I don’t like glass coffee pots. They spill, they break, and the coffee overheats, etc. etc.
I have since about 2000 used the Hamilton Beach Brewstation, and liked its press-pour tech (coffee is held brewed into a tank-dispenser, and dispenses by the pressure of a cup against the trigger.) BUT—these machines clog (a tiny non-replaceable filter screen gets deposits nothing can remove.) And spill (a coffee grain gets wedged into the dispenser, and if you don’t notice it, and wash it clear, you get a full tank of coffee poured onto your countertop.
So—a wonderful machine with issues. I have replaced them about every 2 years.
Enter…finally…Cuisinart, which does a far better engineering job. Similar, but with a tank you can lift out and fill. With a deeper filter basket that does not let grounds loose in the system. With a very clean delivery system (you set your cup on a tray, push a button, a light comes on over the cup to show you where you are, and a neat float gauge shows you how much coffee you have left. There’s a clean cycle, which is run on simple white vinegar. And it makes good coffee. I investigated a Keurig system, but at my rate of coffee consumption, I could go through 10-20.00 a day in little cups.
Happy here. Cheaper than a Keurig, and so is the coffee. It will not create the number of messes of spilled water and coffee that the HB did, and Jane (who does not drink coffee) will be very happy too!
http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-DCC-3000-Coffee–Programmable-Coffeemaker/dp/B005IR4W7W/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1342718388&sr=8-14&keywords=cuisinart+coffee+maker
I have one of the H-B Brewstations. I kind of like it. I haven’t had any problems with the filter screen clogging (I don’t use the filter inserts), nor have I had a problem with the press-to-pour button getting stuck. Somehow, I managed to break off the pour spout on the back of the coffee reservoir, probably while cleaning it and never noticed it was broken until much too late. It doesn’t affect the performance, and I pour filtered water from my Brita pitcher into the water reservoir and fire it up.
I guess as with anything, individual results may vary. I still have a 10 year old Dell Latitude laptop that works, is running Windows 2000, and still has all of its keys in place and functional. 😉
If the pour does jam open, just hold it under running water with your finger pressing where the cup does. That will wash it clear. I think probably the fact that you are using only Brita water is keeping that screen clear. I’m not very nice to my coffeepots. I absolutely agree with you: the Brewstation is a really excellent coffeemaker. Its only faults are mechanical, and if care can get past those, it’s good—I hope it lasts for you. I MAY have a spare brew-tank for one, if yours gives out: ask me if that happens.
I don’t like coffee, but I am an avid tea and tisane drinker. A couple years ago I invested in a tea maker that I adore in the winter. I can use loose tea or tea bags, and combine different types that I enjoy (Adagio’s Oriental Spice makes a wonderful base for a number of different combinations, including their Blood Orange blend.) This is the tea maker:
http://www.adagio.com/teaware/triniTEA.html?SID=f0cac0f37f2b0934afc882ffaed3a21b
There are two temps and several settings, so that you can use it for different types of tea, and brew them at what is best for each one — black, green, herbal, white. It is prone to staining, but then everything with tea stains — that does make it less useful for white teas, though, which are delicate and apt to pick up other flavors. I would love to have some of the clay pots that you use for just one type of tea, because the pot will eventually takes on the scent and taste of that particular tea. I would just have to have a few too many since I have so many teas I love.
I have a lot of different flavors of teas — so much so that I made a database with over 100 different types in it, all from bags and loose teas I had in the house at the time.
Hey, we all have our obsessions, right?
This is my favorite tea company right now:
http://www.stashtea.com/
You can find their teas on store shelves sometimes, too.
Okay, I’ll be quiet now.
I’ve been tempted on several occasions to get a proper Russian tea samovar, especially for the winter, but all the ones I’ve seen that I can afford don’t plug into American wall current 🙂 maybe it’s time to revisit it. Good to know about the Cuisinart replacement for H-B Brewstation; the gaming group used to use a H-B and the coffee drinkers liked it very well, but as you noted, all it takes is a single fleck of coffee or scale in the wrong place, and your pot dribbles out all over the counter.
I’m a Chemex man myself.
Phil Brown
I loved my Chemexes, works of art that made exceptional coffee. But after breaking two of them, I concluded that my lifestyle, or at least my enameled cast iron kitchen sink, was incompatible with them.
We got a Keurig here, but we have six people all drinking various hot beverages…and everyone pitching in on their own “flavors.” We went with the K machine, too, because half of us have to control our consumption. Darn blood pressure >.<
If someday they let me drink coffee again I might go with a Cuisinart model, though. Sounds waaaay better than the ol' Mr. Coffee!!
I use a French Press. It’s easy to make as much or as little as you want, and it’s zero maintenance other than cleaning.
Except for Hawke(who apparently has no choice), I suspect I am the only non-coffee person and the only tea drinker here!
No, you’re not, zette. I am a tea drinker, too, just not a really picky one — I’ll drink it hot, cold, lukewarm, whatever. My favorite is Bigelow Earl Grey and Twining’s Earl Grey, but I like the gunpowders, and some of the fruit blends like raspberry earls and pomegranate greens. I like Tazo’s and Celestial Seasonings’ chai teas with almond milk, too, in winter, but I can’t tolerate the fermented teas due to allergies. Although I have several infusers, I prefer the bags. My life is complicated enough without having to deal with grounds. I have a 1-liter “coffee” thermos carafe I use in the winter, dropping in a couple of bags or disks and filling with the hot water. Since I don’t drink coffee, I’ve never put anything but tea in the thermos. The glass thermos keeps the tea hot all day. In the summer, I have a big, heavy 1/2 gallon glass pitcher (it’s for Sangria, actually.) Weighs a ton. I brew the tea directly in the pitcher, let it cool on the counter to room temp, cover the pitcher and set it in the fridge. http://grundlepod.blogspot.com/2010/09/can-you-make-iced-tea-without.html
I also have a collection of small “green tea” style covered tea cups, and larger teacups with lids that I drink hot tea from.
