Sponsors

Coffeeguy · 08-12-2010, 03:45 PM

I've been reading around and it seems that most drip machines get the water to hot, or not hot enough. Before I go buy another $30 machine that will break in a few months, does anyone have one that's lasted through heavy use for more than six months? I know our water is hard and that kills the machines, but there has to be something on the market that last longer than what I'm going through. I seriously have a graveyard of broken drip machines.

KimmyDe · 08-12-2010, 05:07 PM

I've had a Hamilton Beach Brewstation automatic drip going on 8 months now. My favourite is still the French Press

My parents, however, had a Brewstation that they got about 2 and a half good years out of (still works but just not as well). Have you tried using bottled water or softened water at all?

RichHelms · 08-13-2010, 06:14 PM

Softened water is a no-no. It gives a slimy taste to the coffee.

The ultimate is a reverse osmosis filter but failing that use bottled water for best taste. Reverse osmosis is how many of them process the water.

If you are installing an auto-coffee unit where the water is piped in you have to filter to avoid calcium buildup as you can not clean a piped coffee maker.

Austin · 08-13-2010, 06:48 PM

I've never thought about it but you can't clean a line in can you? That seems like that might have a negative affect for the Restaurant industry. Maybe that's why a lot of restaurants have bad coffee?

RichHelms · 08-13-2010, 07:15 PM

If you install a Bunn with auto water feed they demand an inline filter to remove the calcium or the warranty is voided. Bunn sells a basic one for $75 or something like that.

I am going to a reverse osmosis system when the kitchen reno is done. That will give me clean water for the coffee maker as well as the fridge.

I think most restaurant coffee sucks as they use junk coffee. I am amazed at how many higher end restaurants use cheap packaged coffee. We went to a high-end restaurant in the Toronto area as guests of a client. The meal was excellent and they advertised that they had great coffee made in a French Press at the table.

The waiter brought the press with coffee and added the water at the table. He did not let it steep and immediately pushed down the plunger as fast as he could. Needless to say the coffee was weak and under developed.

Clearly his barista training was lacking.

Austin · 08-26-2010, 09:34 PM

That's terrible, did you correct him?

RichHelms · 08-26-2010, 09:37 PM

No. I doubt he would have listened

Austin · 08-27-2010, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichHelms

No. I doubt he would have listened

I get bothered by that. If I'm doing something wrong, or could be doing it better I want to know.

I care about what I do, otherwise there is no point in doing it.

rico567 · 08-30-2010, 06:39 PM

To address the OP, we use a Zojirushi Fresh Brew EC-BD15BA drip machine. It's about a month old, our previous "Zo" having finally pooped out after six years of daily use. I checked and it's $85 on Amazon. This drip maker is one of the very, very few that will actually brew the coffee in the 195-205F "zone" that is optimum for coffee. This is not hard to do with a Bunn (which operates differently from most drip machines in that it uses preheated water), a Chemex, Melitta or French Press, but almost all drip machines that brew using cold water just don't cut it. Exceptions are the $240 Technivorm and the Zojirushi, which comes very close to the optimum temperature. Zojirushi's original expertise in thermally insulated vessels has stood them in good stead here.
We were pleased enough with ours that we unhesitatingly bought a new one when the old one expired.

RichHelms · 08-30-2010, 07:52 PM

I had coffee the other day on a cheap drip machine at a friends. It was my beans so the coffee was not a factor. It was pretty bad. Yet we have a relatively low cost machine at the office and it is pretty good. Not my Bunn but not bad. The low end units seem to be more of a crap shoot.