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Need a coffee maker

I had a brewstation that finally died. We liked the push to dispense function. So we are heading out this week to get a new coffee machine. What is the best bang for the buck? Glass or stainless carafe?
 
The Bonavita would be my top pick for a home drip machine. It is SCAA and "America's Test Kitchen" approved. As for glass or stainless, if you only brew enough to drink in a short timeframe, the glass is cheaper and is dishwasher safe. But if you make a large pot for the whole morning, I would prefer a preheated stainless carafe over a hot plate for heat.

Since you mentioned push-to-brew I wanted to warn you about those "grind+drip" pots by Breville and Delonghi - the grinder can't be cleaned properly and numerous reports show that steam finds its way up the shaft that coffee falls through, which condenses, catches grinds, and causes blockages. For "one touch" I think those espresso machines or even a Keurig is better than a grind+drip. But the best would be a grinder and the Bonavita, for my money.
 
I fully agree, the bonavita is the best bang for the buck brewer. Grinding fresh roasted coffee before brewing is also critical for good coffee. Ground coffee goes noticeably stale in 2-3 days, so preground at the store is a bad idea. A blade grinder is better than preground, but a good burr grinder is a far better choice. The best burr grinder for most people is the baratza encore. Don't buy a cheaper burr grinder.

The encore and bonavita make excellent coffee!
 
My Gaggia platinum super-automatic brewers, can brew "long coffee" which is at about the strength of regular drip coffee. The espresso method makes a richer coffee, but these machines, which grind the coffee in the process of making each cup, are more expensive, but more versatile.
 
Looked up the bonavita. What makes this better than a Mr. Coffee? Basically what qualities should I look for?
 
Water temperature! You want 190-204F.

The only other things that matter are how evenly the water wets the coffee, and how long the coffee stays wet.

Anything else is convenience and nothing to do with the result.

Here's how mine stacks up (and the initial trouble I had)

All the Bonavita models are pretty consistent at getting to 204F, allowing for a fraction of them made on a bad day that only do 198F. 204 is definitely as hot as you want for a daily brew, and you might want something a bit less hot. Mine is very consistent starting and staying at a rock steady 204F, though I need to retest it on a sweltering day with 3 air conditioners going.

On my 8 "cup" bonavita, between 4.5 and 6 "cups" gets you in the 3.5 to 5 minute brew range. At 8 cups, it takes 6 minutes and overextracts at all but a really coarse grind. Because of certain minor features and inconveniences, I sometimes regret not spending twice the money to get a Technivorm, but after all it's just an electric.
 
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Looked up the bonavita. What makes this better than a Mr. Coffee? Basically what qualities should I look for?

Here is the short list of machines guaranteed to brew at 200-205, as per SCAA protocol:

http://www.scaa.org/?page=cert2

At this time, current SCAA Certified Home Brewers are:


  • Technivorm Moccamaster
  • Bunn Phase Brew 8 Cup Coffee Brewer
  • Brazen Plus Customizable Temperature Control Brew System
  • KitchenAid Coffee Maker KCM0802
  • Bonavita Coffee Maker (model BV1900TS)
  • Bonavita BV1900TD 8-Cup Digital Coffee Brewer

There may be more, which have not been submitted to the SCAA for testing, but there's absolutely no reason to take a chance and deviate from the aforementioned machines. The Bunn Phase Brew is the cheapest, IIRC.
 
I am not familiar enough with the push-to-dispense drip machines to recommend any particular one. If you don't mind doing a manual pour, then something like the "Melitta Pour Over Thermal Carafe" or just the getting a dripper cone and reuse an existing carafe or thermos is a bargain way to make a very good pot of coffee. I would not recommend a glass carafe machine unless your home will drink the pot within 45 minutes or so.
 
I had a brewstation that finally died. We liked the push to dispense function. So we are heading out this week to get a new coffee machine. What is the best bang for the buck? Glass or stainless carafe?

What does it mean "push to dispense function"?

-jim
 
What does it mean "push to dispense function"?

-jim

We had a Hamilton Beach Brewstation
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Leaning towards a Bunn.

I tried a pour over but could never get it to work.
 
Water temperature! You want 190-204F.