I am a mutant, as I very much like the smoky smell and flavor of Lapsang Souchong. Apparently, many people think it’s like drinking a campfire 😛 I also like Stash’s green tea peppermint blend, and several of the Bigelow flavors; I used to prefer Constant Comment, but have grown to like Lady Grey and Lemon Lift. Have you ever tried roosbois (redbush) from South Africa? It has a distinct warm vanilla aroma and taste, although I’m not sure of the caffeine content.
LOL! Good to see some tea people!
I brew iced tea in a pitcher in the fridge– put it in over night (regular tea bags of whatever flavor) and it’s nice and cool the next morning. Sometimes I use the ‘iced tea bags’ of different tea companies for a bit more flavor. Lots of nice flavors to play around with.
I also have a small pitcher (my favorite) with a sidewall infuser that works the same way for iced tea. It’s really great for combining different loose leaf teas (or loose leaf and tea bags, or even just bags).
I have a nice cup collection, too, with a couple favorites I use often. The biggest problem I have is keeping Zaphod’s nose out of the teas. He loves some of them.
I used to brew “sun tea” in the summer. But then I heard a doctor caution that it never gets hot enough to deal with bacteria–much safer to brew it with boiling water, then put it in the fridge. OSG might have an opinion on that?
I had heard the same thing, but I don’t even bother with boiling water. Tea will brew fine in cold water, given enough time. Fridge is safer. Boiling water is faster, as long as your pitcher can handle it.
My tea collection includes Stash, Adagio, Republic of Tea, Bigelow, Celesitial Seasonings and a few more. One of the really odd, good teas I love from Stash is their Licorice Spice. I also really like their Double Bergamot Earl Grey.
And yes, I love some of the rooibos teas. Have you tried Honeybush teas? Adagio makes a really, really good Honeybush Orange.
I’ve never liked coffee ever since I tried my Mom’s coffee ice cream as a kid, so it’s tea for me. Unfortunately my teeth have decided that it’s fun to pick up tea stains so I try to drink mostly herbals now (except at a Chinese restaurant or on special occasions or when really sleepy at work). I don’t like the licorice-based teas or the rooibus for similar reasons but love the Hibiscus-based, sour ones. My spouse is vice versa to me on tea preferences and also loves coffee. Still, the marriage works as long as neither of us accidentally samples the other’s herb tea!
Opposite for me, I liked coffee ice cream so much I just kind of graduated to coffee. Started with lots of cream and sugar. Now I like it with no sugar, but still like the milk. Yummy with a little half and half, fine with whole milk or even 2%, but I almost can’t drink it with the everpresent powdered chemical “lightener.” Amazes me the posh coffee services that only provide that cr*p. (It also amazes me that when I was ten or so, and Cremora first came out, I liked it, and ate it by the spoonful!)
Lapsang Souchong, yay! I had this smoky tea once, a long time ago, and loved it, but forgot its name. Now I can find it again. Thank you, chondrite!
I rarely drink coffee, and when I do, it’s either a flavored/mixed coffee, or else coffee with generous cream or milk, no sugar. But it’s good to know about the Cuisinart.
I like tea 🙂 so Zette, Chondrite, et al., you’re not alone. I’m not too picky, though. I tend more towards Celestial Seasoning’s Orange-Spice or Bigelow’s Constant Comment (Cinnamon and Orange and Spices). But you’ll see several other flavors in my cupboards. I like mint. I like lemon-ginger.
I don’t often get sassafras, I’ll want to search for it.
I’ve also been drinking Spiced Chai and Vanilla Chai lately. Bigelow’s brand, IIRC.
Lapsang Souchong, from “Stash”? I will hunt that up, it sounds interesting.
Thanks, folks, very much appreciated.
— I’ve always wondered if gfi was more like coffee or tea, but Tully apparently thinks it’s quite drinkable, and the hani do. (I’d expect hani have different taste preferences, but with a fair amount of overlap with human tastes.) — I couldn’t pass up a gfi reference. 😀
Here is a Lapsan Souchong (loose tea) from Adagio:
http://www.adagio.com/black/lapsang_souchong.html?sid=40cbe980366be139c1fab8f2c9704902
And another from Stash:
http://www.stashtea.com/Stash-Tea-Lapsang-Souchong-Black/dp/B005DM5D02
I love Celestial Season’s Orange Spice. It’s been one of my old favorites for years. I also love their Bengal Spice.
Hey! Me too! I don’t even like coffee ice cream. 🙁
BTW, for those of a scientific bent, here’s Murphy’s law of tea: 2T = P
I can’t take the creamers, not even the liquid ones. In the UK they have irradiated cream in little packets. In the US, they won’t let us have that—no, we have to waste a lot of food, for fear it would mutate or bring down the flying saucers or something.
But I gave up having milk in my coffee when I added up how much milk I was drinking: about a quart and a half a week.
Upton Teas carries a very good, very smokey Lapsang from Taiwan.