Coffeemakers

Foodal’s Coffee Maker Reviews and Guides

Many coffee makers produce great-tasting coffee but only a few do so conveniently and exactly to your desired specifications. The ability to tailor brewing to your needs separates luxury models from the rest.

Coffee makers can be broken down into your ubiquitous automatic drip models, pour over drip devices, mokka pots, vacuum apparatuses, as well as French/coffee presses which are covered in a different section.

You can get started reading all our great guides, tips, and reviews below.

Automatic Drip Pots

Almost everyone has an automatic drip pot at their house or dwelling and often times one at the office.

But did you know:

• They are often constructed of the cheapest materials.
• Most of their thermostats aren’t accurate.
• The don’t evenly disperse the water.
• And most importantly, most of them do not get hot enough to adequate brew coffee at the optimum temperature.

However, there are a few top end devices that have corrected all of these deficiencies.

Be sure to check out our buying guides that include:

• The Best Drip Coffee Maker for the Home
• Thermal vs Glass Carafes

Temperature Control

The ideal temperature for making coffee is 195-205 degrees Fahrenheit. Many drip machines are not capable of maintaining temperatures in this range throughout the brewing process.

Those that are have a heater powerful enough (about 1,400 watts) to achieve the desired temperature. You might also consider a model with temperature control if you want to adjust brewing temperature within the ideal range.

This gives you more precise control over the taste of your brew. Some of the best drip coffee makers also calibrate the brewing temperature according to the altitude at which they’re located.

Water boils at a different temperature at sea level than it does at higher altitudes, so calibration ensures precise brewing if you reside well above sea level.

Your Coffee-Drinking Habits

To determine how to choose a automatic drip model, you should consider your coffee-drinking habits and then match specific features to them.

How Many Cups You Drink

Calculating how many cups you and members of your household drink daily is an important aspect of how to choose a specific model. Automatic drip coffee makers offer different capacities, and you’ll want to choose a large capacity if you and others in the house drink a good deal on one sitting.

While you might consider erring on the side of a larger capacity, you should remember that a bigger reservoir usually makes for a larger machine. If you need to tightly manage storage space in your kitchen and do not drink more than a couple cups in a day, choose a brew station with a smaller capacity.

When You Drink

Considering the times of day when you consume your favorite caffeinated beverage is also relevant to your purchasing decision. If you have your first cup in the morning and your last one in the afternoon, you should buy a model with a thermal carafe.

Most carafes are glass, which lets heat escape relatively quickly. This is perfectly fine if you drink your Joe in the morning but can quickly scorch any remaining liquids left in the pot and allows the volatile gases (which contain the good flavors) to escape and leaves nasty compounds that have sour and/or bitter tastes.

The insulation in a thermal carafe, though, locks heat in to keep your coffee warm for two to four hours and keeps the flavor where it belongs – in the pot.

Features

If you want to know how to choose a coffee maker, pay special attention to the features on various models. The right features are the difference between ordinary models and those that make brewing and drinking your java juice easier and more enjoyable.

Water Management

Water-management features also separate the best examples from the rest of the pack. The three features to consider here are a filter, the dispersion method, and pre-soaking.

Filter

Many luxury units have a charcoal filter that removes chlorine from water. The filter improves the taste of the water used in brewing, resulting in better-tasting coffee. Brewers with a water filter can also last longer because the removal of impurities from the water prevents the buildup of calcium in the plumbing.

Dispersion

Some advanced brewers use a spray-head to evenly distribute water to the ground coffee beans. Whereas most common household example leave some areas of the grinds dry, models with a spray-head ensure all of the grinds receive the same amount of water to improve flavor extraction.

Pre-Soaking

Coffee grinds tend to swell during brewing, and swelling is usually greater the fresher the roast is.

Many luxury coffee makers enable you to adjust the amount of time you pre-soak your ground coffee beans according to how much you expect the grinds to swell.

If the beans are freshly roasted, you can pre-soak them for longer to avoid the grinds overflowing from their container.

Grinder

Some models have a built-in grinder, enabling you to grind your beans and brew your coffee in the same machine. This isn’t a critical feature since you can buy a separate grinder, but bean-to-cup machines make the whole process more efficient and convenient.

Programmable Settings

Programmable settings can help you tailor your brew to your habits and even your personality. Consider which of the following settings would benefit you.

Setting	Description
Automatic Start	Enables you to set the time to start brewing your beverage. Useful if you are often too tired to initiate brewing when you wake up.
Automatic Shutoff	Turns off the heating element after a set period of time. Helps you save electricity in case you forget to turn off the machine.
Small-Batch Brewing	Adjusts water flow accordingly if you want to make fewer cups. Useful if you want to brew fewer cups than usual.
Brew-Strength Regulation	Enables you to adjust water flow according to desired strength. Useful if you feel like drinking a stronger or weaker beverage than usual.

No two days are exactly alike, and models with programmable settings give you the flexibility to adjust your consumption when you need to.

By identifying your habits and discovering features of luxury automatic drip coffee makers, you’ve learned how to choose a model with which you’ll be happy. You should now feel confident shopping for a machine that conveniently brews great-tasting java when you want it.

Read all of our great reviews and guides below and be sure to check out Foodal’s Coffee Corner where all forms of this heavenly brew are discussed!