What Kind of Coffee Maker is Best?

I've really gotten a lot of use out of this kettle, Yvonne. I not only use it for various teas, but I've boiled water for hot shredded wheat in the mornings. I received my Chicory tea yesterday and am having a cup. It's not unlike Sanka. When I got down to half a cup, I added brewed coffee. It's actually pretty good. It's as though they mellow each other out.

One thing I cannot find is data on how much inulin you might get when you brew chicory root versus grinding it to augment baked goods and actually consuming the root. I'm kind of curious.

 

After trying several ways of making my Teeccino herbal coffee, I have decided that my favorite way is using my tea filter. It is similar to the pour over, except with the filter, I just put it in the mug, pour over the hot water like you would do for pour over coffee, and then let it steep for a few minutes.
You do not have to spend as much time standing and pouring little bits of water at a time like when you are making pour over coffee, and it is closer to using a French Press in how it works.

It would not be appropriate for making a pot of coffee, but to make a cup at a time, it is perfect. It works for my herbal coffee as well as regular coffee, or tea.

 

I have been enjoying the Teccino coffees as well, @Yvonne Smith and may have to get one of those tea filters. I like the lid it comes with...I always put a saucer over the cup when I steep tea because I let it sit for so long to get a strong cuppa. I tried brewing the coffee through a cone filter, but the grounds are so fine they plug it up. I then used a strainer to catch most of the grounds with a basket filter underneath of it to catch the rest, and the filter still clogged. THEN I just used a regular strainer, but fine grounds still got through.

One of those coffees had instructions (for either cappuccino or espresso) where you use twice the regular amount of grounds for a strong brew and then add Half & Half. So I picked up some Half & Half and have been adding it to whichever flavor I brew. I've also been adding it to the chicory/raspberry instant coffee. Just a splash makes a nice addition.

 

I probably have some fine grounds get through, @John Brunner , but they sink to the bottom and are not a problem for me. I like the lid because it really helps keep my cup of coffee/tea/whatever nice and hot much longer.
I do have one of the electric up warmers here at my desk, and between that and the lid, it does a pretty good job of keeping it drinkable.
I am thinking of getting another one, so that i can have a warmer by the little couch for in the evenings when i am sitting there and reading and still want a cup of something hot to drink.
Now that I am not drinking anything with caffeine in it, I can enjoy the herbal coffee anytime I want it.

I am really happy because we just had our lab work done, and I am seeing an improvement between the results from this time and last time as far as how both my liver and kidneys are doing; which makes me feel like I am actually accomplishing something worthwhile for my health.

Teeccino sent me a link for an ebook abut coffee and herbal coffees and it is interesting . Here is the link to download it , for anyone who wants to know more about the Teeccino benefits and what caffeine does to our body.
I was surprised to learn that the reason we get headaches when stopping coffee is because the caffeine actually shrinks up the blood vessels in our brain.
You would think that our brain would be happy to have the vessels operating at peak flow again, but apparently not at first; which is one reason to wean yourself off of the caffeine if you are a heavy coffee drinker.
If you take OTC pain meds for the headache, most of them have caffeine, so you are just replacing the method that your body gets the caffeine from, so doing it over time is better than just stopping all at once sometimes.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0533/5724/8681/files/Teeccino_Quitting-Caffeine-Painlessly_V8-13mb.pdf?

 

I'm so happy about your lab results, Yvonne!! That's great to actually see results. Holding steady would be good news, but improving is cause for celebration.

Regarding caffeine & headaches: I've been through those nasty withdrawals. After I got past them, I found that when I awoke in the morning, I was actually alert & ready to go, rather than being groggy until I got my caffeine fix. But I always return. I'm a java junky...

Maybe I should get a cup warmer. I make a 4 cup pot of coffee in the morning, and the heating base of the machine always times out and I have to restart the warmer timer. And I'm always dumping 1/2 of the mug back into the pot because it got cold.

 

@Yvonne Smith I received my tea filter set and mug warmer. I got the same tea filter set as you, except in red. An 8-12 cup basket filter lines the inside of the strainer perfectly, as though it were made for it. So I am able to keep the bits & grounds out of my drink. I really like it.

The warmer works fine, and I'm really glad I finally got one, but I'm pessimistic as to this one's longevity.


