How To Get Perfect Filter Coffee from your Modern Coffee Makers

Coffee makers have been around, not surprisingly, almost as long as coffee. The original coffee brewer was the Turkish Ibrik, a copper container with a long handle and a grooved tongue. Still used in the Middle East, it produces a very strong brew since it does not filter the coffee.

For those amongst you who prefer to drink your coffee rather than eat it, there are a wide variety of types machines available from the plain to the esoteric. Here are a few things to look for…

The largest selection of automatic coffee makers these days is, of course, the inexpensive drip model. You start by pouring water into the top of the machine, it is then heated by an electrical coil, once hot the water passes through fresh coffee grounds and into a glass pot sitting on a hot plate.

But beyond these basics, there are a few features it’s useful to have.

Controls have proliferated to the level that many machines look like a modern stereo. LCD screens display the time, the time to brew, temperature, a timer and several options even more unmentionable .

Have you ever forgotten to shut your coffee machine off and it has overflowed all over your kitchen bench or you have been unable to wait until it has finished brewing and you have had drips all over the hot plate. If this is you then you will find the auto shut-off feature very useful. As soon as you lift the pot off the hot plate the machine stops brewing.

Today you can control every aspect of your coffee brewing experience. Many modern machines let you select the strength of the coffee you desire, along with what time you want the brew to start, so it can be ready when you wake-up, presuming you remember to set it up the night before!

Everyone loves the smell of coffee, and it is very comforting to come down into your kitchen on a dark, cold morning and smell the fresh brewing coffee as well as seeing the little illuminated display telling you your coffee is ready.

Cleaning has been made better, too, by the development of coffee ‘pods’ - small pre-measured paper containers of coffee through which the water flows. They have the added blessing of providing good filtering for grounds. Once the brewing is complete you just pop them out (after they’ve cooled!) and toss them into the waste basket. Essential for the busy - and adverse to cleaning up - coffee drinker.

Several models are available with water filters, essential for the urban dweller where the city supply often tastes like the community swimming pool. The filters are pricey but a good cup of coffee is priceless.

Permanent filtered coffee styles can be had, but with the pods they’re much less important. Debates rage over the environmental impact and the taste effect of the paper from the pods. Vote with your conscience.

With so many brands to chose from and a bevy of coffee machines available it may seem like an impossible task to finally decide on your faultless coffee maker. But you can take pleasure in that fact the once you have chosen you can enjoy your perfect cup of coffee whenever your want for a long time to come.