Best coffee maker that's not silly expensive

[jwhorfin]

You can use the Keurig but then buy your own coffee grounds and use them instead of the K-cups.

Son/DIL use it at their place. The filter holder is about $5-10; I have seen them at WalMart and Bed Bath & Beyond plus online.

We use the Keurig during the week with the Ekobrew Stainless Steel Refillable K-Cups at Amazon. The hinges looked weak out of the box but have held up with moderate abuse for a year 1/2.

B&D drip on the weekends when we drink more.

 

[xSauronx]

ive got a melitta with a thermal caraffe

http://www.amazon.com/46894A-Program...a+coffee+maker

got mine for $15 as an amazon warehouse deal. love it. keeps coffee hot for almost 3 hours, makes up to 10 cups, programmable...and keeps time when the power blinks out.

i got the girlfriend a chemex. we use that or a french press on the weekend, especially if we have some really good coffee to go in it. but during the week i want it when i wake up, so the programmable is the answer.

 

[DrPizza]

Exactly! I've just been tired of buying disposable crap, I've had coffee makers melt on me, water leaks, and heating elements give out. Bunn looks to be the winner

I have a Cuisinart at home, in my classroom, I think it's a Black and Decker; I purchased that one because it had auto-shutoff after 2 hours. Prior to that, I'd be laying in bed thinking, and would drive back to the school to make sure my coffee maker was off. But, in my life, I've never had problems with a coffee maker. It's simple: they heat water, pour the water through coffee grounds, and the coffee comes out the other side of a filter into a coffee pot. It's not high tech. In fact, I'd guess that the more complicated models - timers, clocks, etc., are the most likely to have issues. My school one cost $9.99. It's awesome.

 

[Markbnj]

Exactly! I've just been tired of buying disposable crap, I've had coffee makers melt on me, water leaks, and heating elements give out. Bunn looks to be the winner

One downside I should point out is that it's a tall unit. Might not fit under your cabinets on the countertop. We had to put ours on a coffee cart. Not sure whether the design has changed in the five years or so since we got ours. We have the single pot unit with the top warmer.

 

[NutBucket]

I've heard great things about this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Bonavita-BV180...s=coffee+maker

This is the correct answer. Best coffee maker under $200

 

[Corn]

Have a Bonavita and a french press. Both make very tasty coffee.

 

[Red Squirrel]

You should build one like on Breaking Bad. The perfect cup every time!

 

[herm0016]

French press and a burr grinder. Use an electric kettle for water.

 

[OverVolt]

Mr. Coffee by far.

Hamilton beach isn't made as well.... So like when you dump water into the Mr. Coffee it has measurement marks, and the Hamilton beach's I've used do not so you have to pre-measure before you start adding water. The Hamiltonbeach is alot harder to take apart and clean vs the Mr. Coffee's I've used, etc. They both make a decent cup of coffee though.

Cuisinart has a bunch of features no one uses. Its overly complicated and even in its design has alot of useless plastic parts that waste counterspace. It can make light or dark coffee but who cares the knob basically does nothing since all that matters is how much coffee and water you add. Who knows what that knob does. Probably makes coffee slower the higher you turn it to dark brew or something. And everyone with a Cruisinart usually just cranks it to dark brew. Dark brew = what a normal coffee maker does I think and light brew = wasting ur coffee grinds.

etc. etc. etc. The Cuisinarts I've used have these crazy metal/plastic contraptions for the coffee pot and I prefer just plain old glass.

If you are replacing a Keurig I'd highly highly recommend splitting the price you plan to spend up between a mid-range single cup brewer and a regular ole coffee maker.

 

[slackerinabox]

We use the Keurig during the week with the Ekobrew Stainless Steel Refillable K-Cups at Amazon. The hinges looked weak out of the box but have held up with moderate abuse for a year 1/2.

B&D drip on the weekends when we drink more.

We have one of those, and they work pretty ok. But we're also trying to save $$ and flasking to avoid our $20 a day starbucks habit. Brewing a 10-12 cupper between the two of us is easier than making multiple multiple single servings, especially before work.

 

[smitbret]

My buddy has a Keurig at his cottage. Man, I had forgotten how awful those things are.

The cheap drip models by Black & Decker and Mr. Coffee always seem to rate consistently high. You don't need to spend a lot to get a good one.

Got a $20 Black & Decker. Has worked longer and better than the last 3 or 4 coffee makers I had paid 2 x the money for.

 

[MarkXIX]

I have found that only the Donut Shop Extra Bold K-Cups taste decent. The rest of them all taste like crap to me as well.

 

[Scarpozzi]

What not to buy:
Mr. Coffee is junk anymore. I've seen 5+ units owned by friends/family that have had their controls stop functioning in the past few years. These used to be great, but have lost quality control. I've seen 2 that wouldn't turn off because the power button failed.

Decent for the money:
I had a $30 Black & Decker that I picked up from Walmart. It brewed a good cup of coffee and had programmable features. I like to load the coffee pot with grounds & water at night so I don't have to think about it in the morning....if the coffee pot will fire by itself on a timer, it's even better. My only gripe with the B&D was that you had to have the pot in the exact right position when it was brewing (because of stop N' pour), or it would overflow and make a mess of coffee grounds and coffee water on the counter top. This happened a few times when I didn't have it set right and left the room. My only other complaint was that the water could have been a touch hotter. Coffee was a little better after it sat on the warmer for a few minutes to heat another 3+ degrees. This is the coffee pot I have now at my lake house....it's great and still brews good coffee.

