... and I suppose "Made in the USA" would be impossible, too?

Right now he's using a vintage aluminum stove-top percolator. I would like to find a regular coffee maker.

I'm a Keurig person, so I'm not a good source of advice.

My Cuisinart coffee maker uses charcoal water filters.

Been a while since I dragged out the vintage drip pot. Got an electric perc in there too. Normal use is my old $10 "coffee maker" from the Dollar Store sale. Perfect. Drink 8 cups in the morning, and am capable of using the "off" switch when done. And a little Cappuccino maker off to the side for a quick cup ($4, thrift store). No gourmet coffee tastes here.

I would probably stick with Cuisinart as some of their models fulfill your wish list.

This post was edited by Fun2BHere on Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 18:37

Remember perculators?

I didn't realize they still made them, but they do.

{{!gwi}}

I have never had a cup of coffee in my life, or tea. After a taste or two when I was young that was it. YUCK. When I had to make coffee for a patient I thought I did it right but when nothing happened I realized that you pour the water in the tank thing. I had filled the carafe and set it on the hot plate thing. LOL.

I have a Cuisinart. It got good reviews on Amazon and is relatively basic though it does have features I don't use. I most like that it doesn't drip all over when you pour from it. I noticed two friends have the same one I do.

Cuisinart here too.

I don't drink coffee but DH does. He has a percolator and an 2 auto drips-he likes the cheaper one better. Amazon has a larger selection and you can read reviews. When DH wanted to try an electric percolator, I bought 3 at garage sales for him to try and see which he liked best.

Another Cuisinart fan.

Hamilton beach brew station. It's the only one we will ever have again we have the same one in the RV and every one of my family have the same ones. I love not having to deal with a carafe at all. The prices on them are very reasonable they have several models depending on what bells and whistles you want. We have had it for many years and it still is going strong.
It does stay on and keep the coffee hot some of them have a setting so you can set it for however long you want.
Brewstationî Coffee Makers
edit to say you can find them for much less than the prices on that site, walmart is about $10 cheaper and the one we bought for the RV was at Frys and it was less than that site. So check various sites.

This post was edited by ravencajun on Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 22:03

I have owned just about all brands of coffee makers and haven't found one that makes 'great' tasting coffee - the modern coffee makers just don't have the pressure to make good coffee, imho.

I now use instant coffee or buy McDonalds coffee. In order to have a really great cup of coffee, I would need double filtered water and a commercial coffee maker, so I don't try to brew coffee any more, because I can't afford a commercial coffee maker.

I'm with you Kay, I haven't found one that makes an awesome cup of coffee either...and I've tried a lot of them.
Luckily, I don't drink a whole lot of it! :)

I'd take the filter out of your requirements and just use a Brita if your household water is that bad. Our water isn't tasty, but we have a sink RO unit for drinking water.

I have a great Cuisinart coffee maker that fulfills all your requirements that I bought in Costco. It's my second Cuisinart. I accidentally broke my first one. It keeps the coffee hot for 2 hours and then shuts itself off. It was relatively inexpensive, and it makes good coffee, hot coffee, which is what I require.

Mr Coffee is my favorite!

"What has happened to coffee makers?".

Short answer - most aren't very good.

Cooks Illustrated (America's Test Kitchen people) tested coffee makers and found almost all to be "Not Recommended". The problem is that none of them heat water hot enough to extract flavor from coffee and so the resulting coffee has a poor flavor relative to what would be possible if the water were hotter. Only two passed their standard (and also that of an industry org), both are names you've never heard of, one is $299 and the other is $150.

A very cheap and satisfactory method is to use a drip cone that holds paper filters. Melitta is a popular brand though there are others. The cones are sized to fit over a cup (around $5 each), over a carafe, or over a pot. You heat water in a tea kettle, spoon coffee into the paper filter, and then pour water over the coffee until the vessel underneath has the level you wish. It's the opposite of automatic - it's completely manual but it makes great coffee every time.

I think that's why Wes enjoys his stove-top percolator. The water is very hot; he adjusts the temp for the perking, and he can perk it as long as he likes.

My grandma use to make her coffee by boiling water in a saucepan. She would add a spoon (I don't remember what size) of ground coffee for each cup.

She would bring the water to a boil, turn off the burner, add the coffee grounds, give them a light stir, and put the lid on the pan. After a short while the grounds settled to the bottom of the pan. She carefully poured the coffee into her cup. There would be a bit of sediment, and sometimes a few grounds, but the coffee was good.

She said her mother added the "skin" pulled from inside an eggshell to her coffee to help it settle.

