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#1 2009-05-27 9:43 pm
- wellfleation
- High on Life

- From: Metheun, Mass.
- Registered: 2001-11-13
- Posts: 8678
A good home coffee maker
I just got rid of my 10 year old Braun coffee maker which like all home coffee makers I've tried, just didn't deliver in comparable flavor when compared to local chains. (I prefer Dunkin' Donuts but just fill in the blank b/c they all beat home brewers, even McDonalds as they have industrial brewers that cost over a grand a piece!) So I jumped the gun and based on insanely high reviews (4.5 stars from 118 respondents on Amazon) I just ordered the BUNN NHBX Brewer.
I grind my own beans and store them in an airtight container so I'm expecting some great coffee. Its no frills in terms of electronic timers and stuff and I like that. I never used any of the many "features" on my old Braun as I always want the freshest coffee. So to leave fresh ground coffee exposed overnight in a coffee maker with the timer set seems counterproductive to what I want and expect anyway.
So as an afterthought, what do others recommend? I based my decision on price (although I couldn't find it in white for less than $109 including shipping, the black cold be had for $89), online reviews, and the fact that they have been making coffee makers for 50 years and supply the big chains with their products (at least I just noticed today that D&D used BUNN, never thought to look prior to my order). This unit has a unique spray mechanism that supposedly spays over the coffee evenly and brews the coffee extremely quick (3 min for a pot). I also got 300 BUNN filters due to the quick brewing process as these filters are made to stop the chance of overflow.
Again, my goal is to brew as close to restaurant quality coffee in my own home.
Last edited by wellfleation (2009-05-27 9:46 pm)
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#2 2009-05-27 9:56 pm
- wellfleation
- High on Life

- From: Metheun, Mass.
- Registered: 2001-11-13
- Posts: 8678
Re: A good home coffee maker
Oh, and I forgot to mention that it is also supposed to heat the coffee to the proper 200F temp, which most home brewers do not (usually brewing temp is too low). This alone should be noticeable. I like my coffee hot (not burnt).
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#3 2009-05-27 10:14 pm
Re: A good home coffee maker
I think that level of fanaticism is supposed to be reserved for the cultivation and consumption of marijuana.
All kidding aside, I hate to tell you this, but unless your coffee's brewed in a copper coffee pot, it's just not proper:
http://c3.libsyn.com/media/877/Lynchlan … 5d743b6967
Fast forward to the six minute and fifty-five second mark for more info.
"It's better to be a pirate than to join the Navy."
--Steve Jobs
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#4 2009-05-27 10:31 pm
- wellfleation
- High on Life

- From: Metheun, Mass.
- Registered: 2001-11-13
- Posts: 8678
Re: A good home coffee maker
I know you are kidding (but there's some truth
). It's all about quality for certain things with me. My home, my computer, my stuff, and my coffee are things I use every day and therefore are important to me. The smell of coffee in the morning helps me get ready to deal for the coming day. Being able to make a quality pot of coffee is something, if possible, will be simply amazing to me to be honest.
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#5 2009-05-27 10:44 pm
- wellfleation
- High on Life

- From: Metheun, Mass.
- Registered: 2001-11-13
- Posts: 8678
Re: A good home coffee maker
Bren wrote:
I hate to tell you this, but unless your coffee's brewed in a copper coffee pot, it's just not proper:
http://c3.libsyn.com/media/877/Lynchlan … 5d743b6967
Fast forward to the six minute and fifty-five second mark for more info.
My taste buds tell me differently - I'll trust them.
I used to just deal with the fact that home coffee could never be as good as restaurants. Then I did some research. But if ants did not keep coming out of my Braun a few days ago (must have been attracted to something on this day as it was the 1st time ever) I would still be compromising. (I couldn't believe my wife wanted/expected me to just clean out the Braun and I was like no smurfing way - horror movies came to mind.) Life is too short not to enjoy the little things that give you pleasure.
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#6 2009-05-27 11:28 pm
Re: A good home coffee maker
french press, hands down. done right, you never wanna go back. and i actually tried to a couple of days ago.
ever since my wife became preggers (w00t), her taste for coffee has just disappeared. so instead of making big pots like i had been, i pulled out the old standby french press. i've been using it every morning for nearly 3 months now.
the other day (Saturday?), i had a full schedule of work stuff; projects that were nearing deadlines and warranted a full weekend "off" day's attention. so i pulled out the old coffee maker, cleaned it up, ran through a couple of blank cycles (just water, no coffee) and made a full pot.
it. was. awful. i got half a cup in and quit.
needless to say, once le baby shows up and the missus redevelops her taste for coffee (hopefully), i'll simply buy a bigger press.
suck it, trebek.
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#7 2009-05-28 12:12 am
Re: A good home coffee maker
You dump enough milk and Splenda in there, and even a mediocre cup of coffee will be at least good for dipping your donuts in.
Or a bagel.
Or chocolate chip cookies.
"It's better to be a pirate than to join the Navy."
--Steve Jobs
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#8 2009-05-28 12:30 am
- elpato84
- is Heavy Weapons Guy