My current Coffee Maker:
I've got a Bunn. It keeps hot water in the tank 24/7. It takes time to get used to this because you always have to keep the tank switch in the on position and it definitely uses more electricity. It brews a full pot in less than 3 minutes and the temp is perfect.

My only gripes with this $100 coffee pot is that it requires Bunn coffee filters...they're taller and thicker than normal filters. The water flows so fast through the filter and grounds due to pressure of the sprayer that it simply uses more coffee than the B&D did. I'm definitely going to stick with Bunn...it's a good coffee maker and I've been happy with the results. You just have to brew coffee with it for a few weeks to get the hang of it and don't play around with the amount of coffee you brew. Only brew 8+ cups or the strength will be difficult to judge.

I brew 8 O'Clock Columbian ground coffee. I don't have time to get fancy with a grinder and the quality has been good enough.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Seriously, this is how I make my coffee every morning. Boil water, pour over fresh ground coffee. Simple, cheap, reliable. Plus, you don't get any of the scale and water deposit buildup that electric coffee makers get on the insides and I don't have another appliance taking up space on my counter. I do have a burr grinder on the counter but I could put that away after use if I wanted to.

Since I'm the only one who drinks coffee in my house this makes the most sense.

 

[JulesMaximus]

We have this Zojirushi and like it a lot. $80

http://smile.amazon.com/Zojirushi-E...8&qid=1406592824&sr=8-1&keywords=coffee+maker

Imagine how much better the coffee would taste if that cost $300 though! :sneaky:

 

[JulesMaximus]

Wife loves her keurig but she drinks so much coffee that we're going back to brewing a pot at a time. I'm kinda making an effort to not buy dime store specials anymore so would like something quality, but not ridiculously expensive. I'd say under $200 is doable, the closer to $100 the better. We've seen decent to great reviews for bunn coffee makers, and that seems like a non-pretentious choice. any other options? We're not coffee snobs so something reliable, consistent, and easy to clean/use trumps fancy features. Grind and brew's not really our thing, unless the grinder really is zero maintenance.

Bunn are great coffee makers. They just make coffee, nothing else. Kind of a waste of energy though unless you are making and drinking pot after pot of coffee all day long.

 

[DigDog]

 

[NutBucket]

Imagine how much better the coffee would taste if that cost $300 though! :sneaky:

Don't be dissin my Moccamaster.....

 

[BurnItDwn]

We picked up one of these a year or so ago:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's awesome, makes great coffee, and brews a pot in 2 mins. Since the reservoir keeps a batch of water hot, it does waste some energy as lxskllr mentioned, but it's worth it in my case. As far as grinders go, I have this one and it's been great. It's not quite 0 effort, but pretty low maintenance (you have to fill the hopper and turn a lever)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[mikeford]

My current Coffee Maker:
I've got a Bunn. It keeps hot water in the tank 24/7. It takes time to get used to this because you always have to keep the tank switch in the on position and it definitely uses more electricity. It brews a full pot in less than 3 minutes and the temp is perfect.

My only gripes with this $100 coffee pot is that it requires Bunn coffee filters...they're taller and thicker than normal filters. The water flows so fast through the filter and grounds due to pressure of the sprayer that it simply uses more coffee than the B&D did. I'm definitely going to stick with Bunn...it's a good coffee maker and I've been happy with the results. You just have to brew coffee with it for a few weeks to get the hang of it and don't play around with the amount of coffee you brew. Only brew 8+ cups or the strength will be difficult to judge.

I brew 8 O'Clock Columbian ground coffee. I don't have time to get fancy with a grinder and the quality has been good enough.

Bunn are great coffee makers. They just make coffee, nothing else. Kind of a waste of energy though unless you are making and drinking pot after pot of coffee all day long.

We don't use our Bunn for coffee, just tea, and each of us has our own brewing container so we don't use the basket for anything but a funnel.

Bunn has different flow rate sprinklers, call customer service and they will send you a slow flow head.

 

[Brainonska511]

I have a cheap 4-cup Mr. Coffee. A simple on/off switch and it's been going strong for several years now. But I'm also not making a terribly large amount of coffee each morning - usually only for myself and ~1 mug's worth (about 2-3 cups of water). It would also be fine for 2 people, if they only drink 1 mug of coffee each.

 

[Auric]

Metal cafetière. To keep hot for longer, can be kept in saucepan of water on low stove temperature.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009ADDS

 

[Scarpozzi]

Bunn has different flow rate sprinklers, call customer service and they will send you a slow flow head.

I was unhappy with it when I first got the coffee maker, but as I've been brewing, I've gotten used to it. I just felt it was worth mentioning because understanding how it works is key....the faster flow of water is by design.

Coffee pours out of this machine a lot faster than other drip coffee makers. It's nice when we have guests and decide to make a pot after dinner. We don't have to wait 5+ minutes....

 

[smackababy]

I think my french press cost around $3 and it makes 2 cups. But, I also drink coffee at home like once every few months.

 

[nageov3t]

I got this as a Christmas gift a couple years ago... really love it.

http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-EC-B.../dp/B0000X7CMQ

it's nice that I can brew a pot in the morning and basically have it stay hot until the early afternoon, without having to run a hot plate, burning the coffee.