Category: Coffee Recipes

Types of Coffee Makers

Many people have coffee makers but are curious what other types of coffee makers are available. Maybe you would like to try something new or your old coffee maker finally died and you need a good replacement. With hundreds of types of coffee maker on the market, you have many options available and are sure to find something that will suit your needs.

Before you buy a coffee maker you should figure out what exactly you want out of it. Are you a coffee addict who needs 10 cups a day or should you stick with a smaller single serve coffee maker? Do you need to grind your own beans and want a grinder built in? Do you want foam or options for espresso and cappuccino? Or, do you just want something cheap that will make coffee as easy as possible? These are just a few questions you should ask yourself before going to find a new coffee maker.

Naturally, the easiest and most common type of coffee maker is the automatic drip. This is where you put some water in the back or side, put in a filter, fill it with coffee, then push start. Its ease of use is one of the things that makes this type so appealing. These can make just one cup at a time or gallons at a time. It all depends on what you want to use it for. The only thing you really need to worry about is the type of coffee you want to put into it. Quality coffee beans can be ground at stores and they can even be infused with flavors you like such as hazelnut, vanilla, and cinnamon.

The second most popular type of coffee maker is the manual drip. This is just like the automatic drip except you heat up and pour the water yourself. You just pour it into the holder where the coffee filter filled with coffee sits. It drains into the pot and you are done. These also make either single cup or up to 12 cups but aren’t usually used commercially. For people who love fishing, hunting, and camping, these are a good choice as they are portable and you can heat the water however you want. You can use a stove, campfire, even a hot car engine is an option if you really need a cup of coffee immediately.

Espresso and cappuccino machines are more for a selective person who knows exactly what they like. Unlike a normal coffee maker, these are expensive and you need to practice to operate them efficiently. They utilize pressure, foam, froth, and milk depending on the type of machine you buy. Espresso and cappuccino are gaining popularity and these are becoming smaller and more affordable than ever before.

In addition to these, there are many other types of coffee maker you may be interested in. There are old fashioned percolators, vacuum brewers, French presses, and much more available if you choose to look around. You can find anything you are looking for either on line or at a local retailer.

Popular Espresso Coffee Makers

Americans love espresso. They rely on it to help them get going in the morning; keep them going through the day and sometimes through the night as well. Here are a few of the most popular espresso coffee makers.

Braun AromaDeluxe KF510BK 10-cup Coffee Maker

The Braun AromaDeluxe is a fast brewing coffee maker. A Brita water filter removes impurities that can affect coffee taste. The premium Aroma Deluxe features a clock and timer so that users can set the machine to have coffee ready each morning.

Braun Tassimo Coffee-on-Demand 1 cup Coffee Maker

Fast and easy single serving coffee maker also makes latte, cappuccino, caf crema, tea, and hot chocolate.

Cuisinart Brew Central DCC-1200W, 12-cup Coffee Maker

The Cuisinart Brew Central Coffee Maker is totally programmable. It contains a built-in water filter and has a 12 cup capacity. There is no built-in grinder. There is a pause and serve function and alerts users when it needs decalcifying.

Cuisinart Grind and Brew DGB-600BCW 10 cup Coffee Maker

This thermal coffee maker grinds beans when needed, resulting in fresher taste with every cup. The thermal carafe is double insulated to keep coffee hot for hours.

DeLonghi BAR32 Retro Espresso Coffee Maker

The DeLonghi Bar32 Retro Espresso Coffee Maker is part of DeLonghi’s Retro designer line. The machine is said to be inspired by the 20th Century Art Deco and Bauhaus periods of the 20th Century. This machine does not contain a built-in grinder. It does make multiple cups and has a water tank size of almost 34 ounces.

Jura/Capresso Impressa E8 Espresso Machine and Coffee Maker

The Jura/Capresso Impressa E8 Espresso Machine and coffee maker is a high tech machine capable of producing espresso, cappuccino, lattes and long crema coffee. Settings allow for customized brewing of mild, regular or strong coffee. A grinder is built in, timer and cup warming surface are built in.

Keurig Elite B40 Coffee Maker

The Keurig Elite B40 Coffee Maker is a no-fuss coffee maker. The water reservoir is removable. The machine features single button brewing, the water reservoir is removable and indicator lights let users know if water is heating, if it’s necessary to add water, if the machine needs descaling and when it is ready to brew. This coffee maker does not feature a built-in grinder.