I have a Mr. Coffee in the cabinet that I need to give to Goodwill or similar because it doesn't get nearly hot enough. The last time I pulled it out was actually just to "borrow" the gold filter basket because a friend didn't want espresso and my french press is at the office. I made an impromptu pourover.

I'd probably replace it with a Melitta or Clever dripper for the rare case that I'm not making espresso at home. At least that would take up much less space.
 
We had a Hamilton Beach Brewstation
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Leaning towards a Bunn.

I tried a pour over but could never get it to work.
Years ago I had the original model HB Brewstation.
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Used it for more than a year and I liked the push-to-dispense feature but the coffee never was quite right. Replaced it with a Capresso drip brewer with thermal carafe. The Capresso made a much better cup and kept the coffee hotter, even though I was not brewing into a preheated carafe. Capresso brewers do not get a lot of press and are not SCAA certified but from what I had read do brew at 200+ F and it was a lot better than the HB Brewmaster, Procter-Silex, or Mr. Coffee machines I have used in the past.
 
I have a Technivorm Moccamaster. I love it, but the design isn't for everyone. Mine came with a glass carafe, but if I had to do it all over again I'd get the thermal carafe instead.
 
Really wanted the Bonavita. I showed it to the wife who gave it the thumbs down. She has given me some criterias:

At least 10 cups
Programmable
Prefers glass carafe

I can across a Remington icoffee. Any thoughts?
 
At the risk of sounding like a coffee snob, when you look into programmables you're kind of heading in the other direction from the coffee pots with SCCA ratings. The ones mentioned above are aimed more at those who grind their own and brew immediately, hence no programming functions.
So your criteria are essentially what your wife wants. Programmable 10 or 12 cups are pretty standard, and nearly all will come with a glass carafe. So now you're down to which one, which I'm guessing will come down to price and expected longevity. I'd scope out Amazon to read reviews on the bestsellers.
As far as the Remington, I have no experience. Realizing your wife already said no, I'd still recommend a Technivorm. Of course, I rarely use it because I prefer an Aeropress as my daily brewer. However, that only makes a cup or two at a time. Since she's on the programmable path, I'm guessing a large french press is out, too.
Just out of curiosity, what's your level of interest and experience with coffee? I ask because on this site people tend to get into the details of razors, blades, soaps and creams, etc. We all seem to tend towards enjoying the entire experience of shaving, which brought us to this little community in the first place. So my question is driving at how far you've ventured down a similar path with coffee. If not far, let me bring up the Aeropress again. I'm sure there are some local roasters near you in Maine. Brew something up in your new programmable after you get it, and then drink a cup of that beside something you just ground, or at the least had ground for you within the last 24 hours. Might start you down a new AD path!
(Hope none of that came off wrong. Really just interested and trying to help you find something adequate for SWMBO.)
 
You are coming across just fine.

As our coffee maker died I'm using the french press. I really enjoy the cup it makes. I also have a [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Saeco Via Venezia which i use for a weekend cappuccino. I built a fluid bed roaster and like to do some roasting when I get the time. I'm not a coffee snob or expert but I do like a good cup.

The issue is I us all the above but the wife doesn't. She wants something that she can turn on and walk away from. The larger cup size is because she likes to drink coffee through to early afternoon. The programming is something she might uses once or twice a year. I may be able to talk her out of this though.

I'm looking for something that will have proper brew time and temp. After 2 cups I'm done for the day.

I don't know if that helps.
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You should look into the Breville YouBrew, as it should meet your requirements. As a bonus, it includes a built-in grinder with a mechanism to block steam from entering back in and clogging up things after the grinding step. I don't know about its reliability, but in a few informal taste tests over at Seattle Coffee Gear it bested the Technivorm.

Taste test of the glass carafe version while using the built-in grinder (3-0 in favor of YouBrew):

Taste test of the thermal carafe version which included an earlier grinder design. This test used pre-ground coffee so that only the brewing mechanisms were compared (3-0 in favor of YouBrew):

Gail did a one person taste test between the Bonavita vs. YouBrew vs. Brazen vs. Technivorm (Youtube link). She ranked them first to last: Technivorm, Bonavita, YouBrew, Brazen; but the catch was that the two winners used paper filters, while the YouBrew and Brazen used gold-tone filters. Gail noted that she prefers paper filtered drip coffee, so the outcome is not surprising.
 
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