- From: red team
- Registered: 2002-05-25
- Posts: 3306
Re: A good home coffee maker
I got me one of those little stove-top espresso pots. It's cuter than my Mr. Coffee and more compact.
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#9 2009-05-28 1:15 am
- Pithecanthropus
- Roast Master

- From: St. Cloud, MN
- Registered: 2002-12-30
- Posts: 4452
- Website
Re: A good home coffee maker
DO NOT get a coffee maker with a hot plate!!! The hot plate, apart from being a huge waste of energy, destroys the flavor of freshly brewed coffee in less than 15 minutes. Get something that will brew into a thermal carafe. If it's too late, get a thermos and pour your coffee into it immediately after you brew it (fill your thermos with hot water when you start to brew to let it pre-warm - you don't want to lose precious heat!).
A press pot (French press) makes a great cup of coffee, but is pretty labor intensive compared to a drip brewer. You also have to get used to silty coffee.
Espresso makers are great if you want something that is almost, but not quite entirely espresso. There's simply no way a home espresso maker can compare to an industrial (coffee house) machine, they cannot (by law) generate enough pressure.
DO NOT grind your beans ahead of time! Even an airtight container can't stop the immediate staling of the beans. For best results, grind what you're going to brew immediately before you brew it.
Store your whole bean coffee in a light-proof, airtight container in a kitchen cabinet - not the freezer and NEVER, EVER, EVER the fridge.
Dump your blade grinder and get a burr grinder. Blades chop, burrs grind. You'll get a much more consistent grind from burrs.
Use fresh, cold water - filtered if possible. I like to put the carafe of water in the fridge at night for the next morning's coffee.
Bailey's® is optional, but always a good additive to coffee. 
Grandfatherly advice: You can drink 'em pretty, but you can't drink 'em smart.
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#11 2009-05-28 3:49 am
Re: A good home coffee maker
Bren wrote:
But a proper cup of coffee's made in a copper coffee pot!
When my brothers family was living in a tent on the land they bought just before his job suddenly vanished (he was a steel worker in Washington when Clinton removed the tariff on foreign steel) - his wife made coffee in a pot on a camp stove. It may have been some kind of a percolator but it was actually pretty good.
In her right hand Jenny held the Bible of her mother
Jenny had a pistol in the other
-- Steve Taylor
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#13 2009-05-28 8:34 am
Re: A good home coffee maker
Pithecanthropus wrote:
A press pot (French press) makes a great cup of coffee, but is pretty labor intensive compared to a drip brewer. You also have to get used to silty coffee.
i dunno if i'd call it labor intensive. if you've already ground your beans, the biggest annoyance (IMO) is already done with (my grinder is so loud in the morning). all that's left if boiling the water and waiting four minutes.
i will agree with the silty part, though. that last two or three gulps of coffee are a bit rough.
suck it, trebek.
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#14 2009-05-28 8:35 am
- mrreet2001
- Member

- From: NW Ohio
- Registered: 2005-05-25
- Posts: 4334
- Website
Re: A good home coffee maker
It takes a lot longer to clean a press.
But damn is it good coffee.
Last edited by mrreet2001 (2009-05-28 8:36 am)
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#15 2009-05-28 9:54 am
- macnuke
- just a plano guy
- Moderator

- From: North Dallas 40
- Registered: 2004-05-16
- Posts: 7132
Re: A good home coffee maker
best coffee......
have someone else make it and serve it to you. 
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#16 2009-05-28 9:57 am
- Pithecanthropus
- Roast Master

- From: St. Cloud, MN
- Registered: 2002-12-30
- Posts: 4452
- Website
Re: A good home coffee maker
One more thing: NEVER percolate coffee. Percolators run the same water through the grounds over and over and over. 
mrreet2001 wrote:
It takes a lot longer to clean a press.
But damn is it good coffee.
Exactly, and that's what I mean by "more labor intensive."
I have a coffee right now that has flavor characteristics that don't come out unless you use a press pot.
One of the best cups of coffee I ever had came out of one of these. Talk about labor intensive!
Grandfatherly advice: You can drink 'em pretty, but you can't drink 'em smart.
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#17 2009-05-28 10:50 am
- mrreet2001
- Member

