There is a myriad of ways to brew your favorite coffee and for the most part it all begins with a simple introduction: Know Thyself. Are you after a thick silty morning mug? A thinner brighter brew? A full bodied but smooth sensation? Once you have this part down, you’re ready for the facts.
AUTO DRIP
About 70% of the coffee made in this
country is brewed with paper filters, a method that produces what some
refer to as the classic American style: light-bodied and clear, free of
oil or sediment. Due to the popularity of the drip method, the brewers
out there are constantly being improved. Gone are the accidents, the errant
grinds, the unpredictable water temperatures.
One improvement is the “gold” filter which allows more oils and organic compounds to get into your cup. With a washable filter you eliminate the slight papery taste due to the disposables, and you get a fuller-bodied brew.
With an auto drip brewer you can usually
get peak performance with even the most inexpensive of machines. Any more
money you spend will go towards whatever bells and whistles fit your fancy.
Of course, we at GMCR have our preferences:
Capresso
Thermal Coffee Maker
Capresso
CoffeeTEAM Brewer
Krups
SINGLE CUP BREWERS
Single-cup brewing is the latest step
in the quest for great coffee. GMCR stands behind the line of Keurig
For more information on
single-cup technology, go to thesingle
cup page and check out the options from Keurig:
Keurig
B40
Keurig
B60
Keurig
B70
COFFEE PRESS
MOKA POT
GMCR offers:
VACUUM POT
Developed in Italy in the 1930s, the
coffee press is most often associated with France and most commonly known
as the “French Press.” Its sophisticated design belies the simplicity of
the concept - manual filtration. The coffee press itself looks like an
elegant beer mug wearing a cap. Coffee and water are added to the glass
and allowed to sit for around four minutes depending on taste. Finally
a plunger (a mesh filter on a stick) is pushed from the top of the mixture
to the bottom, pushing the grounds to the base of the contraption and readying
the clarified coffee for pouring. The result: A much heavier, grittier,
richer taste than the above-described creation. This difference is due
to the presence of sediments, oils, and a gelatinous substance called colloids,
most of which are eliminated in the drip method. Coffee press users: Make
sure to grind
your coffee
Eileen
Press
Bodium
Travel Press
Thermal
French Press
Also known as a stovetop espresso
maker, the modest metal moka pot creates a thick dense brew that rivals
the real stuff. The moka pot consists of two reservoirs and a filter that
separates them. Water is poured into the bottom bucket, coffee grounds
are spooned into the filter basket, and steam-produced air pressure forces
the not-quite-boiling water through the coffee and up into the top reservoir.
Presto, a perfect little cup. Our experts suggest using finely ground beans
for this one.
Bodum
Mocca Pot
No, this is not a nightmare; you are
not back in your high school chemistry lab. This crazy contraption is actually
a coffee brewer, and a good one at that. Similar in concept to the moka
pot, the vacuum pot consists of two glass globes that attach to either
side of a filter. Water is poured into the lower globe, the lower globe
is set on the stove. As in the moka pot, the increased air pressure (see?
chemistry class was relevant!) forces water to escape through a tube, through
the filter, and into the upper compartment. Hot coffee then cools and is
sucked back down to the bottom globe via yet another imbalance of air pressure.
No papery taste, rich but without the sediment of the french press.
Bodum
Mini Santos
What the espresso machine basically
does is force water through a compacted cake of finely ground coffee with
pressure and heat high enough to emulsify the oils and organic compounds
that are left out of regular gravity-brewed coffee. Beans should be blended
especially, roasted accordingly, and ground into a fine powder.
USA ESPRESSO MACHINE
As its Italian name implies, Espresso
is pressed coffee. Even if you are loyal to your drip brewer, you have
no doubt seen the giant espresso machines in coffee houses, the tampded-down
grounds, the slow trickle of the dark rich liquid into delightfully delicate
receptacles. You have heard the hiss of steam as it makes the coffee and
is used to steam the milk, and you have smelled the luxurious aroma. This
is espresso, and to many people, having a machine in the house that will
create this thick, dark, “crema”-topped coffee is well worth the effort
and expense.
Jura
Avantgarde S9 Espresso Maker
Impressa
F9 Espresso Maker
Brewers / Cleaning Coffee Pots / Coffee Reviews / Espresso / Grinding Coffee / Water / Storefront