If you drink coffee, there's a good chance you have at least one coffee pot. How long did it take you to decide on that coffee pot? An hour? A day? A Week? A Month? However long it took, my guess is that the first coffee pot you owned was either super cheap because it was your first or free because it was a gift.
My parents used an electric percolator coffee pot with a stove-top one as back-up and for camping. When automatic drip pots came onto the market, my parents didn't just run out and buy a new pot. It took YEARS for them to get one and the percolator pot stayed in storage - just in case the new one died.
Me? I've owned three electric coffee pots and one pour-over pot during my adult life. I bought the pour-over pot as a back-up for having coffee if the power went out. Coffee drinkers do not want to be without coffee - EVER. (Even Jeffrey Walter knows that I can't hold a coherent conversation until I've had my coffee.)
My first electric pot was a Mr. Coffee 10 or 12 cup coffee pot that cost about $20. It died after a few years and got repaired for about $20. It got left with the ex, I think.
The second one was a 4-cup Mr. Coffee that cost about $20 and lasted me about 20 years. In more recent years, it was used for warming canning lids for my home canning. I actually miss that one for its versatility.
The third coffee pot still works, and I've had it at least 30 years. It was one of those free gift-with-purchase things for the first coffee subscription service I ever heard of - Gevalia coffee. I didn't use the subscription for long, but the coffee pot has been fabulous, but not perfect - I have to make a large pot of coffee anytime I use it.
Since the introduction of the pod coffee makers, I've been looking at getting a new coffee pot, but when I would start looking at all the new ones on the market, I would get frustrated. I need a coffee pot that can make a single cup OR a whole pot, and I have decided that they still don't make the perfect coffee pot.
Oh wait! Let's not forget, I even have an electric percolator pot and a single cup pot. No, I didn't buy either of them, which is why I didn't list them earlier. The electric percolator is not the one my parents had - I believe it actually finally died at some point. It one was my mother-in-law's and I'm told it still works. I haven't used it yet, but as a coffee addict, uh I mean connoisseur, I believe in having a back-up to the back-up.
Oh yeah - that single cup pot? It belonged to our youngest daughter when she was in college. I currently use it to make my tea.
I'm not picky or cheap or anything like that, I just want a coffee pot that can do EVERYTHING. You know - it needs to grind the beans AND make large pots of coffee or single-serving size cups. It would also be nice if it could make cappuccino and espresso, but I'm not that picky. That frother thingy isn't necessary either, but a cool feature, just in case. Hot water for tea or instant noodles would be good too, but like I said, I'm not picky.
After about 2 years of searching, I still haven't found the perfect coffee pot, but I think I've come close. I think the only thing it doesn't do besides the cappuccino and espresso is grind the beans. Oh well, I usually buy pre-ground anyway. I guess I'll just have to grin and bear it until someone makes the perfect coffee pot.
What do you consider is the perfect coffee pot? Do you have a favorite? Do you grind your own beans? What do you think?
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When I had my first household, coffee pot selection was made for me. The wife was Cuban and that meant Cuban coffee and the proper pot to cook it in (a cafetera or a Moka). Bustelo was our brand (still is). I liked Cuban coffee, so that was not an issue for this white boy. We did have a drip coffee maker too, a 10-12 cup size, forget the brand. We did have an old fashioned percolator as a backup and I took it camping with me with Scouts.
I used to be a heavy coffee drinker thanks to the military and police work, but not any more. After we got divorced, the wife got custody of the Cuban coffee…
Great article! I enjoy the quickness and versatility of flavors with the new pods. And seeing that ours is purple, well...