Coffee Pot Advice

[Elspeth]

I am looking into investing in one of the pod coffee pots and wanted to get some advice. I am the only coffee drinker in the house.

I am looking at the Keurig Platinum B70. Amazon has a nice package with pods and the reusable filter.

Anyone have one of these or something similar? How did it work for you?

Thanks in advance

[KiaKat]

My sister and brother in law have a Keurig (though I'm not sure which model). They *love* it. My sister had to basically stop drinking coffee, though, after she sorta overdosed on it...

Every time I go there, they give me a mug of coffee as soon as I walk in. It's quite tasty, and the Green Mountain Coffee pods are really tasty.

[Dreamstalker]

We have a B70 and absolutely love it.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

If you ask me, it's a ridiculously expensive way to make coffee just to be able to make it a cup at a time. But then again I can't afford the outlay of cash to buy one of those coffeemakers and the pods for it.

I guess the Keurigs are all right.

[ArcticChicken]

My mom has a Keurig, though I don't know the model. It's pretty sweet. She also gets the Green Mountain coffee pods, I beleive Rainforest Espresso and both decaf and regular Sumatra.

She tried the refillable pod, but it apparently doesn't work very well.

[Elspeth]

thanks guys. I hope to get it next payday. If I figured it right it would pay for itself in 2 months with me not buying my mocha's

And for a really really stupid question, how many cups do you get out of one pod?

[ArcticChicken]

One tasty, tasty cup of coffee.

[CoffeeMonkey]

Coffee question?! I'm here!

If you've got your heart set on a one-cup brewer thing, the Keurigs are nice, people seem to like them, good times.

Overall, though, I'm with Irv. Not worth it. You pay a good $100 for the machine, and then depending on where and what brand of pod you get, up to 50 cents or more per pod.

Cheaper would be a French Press. It makes a very rich cup, especially if you prefer darker, bolder coffees. Purists will say french press all the way, but my personal opinion is that it's best for bolder coffees with deep, rich flavors like wine, berries, smoke or cocoa. I find that the top notes of lighter roasts like citrus, floral notes or mild finishes tend to get a little muddied. It's certainly never a bad way to make coffee, and you can make one to fourish cups at a time, depending on the size of the cup and the size of the press. Cost: about $40, plus whatever coffee you like, just make sure it's ground coarser than one would grind it for paper filter machines.

The very cheapest and easiest is a pour-over. You can get these at the grocery store. A small plastic cone (2-3 bucks) sits on top of your mug or a carafe. A small paper filter sits in the cone, add grounds, and pour over water heated in the microwave or kettle. Fast, easy, you can make one cup at a time with a small cone or more with a larger one.

Just my

[Elspeth]

CoffeeMonkey, you make some mighty fine points. Never really thought about a French press. I have one of those filters holders that go on a mug. They are a pain in the arse, when you use big mugs and I got a travel mug that plugs into the cig lighter in the car

Aren't they a bitch to clean though? If the hubby ever drank the stuff it would be different, then I would just keep using my coffee pot that i have (which I am going to keep for when I have people over).

Maybe I will go the press route for now and then look at the pods again down the road.

Thank you guys again so much for your advice.

[KiaKat]

My personal favourite is the Chemex. Last I saw, Amazon had one of the smaller ones for around $25. Filters are about $15 for 100. I tend to buy the custom-grind Green Mountain coffees directly from them for about $13/bag (incl. shipping). In Target, they're around $7/bag. The flavours come through with no grittiness, and no sludge. I love French Presses, but the sludge gets to me after a few days.

[ArcticChicken]

Aren't they a bitch to clean though? If the hubby ever drank the stuff it would be different, then I would just keep using my coffee pot that i have (which I am going to keep for when I have people over).

I haven't had too much trouble with mine.

I agree with Coffeemonkey, french presses do make an excellent cup of coffee. I've never tried mine with a delicate roast, though, I like my coffee dark and not particularly subtle.

This is my current favorite, though I don't get it that often because I can't really afford it.

[Dreamstalker]

The paper pods are a PITA. Green Mountain sells a filter basket/adapter for the Keurig brewers which we like a lot better.

[BlaqueKatt]

Maybe I will go the press route for now and then look at the pods again down the road.

I have one of these-french press travel mug-it is awesome!

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I use nothing but presses to make coffee. Hard core coffee fiends come to my house and rave about my coffee...even when I am using a cheap brand (I either buy Dunkin Donuts or Chock Full Of Nuts...one is $$ and one is el cheapo, but they both are awesome coffees). They rave about my coffee because if you aren't used to drinking pressed coffee, the smoothness of the brew knocks you out of your chair.

On the other hand, most other coffee that ISN'T pressed tastes like kerosene to me now. You just can't beat the smoothness you get with a press.

They aren't hard to clean, just unscrew the strainer part and hit it with a little hot water and soap. Easier to clean than both drips or percolators. I have carafes in all sizes. I can make a carafe for a group of friends or a carafe for just one cup. I have a travel carafe.

I got my favorite carafe at a Wal Mart in West Virginia (you can't always find them in such places, but I got lucky that night.) It's plain glass that slides out of it's metal carrier and easy to clean. Don't get anything fancy or terribly expensive. I wanted a plain one so I could clean it easily. I think I paid around twenty bucks for it. You can pay more, but frankly, the expensive ones look hard to clean. That is a deal breaker for me, I use it every day, sometimes more than once. I don't want to struggle to clean it.

Seriously, try a press. Low tech and easy to use. No wasteful coffee filters. No big thing on your counter taking up space.

And get this: You can use a french press to froth hot chocolate. So, multi-tasking. You make hot chocolate with real milk, put it into your press, and then jam the strainer up and down like a butter churn a few times. Make you want to slap yo' mamma.

You are supposed to use coarse ground coffee with a press, but I often buy it already ground, and that's just a regular grind. It works fine. Might find a tiny amount of grounds in the dregs, but nothing that is enough to worry about. Just be careful pushing down the strainer on regular grind, it's more prone to squirt out of the spout if you aren't careful.

[telecom_goddess]

another vote for french press it's the only way I make coffee myself. And you can make enough for one cup if you want....or make the whole thing it's up to you.