The Best Coffee Maker?

Choosing the best coffee maker for your cup of Joe

Americans are crazy about coffee. Most of us can’t start a day without it. Every now and then, your old coffee maker bites the dust and it’s time for a replacement. If you haven’t shopped lately, there are so many methods, sizes and prices, it can be difficult to know how to choose the best coffee maker. When you start to look around, you’ll see prices ranging from $10 to over $200! You may well wonder what makes the $200 coffee maker worth the price. Does it multi-task, doing dishes and watching the kids as it brews? What about the $10 coffee pot? Is it so inferior, or is it just the dependable, but no-frills version? Here are some suggestions on sorting this all out and finding the best coffee maker that suits your preferences.

There are dozens of sites which issue consumer rating reports, which compare coffee makers on a variety of features. Just Google ‘consumer reports coffee makers’ for an extensive list of reviews on the pros and cons of the various types. In addition to organizations, look for coffee websites which offer their own reviews, based on personal use of a particular coffee maker over a period of time. You can sometimes get valuable tidbits on reliability and any quirks on features. Although all reviewers may not agree on which is the best coffee maker, matching your own needs is what matters most.

Consider which features are important to you. For example, if you don’t want to mess with the coffeepot in the morning, you just want it ready when you wake up, you’ll want the programmable type with an automatic shutoff. You just pour, drink and walk away. Even the most inexpensive coffee makers usually have a pause and serve feature, for impatient coffee drinkers. It’s best to allow most of the pot to brew before using the pause feature, or the coffee might be too strong.

When trying to determine which is the best coffee maker for you, capacity is definitely a consideration. Standard electric drip brew coffee makers come in sizes ranging from 1 to 12 cups. Some manufacturers have introduced the ’small batch’ feature, which means you can make four cups in a 12 cup coffee maker that produces an equal strength batch of coffee. Without this feature, those 4 cups will result in a weak cup of Joe. Expect to pay a premium for this feature. If your budget isn’t comfortable with the higher price, you may be better off buying two sizes of coffee makers.

You wouldn’t think that finding the best coffee maker should be so difficult, but hey, we’re talking about our favorite beverage! There’s more.

If you’re one who likes really strong coffee, consider a vacuum coffee pot or a French press.

A French press tends to leave some silt, or fine grounds, that some people don’t like. You can remedy this by using a small paper filter around the press. If you like really hot coffee, you’ll need to reheat a cup made in the French press, as the coffee cools considerably by the time you’re ready to pour.

The vacuum and thermal carafe coffee makers don’t rely on a hot plate to keep the coffee warm, as do the conventional models. Many connoisseurs consider the vacuum and thermal methods to deliver the best flavor. The more expensive units hold the temperature at 200 degrees, which gourmet coffee brewers say results in the optimum flavor retention.

Do your research before you rush out to the store or purchase online. Trying to find the best coffee maker for you won’t happen by just reading the blurbs on the boxes!

Online Gift Shopping Addiction

I am definitely an avid Internet shopper. If it weren’t for the fact that I make a comfortable living, I would say that it bordered on an addiction. With all kinds of interesting products from all over the world just a few clicks away, it is hard not to get addicted to exploring all of the varied goods that the Internet has to offer.

One of the reasons I like online gift shopping so much is that it allows me to indulge my passion for shopping online without feeling too guilty about it. Most of my friends are not that traveled, cultured, or Web savvy, so I can always surprise them with the neat and unusual things that I manage to find online. I let other people go down to the local bookstore and buy the latest new release – I would always rather do something fanciful like find a collectible camera on eBay or a handwoven rug from Guatemala. Although it can be hard to match such exotic choices with the tastes that my friends have, usually I can come up with a pretty good match.

Of course, there are other, more practical ways to buy gifts online. A lot of the most devoted fans of online gift shopping use it as a way to get bargains, rather than a means to find rare and exotic presents. Amazon, of course, is a great way to get good deals, but there are many other sites as well. You can get wholesale gifts at places like Deep Discount DVD and eBay, if you are willing to keep an eye out for sales and rare bargains. It is all a matter of how deeply you are willing to look. If you really put some effort into finding the very best deals in online gift shopping, the sky is the limit!

When you are online gift shopping, it is important to use common sense. Although you can shop at the last minutes from the big commercial vendors, you need to leave a little bit more time if you are using a less dependable shipper. Different vendors on eBay have different procedures, and some of them are a lot more reliable than others. Until you really know who you are dealing with, it can’t hurt to leave a little bit of extra time. After all, there is no bigger disappointment than not having the gift in time for whatever special event you are shopping for.