I stand by my DeLonghi. $59 and worth every dollar! People have many different opinions as to what is a great cup of coffee, so I won't say that everyone would be happy with the pot I'm so fond of. We like our coffee very strong and this pot delivers without me having to use half a pound of grounds, LOL.

Here is a link that might be useful: DeLonghi

Coffee seems to be an acquired taste that changes as we age. What once brewed wonderful coffee now tastes bitter. I don't think it is the machine, I think it is my changing taste buds.
"A great cup of coffee" is so not a generic term one size fits all. The comment, gave up now use instant, says it all to me. Now way no how could I drink instant coffee. No way would that be a substitute if I could not find a pot that brewed properly. I am not finding my Kureg THE ANSWER to my search for consistent, great coffee either. That was an expensive lesson!! Good luck Caroline!!

Since filters have been brought up....I've ben using a gold filter in my coffee maker. Rinse it out in hot water, and it's ready for the next. DH uses a Mr Coffee with those paper filters....I cringe at idea of drinking paper lint in my coffee.

In the log run, gold filters are cheaper than buying and storing those linty paper filers. And no paper in your coffee.

See if you can find an 800 number for Krups and have your old coffee maker's ID numbers handy to give them and see if they can direct you to a new maker with the same features. I see you are getting everything except answers to what you asked...typical....

Since people seem to love the Cuisinart brand, maybe you can call their customer service and list your desired features and they can give you a suitable model to buy?

Cuisinart here too, and I would definitely replace it with another one, just like this one. Mine has the bean grinder, which I dont use all that often, but, it is a nice feature, to have when you want to use it. It does not, however, use the #4 cone shaped filters. It uses the round one. I have a Gevalia which I also like, that shuts off, after 2 hours, and it does use the #4 shaped cone filters. Lots of coffee is drank in this house, and I have both running, when I have company.

I want a coffee maker that lives longer than several months. I have 3 dead bodies right now. I keep thinking if I get really bored, I'll see if I can fix them. LOL

Glenda, a friend of mine gave me one of those percolators years ago...looks just like the one pictured in your post. It was used when I received it and it still works, but is so heavy. It's my go to when one of the more modern versions chooses to die.

I'd skip the 'hot plate'. Old coffee is as appealing as stewed tea. Our Krups thermos carafe keeps our breakfast coffee warm enough -- or a second cup can be zapped for 30 seconds in the M/W.

I've thought that we would be in the market for one of those Keurig-type coffee makers when the Krups finally dies. It's at least 14 years old, and I imagine the water heating element can't keep heating to the required degree forever.

Arcy -- Why didn't you like your Keurig? Water not hot enough? You can create 'pods' from your choice of coffee, can't you?

Monica -- I've never had any filter lint in my coffee. I don't like the taste of coffee filtered through bleached paper though.

Do your MD's know how much coffee you drink? The only person I knew who drank that much coffee (ALL DAY) developed cancer of the esophagus.

How much coffee do others here drink?

DH has two cups and I have one, just at breakfast. We have a cup of tea around 3 p.m.

I use a cheap Mr Coffee espresso machine that I received as a wedding gift twenty years ago this month. It has never done a great job steaming the milk, and unless the coffee is fine enough, the coffee ends up too weak. I tried switching to a Krups pump-type espresso machine, which steamed the milk a little better, but the coffee wasn't any better and it had a plastic-y flavor. Plus the machine was noisy, and hard to clean. When it finally blew a gasket, literally, I went back to using the old Mr Coffee machine, and have found that if I use Cafe Pilon pre-ground espresso the results are much better than if I buy whole beans and use my burr grinder.

I have one two-espresso-shot latte every morning, occasionally I'll have another after lunch.

The only thing I know about percolators is that at the home-based coffee shop near my father-in-law's place in Maine, there's a sign that says "No percolators" and if you ask the shop owner about the sign he will explain (at length) about how a percolator does everything wrong if what you want is good coffee.

I heat the water before I put it into the coffee maker, where the heating unit heats it a little more.

I don't know if it's still being manufactured, but I once had a Black & Decker Brew 'n' Go that made just one 'cup' at a time.

The filter was a plastic cone-type affair with mesh at the bottom;
after each brew, you just dumped the grounds into your compost bucket & rinsed the filter.

The cup was an insulated mug that came with the coffee maker, & there was no hot plate;
the coffee went straight into the insulated mug.

no need for keeping the coffee hot inside a carafe or for automatic disconnect!

My experience is that the coffee & the water are critical;
the coffee maker is just a device for percolation.

Get the kind of coffee you like, use good water (if your local water isn't that great, try one of the kiosks whose name I can't remember-maybe Pure Water?).

Here, you can get 5 gallons dispensed into your own containers for $1.25.