Electric Coffee Maker
What are the options and how good they are?
When talking about the electric coffee maker most people think about the automatic drip coffee maker. But that is not the only option - and it may not the best one either!
Many people don't realize that there are things like an electric French press, an electric Moka pot, an electric percolator or even an automatic vacuum coffee maker. Then there are many different single serve coffee makers that are becoming so popular these days. Here we will talk about all these options one by one.
Automatic drip coffee maker
This is by far the most common automatic coffee maker. I am sure you are well familiar with it. The main advantage of the automatic drip coffee maker is the ease of use. The main drawback is that most of these machines do not make very good coffee. The main problem is that most of them brew coffee at too low a temperature.
Electric French press
If you like strong full-bodied coffee then you should consider the electric French press. There are only two different models available: one by Chef's Choice and the other by West Bend.
Electric Moka pot
This is a Moka pot that has an electrical base. So instead of making the coffee on the stovetop you just put the Moka pot on the electric base and turn on the switch. Very convenient. The most popular electric Moka pots are made by Bialetti, Delonghi and La Pavoni.
Electric cappuccino maker
Yes, there is such a thing as electric cappuccino maker. The most popular is probably the Bialetti Mukka Express Electric, but there are others too.
Automatic vacuum brewer
Having an automatic vacuum brewer seems like a dream: great coffee and convenience at the same time. But unfortunately it seems that producing a decent automatic vacuum brewer is not that easy. The only model available at the moment is the Bodum Santos electric coffee maker. It used to be sold also as Starbucks Barista Utopia. There are a number of issues with this product and I simply cannot recommend it (I explain why in here).There also used to be Black and Decker Infuze a few years back but it's not sold any more because there was a number of problems with it too.
Well, let's hope someone comes up with a better product soon.
Electric percolator
Percolators are not the best way to make coffee but some people seem to like the bitter over-extracted taste. There are a number of electric models available for example from Farberware, Hamilton Beach, Cuisinart or Melitta.