Coffee Makers: Various Ways to Brew Coffee
We will talk about drip brewers (both automatic and manual), about French press coffee pots, about Moka pots (or stovetop espresso makers as they are often called), about vacuum coffee pots, about contemporary single serve coffee makers and even about cold brewed coffee.
Drip Brewer
Drip coffee makers are by far the most common device to brew coffee. The operating principle is very simple: ground coffee is placed onto a filter and hot water is then allowed to drip through the filter into a carafe or into a cup. This can be manual as in Chemex coffee brewer, but usually it is automatic. I talk about what you need to consider when choosing the automatic drip brewer in
here.
French Press
French press is a popular way to make rich, full-bodied cup of coffee. It consists of a jug and a plunger that fits tightly into the jug. You put coarsely ground coffee into the jug, pour hot water over it, leave it stand for a few minutes and then use the plunger to push the coffee grounds to the bottom of the jug to separate them from the coffee. Check my other pages for
more details about French press
and
how to make most of it.
Moka Pot
Moka pot is a stovetop espresso maker very popular in Italy. It produces strong and rich coffee. The moka pot has three parts: the chamber at the bottom holds the water, the metallic filter in the middle holds the coffee and the chamber at the top collects the coffee. For more details have a look at my other pages about stovetop espresso makers.
Vacuum Brewer
Vacuum brewing is spectacular to watch. It has been around since 1830's and it was quite popular until about 1960's. Then the vacuum brewer was replaced by percolator and later on by the drip brewer. However, there has been more interest in vacuum brewing recently and it seems to be making a comeback. Check my other pages about how the process works and about the various vacuum brewers.
Single Serve
Single serve coffee brewers are very popular these days. They are very convenient and easy to use. With these coffee machines you use individually pre-packed portions of coffee. The coffee is more expensive than when using other brewing methods. But for a lot of people the convenience you get more than compensates for the cost.