Drip Coffee, Sunbeam Style

[nurdlinger]

The recent thread started over the Norelco drip coffee maker with the basket that fit on top of the pot rather than being attached to the frame of the device reminded me of this relic of the 70's which has been resting in the closet since the 80's. This coffee maker had an interior metal reservoir for water which it boiled, all of it, at the same time, and then dribbled over the coffee. I cannot recall another design like it. That was the feature which attracted me to it, and this device was the first electric drip coffee brewer that I ever owned.

As was stated in the Norelco thread, once the coffee was made you had to do something with this dripping thing of a basket before pouring the coffee. I kept it on the kitchen counter next to the sink so it was not so large of a problem, but it was annoying and I noted that the machine would not be good for someplace like the office where the sink could be a good distance away.

It's been such a long time since I used it that I really don't remember whether I liked the coffee or not, but I bet that it was fine. It had a failure after 4-5 years in that the thermostatic valve at the bottom of the water reservoir failed. I don't remember either what exactly went wrong, but the only two choices are 1.) let the water out too soon, before it was hot enough. 2.) never let the water out. In any case, this was a replaceable part so I got another one and installed it. Ultimately the reason for discontinuing use was that a woman I was seeing hated it, hated the long cycle time, etc. She bought me a Mr. Coffee at a yard sale and demonstrated that it made good-enough coffee. The rest, along with the Sunbeam, was history. (She became history not long after, but that's another story)

 

[nurdlinger]

Side Shot

The lid for the pot is just sitting up on top. There was really nothing else to do with it while the basket was in place.

 

[nurdlinger]

Pot and Basket

Basket is comparatively big compared to Norelco.

 

[nurdlinger]

Looking Into Basket

I never used a filter of any kind. (...no steenking filter, etc.)

 

[nurdlinger]

Looking Into Reservoir

You can see the screened outlet on the bottom. This had a quarter-turn thread for R&R. The replacement was all-metal, the original had a plastic housing. It's probably still around in some drawer.

 

[nurdlinger]

And Finally...

The information sticker on the back. Thanks for accompanying me on this trip down a side alley of Sunbeam Coffeemaster history.

 

[polkanut]

That looks like a very nice coffeemaker. I'm a sucker for vintage colors like harvest gold, avocado, etc.

 

[whirlcool]

And don't you just love the "woodgrain" on the coffeemaker as well? My only question is why?

 

[selectomatic]

One of my favorite little touches from the '70s is when a piece of equipment has a (painfully obviously) fake woodgrain panel with a little sign in the corner saying, "Simulated Woodgrain Finish."

Oh, Really? Glad you told me!!

-kevin

p.s. Although I remember the Mr. Coffees and Norelcos from this era, I don't have any memories of the Sunbeams.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I have been pissed with Sunbeam ever since they discontinued production of the original Coffeemaster. Then they had to go and put that name on their drip pot in the early 70s. Our Sunbeam Rep thought she really had something when she brought this to the store, but it was not a very good seller. The main difference between this and all of the other ADC machines was that the Sunbeam brought the water to a boil before dripping it instead of heating it as it dripped through. In the Sunbeam, before the water reached the boil, the valve opened and let a small amount of the hot water moisten the ground coffee to allow the flavor to bloom before the water hotter water hit it. This was the slowest of all of the ADC machines because it took time to boil the water and then drip it. These "Coffeemasters" were not in production very long. They were also much more expensive to make that the regular ADC machines

One good thing to come out of this invention was the Sunbeam Hot Shot which heats close to a pint of water in a little over a minute which is great for making a cup or two of tea. They later modified the design to include a 2 cup plastic container and a filter holding basket for ground coffee so that it became a small coffee maker.

What I do not understand about the Norelco complaint is that unless you have an ADC machine with the plunger valve that closes the opening at the bottom of the filter basket when the carafe is removed, the filter basket should be removed when the carafe is first removed for pouring, otherwise you get those disgusting drips which burn onto the warming plate.

 

[xyz]

Nurd, I like your coffee maker. I'm into old makers myself. Yard sales are my starting point to get em for a dollar or less. The newer Sunbeam that I make coffee in every morning noon and night is a dollar find at a yard sale. But ya know, the best damn coffee I ever tasted was from either a stovetop percolater (the aluminum kind) or a plastic electric countertop model. I can't remember who was famous for making that plastic one but I think you can still find a version of it at Wal-Mart. I always remember the plastic ones being either gold or orange in color.

 

[xyz]

Me and my wife found a new use for the automatic drip maker. When we were at a campground last year, she refused to bathe in the public showers, which I didnt blame her but I made her up a tub of hot water using only the coffeemaker we had brought along camping. It wasnt home but it was hot and she got clean. I would like to to know what the rate of hot water production is in a Mr. Coffee. Maybe I'll get out my stopwatch and do some figuring. Would be pretty easy to design a campground water heater out of one if you jerry-rigged a holding tank tha twas insulated and had a constant supply of water going in.