I use 12 level tbsps of coffee plus about 1 1/2 more for our ten-cup Braun. I always offer guests added hot water if it's too strong, but no one has ever complained. We buy Don Francisco online or from the catalog; it's DH's favorite. Don't care for Starbucks; it tastes very harsh to me. We have a variety of D.F. flavors that we like. When they have a sale we occasionally spring for Kona. There is now a discussion about coffee brewed in French press coffee makers being bad for one's cholesterol. A Dutch study comparing filtered to unfiltered coffee indicated that this was the case. There's a fair amount online about this question. I just googled 'french press coffee cholesterol'. Very interesting information.

I can't say how the flavor compares with that of a percolator because by the time I started drinking coffee everyone I know was using drip, but our favorite coffee maker is the Toddy cold brew system. DH and I even prefer it to French press and Chemex (our other favorites), and it's a lot easier. We used to buy only premium coffees but now we can get a decent cup even from mass market brands (although in that case we generally stick to Colombian). With respect to appearance, it is a simple lightweight plastic cylinder with a well for its filter and a rubber stopper. Ours lives in the back of a cabinet for the many days between batches. Plus whatever container/pitcher you like to hold the concentrate (their system comes with one, but you don't have to use it). Extraction is a time-temperature trade-off, with different components extracting at different rates. Instead of subjecting the coffee to hot water for a few minutes, you extract it (a half to a whole pound at a time) in cold water for 12 to 24 hours. This makes a concentrate that you keep in the fridge and mix as needed with hot water. Cold extraction is better at holding onto the volatile flavor components (after all, we mostly "taste" with our noses). The heated-just-before-drinking coffee actually tastes as good as good as freshly-ground beans smell. Cold extraction also seems to be a lot slower at extracting the bitter flavors. And using the shorter period supposedly reduces the acid for those that are bothered (I'm not, so I can't say from actual experience). I like my coffee rather hot, and my instant hot is hot enough to make a good cup with the refrigerated concentrate.

I too had a older Brew Express, but I recently changed to a newer 10 cup. I spoke with them and understood when I bought my original unit it was a new model to the market when it first came out, but it went through improvements over time. They told me it was designed and tested to the coffee industry standards. I was suprised to find coffee is best brewed at around 195-200f at the spray-head, and no heater plate was actually better. When I complained to Brew Express people they understood, but I didn't understand that the temperature drops quite a bit going into a stainless carafe. I also found that they did improve the older model quite a bit since the time I had bought it, but then they found it was necessary to create a better looking brewer, and one that could be more reliable. I also heard they changed to a 10 cup so it will hold better heat. I decided to change to a 10 cup because I couldn't resist the price as an existing customer and that it fit into the same installation box. I was skeptical at first, but they truly improved it. Did you know the new unit can brew 1 cup not just for coffee? It can also adjust the amount for a larger cup. My wife loves it for making tea and coco. I am glad Brew Express improved their product. Yes, it cost me twice, but it is still worth saving counter space and never adding water. That is my two cents. Fred

Must not be any other Asians here, because our Must Have is our Zojirushi fuzzy logic rice cooker, esp. because we eat both brown and white rice. Unfortunately, it has a larger footprint than a regular rice cooker. Our other Must Have is the Instant Hot which is used multiple times per day. IMHO, an Absolute Must Have is anything used at least three times per week. A Probable Must Have is anything used weekly. The really questionable items are used under once per month, so you have to weigh how you would manage without it, and the difficulty of storage and cost of replacement. Then, there's the stuff my mom gave us and we never use like the fondue set and the George Forman grill. Unfortunately, they are not new in the box because we felt obligated to use them once since she kept asking, and we are worried that she might remember and ask us again. Thank goodness we have a basement!