was 187F.

The Set-Up: the cold water goes into the tank under the carafe. The paper filter (a small, round disk) and coffee go under the lid of the carafe. (About 100 filters are included with the brewer.) Once everything is in place – including locking the carafe in place using the lever on the top of the brewer, simply press the “on” button to start the process.

Brewing: Total brewing time is about 7 minutes when starting with room temperature water. In the first few minutes, the water is heating. Then, steam begins making it’s way to the top of the brewer and condensing over the grounds. The fact that the process begins slowly helps to wet the grounds before brewing for better flavor extraction. Gradually, the amount of water being forced through the grounds increases, and it all finishes with a cascade of water coming through at the end – fun to watch.

The Coffee: All in all, a very good cup with lots of body and a full range of flavor extraction. Since the brewing process is a bit like brewing espresso with the steam being forced through the coffee grounds, the resulting coffee is a bit stronger than regular drip coffee. The coffee very hot.

Clean-up: Clean-up takes slightly more effort than a drip brewer does, if only because the paper filter tends to stick to the bottom of the filter basket, and, since it is a flat disk, there are no edges to grab to pull it out. Besides that, just rinse out the carafe and the brewing process is ready to be repeated.

Notes: The carafe is heated by a warmer, and there is no automatic turn-off. For better coffee, it would be better to transfer the coffee to a thermal carafe or airpot after brewing.

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We Want a Brewer That Brews Hot Coffee…

Friday, April 4th, 2008

We often get emails from people wanting really hot coffee, and we don’t have a great, definitive answer for them. Coffee needs to be brewed at 195-200F in order to taste right – if you brew it hotter than that, it will taste bitter. All coffee brewers are designed to brew in that range, but the thermostats on any particular brewer will be a little different, so there is no guarantee that you will get a brewer that brews “hot.”

I would say that Bunn brewers probably have better thermostats than other brands, so their brewers would be more likely to brew at a good, high temperature. Bunn brewers have a hot water reservoir, which helps to insure that the water is the correct temperature (as opposed to heating-on-demand), but some people don’t like them because the brewer is always on heating the water.

If you want really hot coffee, you would probably want a brewer with a pot that sits on a warmer instead of one that brews into a thermal carafe, because the coffee in a thermal carafe will slowly cool in time.

I hope this information helps.

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Review of the Krups FMF5 Coffee Brewer

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

Factoring in how hard they are to please, the experts at CoffeeGeek gave the Krups FMF Coffee Brewer a great review.

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Choosing a Home Coffee Maker

Wednesday, February 27th, 2008

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.

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