Krups XP 2070 Espresso Machine & Coffee Maker

The Krups XP 2070 is a programmable combination espresso machine and drip coffee maker. It features a a 10 cup coffee capacity and a 15 bar pump espresso capacity.

Senseo Single Serve Pod HD7810/75 Coffee Maker

This pod system coffee maker features a patented brewing system that automatically uses just the right amount of water and sends the water through the pod quickly and evenly.

Coffee lovers can choose from a variety of coffee makers. From single cup Senseo styles to ten cup Cuisinart Models, there’s a coffee maker for every drinker and every occasion. If all that’s desired is coffee, no problem. If specialty coffees are preferred, no problem. Fresh java is just a cup away.

The History of Espresso Coffee Makers

Espresso coffee makers came out of man’s need for a faster cup of coffee. Not only did espresso machines produce more coffee faster, they produced a better cup of coffee. The first machines had a few kinks to be worked out but coffee maker inventors didn’t let little issues deter them.

Who made the first espresso coffee machine? The answer depends on which records you read. According to some records, Louis Bernard Babaut created the first known espresso coffee maker in 1822 with Edward Santais commercializing and marketing the machine in 1843. It debuted at the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1855.

Records say the coffee maker produced one thousand cups of espresso in an hour, using steam to push water through coffee held in a filter. New inventions often carry risk and this espresso coffee maker was no exception. It tended to blow up from time to time. It also had a tendency to occasionally burn the coffee.

The original espresso coffee makers weren’t easy to use. Operating them involved some degree of skill and left plenty of room for diversity. The operator controlled the intensity of the heat and the length of time the water valve remained open. Users could put in less coffee grounds and get stronger coffee or use more water and get a diluted result.

Other records credit Luigi Bezzera, a manufacturer, with the invention of Espresso in 1903. Bezzera wanted to make coffee faster. He added pressure to the process and ‘voila’ the birth of the Fast Coffee Machine. The machine made coffee faster and better than other available methods. Bezzera invented a machine that used the pressure of steam to push water through a fixed filter containing coffee.

While skilled in inventing, Bezzera lacked marketing ability to promote his creation. In 1905, the rights to the espresso machine were purchased by Desidero Pavoni and successfully marketed the invention, changing the way everyone drank coffee. Pavoni sold the coffee makers throughout Europe.

Franceso Illy created what some believe to be the first automatic espresso coffee maker . Invented in 1935, the Illeta used compressed air instead of steam for his machine. This solved the problem of exploding espresso coffee makers and resulted in a more stable result.

Achille’s Gaggia invented the espresso coffee maker that bears his name in 1945. His invention used lever action.Modern versions of both Illetta and Gaggia espresso coffee makers are available today.Ernest Valente created an electric rotating pump in 1950. The pump allowed a continuous, even flow of water through the coffee maker.

Illy, still producing espresso, went on to simplify the espresso coffee maker process even more in the 1970’s when he introduced a machine that combined the best parts of previous espresso coffee maker methods. His machine used double filters, cost less than other coffee makers and was simple to use.

In the 70’s, super automatic espresso coffee makers were born. They are now the norm in many countries. The machines continue to evolve. Debate over which methods and which machines produce the best espresso will continue as long as people continue to enjoy their cup of Joe.

The History of Coffee Makers

It was love at first sip. Once man discovered the taste of coffee and the stimulating effect of caffeine on the body, he was hooked. The road to a quality coffee maker has been bumpy. Original coffee makers had a slight problem in that they occasionally blew up. Sometimes they burned the coffee.

According to some, women who ran houses of ill repute were among the first great coffee makers. In 1674, men were spending so much time drinking at local coffee houses that the women in England tried to outlaw coffee. Coffee makers in the 1600’s and 1700’s were designed in an array of styles, most featuring a fat bulge in an effort to help retain the coffee grounds when pouring out the coffee.

Some creative individual put coffee in a sock in an effort to contain the grounds in 1780. This heralded the birth of the Mr. Biggin coffee maker. The Mr. Biggin used a cloth filter. Coffee fans tried cotton, wool, burlap and other fabrics and materials to filter coffee. Cloth wasn’t working real well. In 1802, the metal coffee filter came into use.