- From: NW Ohio
- Registered: 2005-05-25
- Posts: 4334
- Website
Re: A good home coffee maker
That looks like a lot of fun on a cold midwest afternoon.
2.66Ghz QuadCore-Nehalem w/24"LED CD ---2.2Ghz BlackMB---15" 2.4Ghz MBP(work)
Dual 2.3Ghz G5 (4G Ram, 2x 250G HD)(10.5 server)--- 400Mhz G4 PM (10.4 Server)
1.5GHz Powerbook---1.6Ghz G5 iMac
"So he fels down in a poisoning gas."
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#18 2009-05-28 10:53 am
Re: A good home coffee maker
ah, yeah. the cleaning. that is fairly intensive (more so than an auto drip).
we're actually headed to Seattle in a little over a month and i'm stoked about trying this out. i know, i know: starbucks. but i do hear its quite amazing.
suck it, trebek.
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#19 2009-05-28 11:26 am
- longboy
- aka "shorty"

- From: Colorado
- Registered: 2005-03-08
- Posts: 494
Re: A good home coffee maker
I've been pretty pleased with my Krups automatic maker. I've had it for about 11 years now, and it still makes great coffee. Start by grinding the beans (I'll have to look into a burr grinder), use a non-bleached cone filter, add cold filtered water, then brew. Immediately pour my first cup and the rest goes into a stainless steel thermal carafe.
I use a French Press mug every morning for my drive to work, as my wife doesn't drink coffee. It's pointless to brew a pot at home on weekdays. My french press mug is great for camping as well.
My brother brews with a pour-over coffee maker. The coffee is absolutely incredible. Not sure if it's the beans, or the simplicity of the brewer, but it really makes the morning.
Last edited by longboy (2009-05-28 11:28 am)
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#20 2009-05-28 1:48 pm
- jerwin
- Sophist
- From: The Garden of Pure Ideology
- Registered: 2003-01-01
- Posts: 7055
Re: A good home coffee maker
LukeLucas wrote:
Pithecanthropus wrote:
A press pot (French press) makes a great cup of coffee, but is pretty labor intensive compared to a drip brewer. You also have to get used to silty coffee.
i dunno if i'd call it labor intensive. if you've already ground your beans, the biggest annoyance (IMO) is already done with (my grinder is so loud in the morning). all that's left if boiling the water and waiting four minutes.
i will agree with the silty part, though. that last two or three gulps of coffee are a bit rough.
Don't drink the last part, and get a better grinder.
Some subjects actually enjoy pain, and withhold information they might otherwise have divulged in order to be punished.
Central Intelligence Agency. (1983). Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual
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#21 2009-05-28 2:00 pm
- jerwin
- Sophist
- From: The Garden of Pure Ideology
- Registered: 2003-01-01
- Posts: 7055
Re: A good home coffee maker
Bren wrote:
I think that level of fanaticism is supposed to be reserved for the cultivation and consumption of marijuana.
All kidding aside, I hate to tell you this, but unless your coffee's brewed in a copper coffee pot, it's just not proper:
http://c3.libsyn.com/media/877/Lynchlan … 5d743b6967
Fast forward to the six minute and fifty-five second mark for more info.
Edgar Marrow certainly has a nifty beard.
Some subjects actually enjoy pain, and withhold information they might otherwise have divulged in order to be punished.
Central Intelligence Agency. (1983). Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual
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#22 2009-05-28 2:51 pm
- test
- Member
- From: Collingwood, Ont., CANADA
- Registered: 2002-12-13
- Posts: 5300
Re: A good home coffee maker
I just brew coffee one cup at a time as I want it. I have a cheap Melitta plastic dingus that holds #2 filters. I put in two heaping scoops of President's Choice Kenya AA or Viennese, add boiling water and let it drip into a cup. The result tastes horrible, at least to me, but at 3 AM I'm not looking for flavour, just something to keep me awake long enough to get to work where it is loud enough I don't need coffee.
Patience is a virtue of the weak for it makes them stand still long enough for the strong to crush them with ease.
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#23 2009-05-28 3:36 pm
Re: A good home coffee maker
Bren wrote:
One more reason to feel good about voting for Bob Dole.
If you were referring to the steel thing - I was mad at Clinton at the time, but I think it was the right decision.
When Bush undid it, it actually cost jobs because as the cost of steel went up, so did the cost of anything that used steel.
Protectionism can be dangerous that way, and while removing the tariffs cost a few steel mill jobs, it likely created more jobs than it cost us.
Back to coffee though 
In her right hand Jenny held the Bible of her mother
Jenny had a pistol in the other
-- Steve Taylor
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#24 2009-05-28 3:47 pm
- sturner
- Royal High Poobah
- Moderator

- From: Carrollton, TX USA
- Registered: 2000-01-31
- Posts: 13779
Re: A good home coffee maker
A good home coffee maker is someone who gets up before you to make the coffee for you.
I'm not dead yet.
There are 3 types of people, those who can count and those who can't.
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#25 2009-05-28 5:28 pm
- user
- Your plastic pal who's fun to be with

- From: I'm not getting you down, am I
- Registered: 2001-10-15
- Posts: 16027
Re: A good home coffee maker
Yeah, that's why I use a coffee maker with a timer.
Aw, he's no fun, he fell right over.
Unless you become as little children, there's no way you will believe this crap.
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