Cone or Flat?

[nmaineman36]

We used to have a Krups coffee maker that used the cone filter. Our Cuisinart Coffee maker grinds the beans and puts it in a round filter. It makes good coffee. We have a Tassimo that we retired since it seems that everytime we order the pods they discontinue what we like. Maddening! So then we bought the Keurig machine...love it and now there is too many choices...cant win I tell ya.

 

[petek]

I've had two of those pod machines, that last being the Melitta and we liked it very much but now I haven't been able to find the pods for the last year in any grocery store. I was told by a Melitta rep at Sams Club a few months ago that in Canada anyways, they're no longer available in supermarkets and you have to order them on-line or call the Melitta office in Toronto and order them.. Not worth the bother or expense imho
That's why I won't by one of those Tassimo or NesPresso machines now..a year down the road and no pods to be foud anywhere

 

[rp2813]

From what I've read here and loosely based on related machine quality and design, it seems the cone filtering system provides more favorable results over flat/round.

My next machine will still be a grind/brew model but I'll require it to have a thermal caraffe rather than glass. I believe KA and/or Cuisinart has something like this. Ideally, it would have a burr grinder but I don't see that either KA or Cuisinart is currently offering one. I may have to make a trade-off between caraffe type and grinder type. I honestly can't taste a heck of a lot of difference in the flavor of the coffee my Capresso with burr grinder makes from a batch I brew up from beans ground with a blade. Finicky as I can be about my coffee, my palate may not be sophisticated enough to tell the difference.

 

[petek]

I have a Braun burr type grinder and a Braun blade type, as well the blade type in our Grind'n Brew amd imho there is no difference that I can detect. Where a burr grinder excels I suppose is that you can easily adjust the grind coarser for french press/perc types or finer for espresso

 

[rp2813]

Thanks for the testimonial Pete. I think at this point the hotplate vs thermos issue is more important than type of built-in grinder my next machine will have, as there is definitely a flavor advantage with a thermos as opposed to a hotplate compared to the minimal flavor differences between blade and burr ground beans.

 

[sudsmaster]

I found a whirly grinder to be ok for drip grind, as in the Grind n brew. My understanding, however, is that to get a fine enough grind for espresso, the whirly type will overheat the coffee, causing a deterioration in brew quality.

I also find that a burr grinder gives a more repeatable, precise grind, whereas the timing of the whirly grinder can vary with the amount added, etc, leading to a certain amount of guesswork. The artist in me says that's ok, and it's fun to watch the grounds go round; the scientist in me says a burr grinder is nearly always better even if it's more boring.

A thermal carafe is the way to go - but one needs to make sure it's a vacuum carafe, and not just insulated. The better ones are stainless inside and out, with a vacuum in between the walls. Don't care much for the hot plate variety, although the big DeLonghi 60 cup percolator keeps coffee hot for hours with relatively good quality.

I have avoided the "coffee station" types of drip makers, which store the coffee in a resevoir that you can access with a push of a button. My objection is that the resevoir is usually plastic and it just doesn't look all that inert or cleanable to me. But I might be wrong... it certainly is a more convenient way to go, and no glass carafe to break either.

 

[rp2813]

A buddy of mine recently went with a coffee station. This seems like an OK choice if you don't regularly have guests since it has a dispenser design. I wasn't exactly thrilled with the coffee it made, but I think that's more about the person making it and their choice of water and beans. I did wonder about the reservoir and method for keeping the coffee hot on that type of machine but bottom line is I prefer a carafe I can bring to the table.

I was thinking about a thermal carafe having glass on the inside but will pursue the stainless option. I can still use my burr grinder for espresso and Turkish if I end up with a blade type grind-and-brew machine. I agree that there is both the guesswork and the overheating issue with a blade grinder but am thinking that a machine that does this automatically would provide some consistency in that regard. I'll still need to keep a blade grinder around for the occassional batch made in the French press, which requires a fairly coarse grind.

Thanks for the input Rich.