So, a couple of weeks ago our coffee maker died. It was a Cuisinart and it had served us reasonably well for 5 or 6 years. I say reasonably well, because Tom was less than impressed by the temperature of the coffee produced and I had experienced a few too many times its tendency for the grinds to clog up the works and overflow onto the counter. Not exactly what I want to deal with before even having a cup of coffee. I think this may have been the first time we outlived a coffee maker - prior to owning our most recent machine which had an insulated carafe, we've always had glass carafes which shatter with minimal effort leaving the interesting dilemma to either buy a new carafe for $15 or simply replace the entire coffee maker for $25.
Anyway - after the coffee maker crapped out, we pulled out our wedding gift French press (thanks again, Rachel!) and you know, that French press makes some damn fine coffee - creamy, rich and delicious. However, we just don't find the French press practical for daily use on a long term basis. Maybe it is the capacity (4 cups) or the lack of a warming capability, but for some reason we never consider the FP to be our permanent coffee making method, so, it was off to Macy's. And Target. And Bed, Bath & Beyond. I could have purchased the identical coffee maker we were replacing (and maybe I did only to bring it home and refuse to take it out of the box because I really wanted something new and had only succumbed to the pushy, less-than-helpful salesclerk at the "good" Macy's) but felt like I wanted something more - an improvement, shall we say? At this point, we left for our Euro-adventures, where, incidentally, we made our morning cups in an endless cycle of fill, heat, empty, repeat using a true old school espresso maker, and the coffee maker hunt was put on hold until our return. 
Our criteria was pretty tight - thermal carafe, stainless, minimum 10 cup capacity, well rated. After way too much searching, we selected a brand we had never heard of - Zojirushi, since it seemed to meet all of our needs. Our new coffee maker should be delivered tomorrow and we plan to christen it Saturday morning. I'm optimistic that we will be pleased with its performance, but must admit, I will miss the lovely mug of deliciousness from our reliable, low tech French press. How do you brew?
I brew my morning coffee using a Chemex manual drip maker (http://www.chemexcoffeemaker.com/), made it Pittsfield, MA. It makes flavorful coffee that's not as rich (oily?) as french press coffee.
ReplyDeleteKeeping the coffee warm is a matter of pouring it into a thermal carafe when it's finished brewing.
Oh you already know I love my French press. I use it everyday and honestly it takes as much time to brew as my old drip pot (with slightly more attention). The four cup, or two mug, capacity is good for satisfying my caffeine needs alone. I guess thats the troublesome part about the French press.
ReplyDelete~Waniac
Ah, I'm also a french press snob. My boyfriend recently broke ours and I looked at him like he'd stolen my puppy or something. We now have his old automatic drip on the counter and I can't wait for it to go back to the basement from whence it came.
ReplyDeleteI'm really curious to try the Chemex though after reading a cool NYT article about it recently
Why did I never think to pour the coffee from the French press into a thermal carafe?? The chemex looks pretty cool, too and made in Pittsfield like my husband. So many options!
ReplyDeleteThe "good" Macy's? As opposed to the "bad" Macy's?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, Melinda! The Macy's in Colonie is way better than the sad excuse at X-Gates.
ReplyDelete