The 1800’s were a time of rapid coffee maker development. Madame Vassieux of Lyons, developed a vacuum coffee maker. Madame Richard also created a vacuum style coffee maker. Vacuum and percolator coffee makers were widely used. In 1818, a Parisian metal smith invented the first coffee percolator. In America, the Cowboy Pot was the coffee maker of choice.

During the years of 1835 to 1850, many, many coffee makers are invented. Glass balloon coffee makers, vacuum system coffee makers, piston system coffee makers, pressure steamer coffee makers, a Naperian balancing siphon coffee maker and other coffee makers, roasters and grinders are invented.

The birth of the Manning-Bowman Percolator ocurred in 1890. House Furnishings Review magazine promoted the Cafetiere double blown-glass coffee maker. The Raparlier coffee maker featured a filter made of hemp. This style of Hydropneumatic coffee maker was used as late as the 1960’s.

Vacuum and percolator coffee makers continued to be created in different syles. Plunger filters were first introduced in the 1900’s. The principle is still applied to coffee makers today. Some say that it is virtually impossible to make a bitter cup of coffee with a plunger style coffee maker.

As the 1900’s progressed, Willy Brandl invented one of the first ever electric coffee makers. The major development in this case was the switch that automatically turned the coffee maker off when the liquid level was low.
Coffee filters as we know them today were born in 1912. Frau Benz invented Melitta coffee filter paper. Goodbye linen and cloth coffee filters. Hello paper. Easy to use and easy to get rid of.

The first true espresso machine arrived in 1946 when Achille Gaggia designed the first espresso machine that didn’t involve using steam. Within fifteen years, modern coffee makers using paper filters began to be used commercially. Bunn introduced the paper filter as it’s known today in 1957. The first ‘pourover’ coffee maker was introduced by Bunn in 1963.

Mr. Coffee was born in 1972. The automatic drip coffee maker hits store shelves and start showing up in homes and businesses everywhere. After Mr. Coffee signed Joe DiMaggio to be the company spokesman in 1974, Mr. Coffee became a household name.

When the price of coffee beans skyrocketed in 1977, Mr. Coffee created a coffee saver coffee maker that used less coffee. The first thermal coffee carafe is born around this time, giving coffee drinkers the ability to easily keep coffee hot for long periods. By 1979, timers appeared on coffee makers and have come a long way from the Cowboy Coffee Pot. It will be interesting to see how the machines evolve over the next hundred years.

Single Cup Coffee Makers

People love coffee and buy tons of coffee makers each year. The problem with your average coffee maker is that it is usually designed to make ten to twelve cups of coffee per pot. This is fine for the office or maybe a diner but a casual coffee drinker doesn’t need all that. With an average coffee maker, if you only drink one or two cups a day, you are wasting between eight and ten cups. That’s a lot of coffee! Another thing is if you buy a big can of coffee, it will most likely get stale after a while. These are all good reasons you might want a single cup coffee maker.

Single cup coffee makers are perfect for single people and those that just want a better cup of coffee than a normal coffee pot will allow. A single cup coffee maker gives you a higher quality cup of coffee because it was designed for just that. One premium cup of coffee. Other coffee makers will brew more at a time but they are designed for speed not quality.

Single cup coffee makers are a bit more expensive than multi-cup coffee makers. This is because normally the only coffee you can use in them is sold in “pod” form. This is basically a self contained package that has coffee inside little flat oval shaped filters. If you browse your retail aisles, you should be able to tell easily what sells and what doesn’t. This is good to keep in mind so you don’t buy a new coffee maker only to have it obsolete and useless in just a few months. There are a few name brands such as Senseo and Mr. Coffee that you can’t go wrong with but you should definitely shop around and read some reviews and comparisons before making your purchase.

Each single cup coffee maker tends to be unique. Some will let you change the strength you desire or if you want four or eight ounces of coffee. Some will put foam or froth on top of each cup. There are many different options available to you.

There are many places you can purchase a single cup coffee maker. The most obvious choice is a retail store that has many different types lined up on a shelf. This lets you see what they look like, what they do, and what they offer. Appearance is important because if your entire kitchen has stainless steel appliances, a black plastic pot might not fit the theme of the kitchen. Price is always a factor because if something will do the exact same thing for $50.00 less, you might as well give it a shot and upgrade if necessary.

The only drawback to single cup coffee makers is that they only make one cup at a time. If you have many guests you will have to run back and forth, replace coffee pods, and make individual cups. The guests might appreciate the higher quality, so that is a choice you will have to make.