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Modern Coffee Makers - The New Home Accessory

Coffee makers have been around, not surprisingly, almost as long as coffee. The original coffee brewer was the Turkish Ibrik, a copper container with a long handle and a grooved tongue. Still used in the Middle East, it produces a very strong brew since it does not filter the coffee.

For those more interested in drinking a beverage than eating coffee grounds, a wide variety of types are available from the plain to the esoteric. Here are a few things to look for…

The largest range of automatic coffee machines these days is, of course, the affordable drip model. Pour water in the top, it’s heated by an electrical coil, the water then passes through coffee beans and into a glass coffee pot sitting on a hot plate.

But beyond these basics, there are a few features it’s useful to have.

Controls have developed to the level that many models look like a modern stereo. LCD screens display the time, the time to brew, temperature, a timer and several options even more cryptic.

Getting the strength of your coffee correct is very important. Modern coffee makers have many options for you to adjust the strength of your coffee. There are almost as many options as there are coffee beans! Auto shut-off is a very useful feature. It you have every been unable to wait until your coffee has finished being brewed and you have removed the pot from the hot plate too soon you will have noticed the drips on the hot plate. Auto shut-off stops the coffee dripping into the pot the second it is removed from the hot plate. Once the pot is returned to the hot plate it will carry on brewing.

Several models are available with water filters, essential for the urban dweller where the city supply often tastes like the community swimming pool. The filters are pricey but a good cup of coffee is priceless.

Walking into your kitchen on a cold, dark morning and seeing the illuminated display telling you your coffee is ready is also a very useful and comforting feature.

Cleaning has been made easier, too, by the development of coffee ‘pods’ - small pre-measured paper containers of coffee through which the water flows. They have the added benefit of providing good filtering for grounds. Once the coffee has finished brewing you just disgard the pod (first letting it cool down!) and toss them into the waste bin. Required for the active - and adverse to cleaning up - coffee drinker.

Permanent filter coffee styles can be had, but with the pods they’re much less important. Debates rage over the environmental impact and the taste effect of the paper from the pods. Vote with your conscience.

With so many brands to chose from and a large number of coffee machines available it may seem like an unreasonable task to finally decide on your perfect coffee maker. But you can take pleasure in that fact the once you have chosen you can enjoy your perfect cup of coffee whenever your want for a long time to come.

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