Coffee Maker Style Guide

According to statistics, 52 percent of Americans are coffee drinkers. This translates to greater than 140 million people who drink coffee daily. Americans are a diverse population and far from unanimously agreeing on what makes a good cup of coffee. Happily, there are a number of different kinds of coffee makers available today.

Coffee lovers can select the brewing machine that matches their preferences. Common coffee maker styles include Automatic Drip, Automated Espresso, French Press, Percolator, Stovetop Espresso, and Vacuum style. Each has its own pros and cons and gives the person varying control over the end result.

Automatic Drip Coffee Maker

The automatic drip coffee maker might be the most popular alternative for Americans. This style is simple to make use of and are inexpensive to purchase. Most operate on the identical principle. Contained in the coffee pot is a filter basket where a paper filter holds the coffee grounds. Cold water is poured into the reservoir where it is heated before being poured over the grounds. The resulting coffee flows into a carafe. The brewed coffee is kept warm by the hot surface beneath the carafe.

Individuals who don't like to use automatic drip coffee makers complain that they do not make a very good cup of coffee. Keeping the coffee maker and carafe clean, utilizing quality coffee and disposable paper filters will help ensure a better result.

Automatic Espresso Coffee Maker

Automatic espresso coffee makers are available in semi-automatic, fully automatic and super automatic versions. Semi-automatic models tamp the coffee grounds, brew the coffee, fill the cup and eject grounds. Fully automatic models also grind the coffee. Super models supply all kinds of options, including built in water filters.

French Press Coffee Maker

French Press coffee makers are also referred to as press pots or plunger pots. The pot is a glass or porcelain cylinder which incorporates a stainless, mesh plunger that works as a filter.

The consumer measures coffee grounds into the pot and adds nearly boiling water. The plunger is put in place but not pushed till the coffee has steeped a number of minutes. After steeping, the plunger is pushed and the espresso is ready.

There is no hot surface to maintain coffee temperature so the coffee must be served instantly or placed into a thermal carafe of some sort.

Percolator Coffee Maker

Percolator coffee makers are available in range top types and in electric styles. Most modern ones are both electric and can be programmed. Some models make just one cup of coffee, others could make 12 cups at a time. The large coffee urns utilized by many organizations work on the percolation principle however brew more than one hundred cups of coffee at a time.

Percolator coffee makers are not used as often as they used to be. These machines constantly run the water over the grounds and the water is boiled. Many coffee lovers claim that both actions violate the legal guidelines of creating good coffee.

Coffee made via percolator tends to be stronger and often bitter tasting than coffee made with other brewing methods.

Vacuum Coffee Maker

Vacuum coffee makers look more like chemistry lab equipment than coffee machines. This type consists of two overlapped containers that are connected by a syphon tube. There's a filter in the bottom of the upper container.

The user places water in the lower container and coffee grounds within the upper container. The machine is then placed on top of the stove where the heated water vaporizes and passes through the syphon tube into the upper container.

A brewing cycle lasts roughly three minutes. When the unit is removed from heat, the vapor turns back to water and is forced through the filter and back into the lower container. Farberware created the first automatic vacuum coffee maker model whereas Sunbeam made the first truly automatic modern one.

Coffee lovers can choose from a wide variety of coffee makers. From cheap range top coffee pots to high end super automated coffee makers, there is a coffee maker for every choice as well as every budget.