Depending on your lifestyle and needs, there are many coffee brewing systems to choose from. Some of the best brewers are not necessarily the most sophisticated.
Many different types of brewers make excellent coffee and come in a variety of price ranges. For instance, you can get a French press or manual drip coffee cone for around $10 and make great tasting brew. They may take a little more time to deliver a fresh cup, but it’s a great tasting cup of Joe regardless.
Coffee Percolators
Anyone remember percolators? There are two models, the one you put on the stove and the electric model that you plug in and percolate. Neither makes a really good pot of coffee by today’s standards. The electric percolator makes a better brew than the stove-top percolator, simply because it doesn’t reach the boiling point. The optimum water temperature for brewing a good pot or cup of Joe should be just below the boiling point. The biggest problem with an electric pot is that in order to maintain a constant temperature, it continues to cycle through the grounds if you don’t remove them immediately, making a stronger, more bitter brew. If you want to preserve the fresh, rich taste of your coffee, you’ll probably want to dump that old percolator and use a more modern coffee brewing system.
The French Press
While not the quickest or most convenient method of making a couple of cups of coffee, the French Press is one of the best coffee brewers that you’ll ever use. Basically, it’s a tall glass jar with a plunger that filters out grounds with a screen. Simply put the coffee grounds in the press, pour the hot water in, wait 3-4 minutes, and then slowly lower the plunger to the bottom of the press. The grounds will be trapped at the bottom of the French Press and a rich tasting, fresh cup of coffee is ready to pour. I particularly like this brew with specialty coffee beans that I grind myself.
Coffee Drip Brewers
The drip coffee makers are the most used type of coffee brewing systems. Many people have both at home and at work. They are relatively simple to operate. Just put your coffee grounds in the paper filter in the filter basket, fill with reservoir with water, and push the on button. Most models will heat the water to the appropriate temperature, which will drip over the grounds in the filter and fill the carafe with fresh brewed coffee.
There is one disadvantage of using the drip coffee brewing system. Once brewed, the coffee in the carafe sits on a heating element to maintain it’s temperature and as the coffee sits in the carafe, cooking on this heating element, it becomes more and more bitter and stale tasting. If you’re going to use a drip coffee brewing system, you should make only enough at one time to drink within 30 minutes to an hour.
Single Cup Coffee Brewers
One of the newest additions to the home coffee brewing arena is the single-cup Keurig models that utilize a pre-filled K-Cup in a variety of strengths and flavors. This type of coffee brewing system is simple to operate, clean, and delivers a fresh cup of coffee in under a minute. This new innovative coffee brewing system deserves it’s own page, and there are excellent reviews on these coffee brewers here. There are also some great coffee recipes there.