You choose from one of 3 temperatures. The display shows your setting, making it redundant with the red circle around your chosen temperature...the display is not the temp of the beverage as it is with the electric kettle. The top of it is perfectly flat, so it's easy to clean and you can set any size cup or mug on it that you wish.

The warmer turns on when a mug is set on it, and turns off when the mug is lifted. This is accomplished by a small spring-loaded button on the bottom of the unit...you can hear it click every time you remove/replace the mug. And that's my problem. *Click* *Click*/*Click* *Click*/*Click* *Click* as you sip. On/Off On/Off On/Off On/Off. I don't know how many cycles the switch is rated for. I've not read any negative reviews of it failing. The warmer has a 6 month guarantee, so I've saved the retail box it came in just in case. If it breaks after that, I can always bypass the pressure switch and install an inline lamp switch (the warmer only draws 25 watts.) Either way, it has a 4 hour auto shut-off timer if you leave the mug sitting on it.

 

I have seriously been thinking about updating my mug warmer, and I have been wanting one with the adjustable settings on it. I just tried lifting mine because I didn’t remember it making a clicking noise, but now that I paid attention, it does do that. (So lift it when you are distracted and you will never notice the clicks)
As far as longevity, I have had mine since 2018, use it every single day for hours and hours, and it still works as good as ever; so I do not think you have to worry about the “clicker” wearing out, @John Brunner .
I would like to have one that holds drinks hotter, and I have been telling myself that if I had TWO of the warmers, then I could have one by my desk and one by the Poodle Couch for when I am relaxing and reading in the evening.
Sounds reasonable, right ?

Which heat setting do you prefer for keeping the coffee/tea hot ? Does only the hottest one keep it hot enough, or do the lower settings work okay ?

 

Several years ago, I had a mug warmer that worked very well. It went away somewhere, I don't know what happened to it, but I bought another one a few years ago, only to find that it didn't work well at all.

 

The one I have is 25 watts. That's 1/4 the power of a banned light bulb. The Amazon page talks about it "heating fast," claiming it "only" takes 30 minutes to take a cup of coffee from 80°F to 167°F. Many of them are under 20w.

Here is one that is 70w (on High) and is under $30, and has USB ports on it. I saw it when I bought mine but misunderstood it to be USB powered (assuming I would have to buy a USB adapter.) It has a 110v plug.

Now that I really scrutinize the descriptions, most of them say to use a flat-bottom mug (not one with a raised ring around the circumference with a recessed middle.) In any even, the one I have keeps it plenty hot. I'm not heating it from room temp.

Regarding temp: I've only kept it on the highest setting.

edit to add: I just looked at the bottoms of all my varied, non-matching coffee mugs. The only one I have that has a flat bottom was a gift. It was made by a local potter. Actually, I was given 2 of them, but one shattered when it hit the floor. All the other ones have a raised rim. I need to go by Goodwill.

 

@Yvonne Smith Just for grins I set the warmer to 149°F instead of 167°F. The higher temp started to feel a little too hot for me, although the temp of the last cup in the pot is 167°F. 149°F seems sufficient so far. Or maybe this thing is not 100% accurate. I'll check the temp with my Infra-Red gun when I feel like playing with it.

I also tried that flat-bottom hand-made mug. My coffee did not stay as hot in that as it did in my other mug with the raised ring around the bottom. Perhaps the mug's material makes a bigger difference in mug temperature than the amount of surface contact the mug has. It might also be that the hand-made mug has a smaller bottom and almost a soup mug diameter top (so more heat escapes.)

Who the heck knows? Lots of the warmer ads say to use the flat-bottom ones. But they also say "Caring for the family begins with loving his drink, on special days like Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas." Yup. Great advice, there.

 

It works for both regular coffee, herbal coffee, and tea leaves, @Ron Beforee . I use mine for making any and all of those. John Brunner said he uses a paper filter inside of the steel filter; but I don’t have a problem with grounds and just use the steel filter.
For instant coffee, you would not need the filter. The lid on the cup really helps to keep your coffee/tea nice and hot, and I also use the electric mug warmer, so that it will not cool down at all.
If a person makes their coffee a cup at a time, this filter system works great and is simpler than using the pour-over method, where you have to stand there and pour over little dabs of water at a time. I am no coffee connoisseur , but the coffee tastes just as good to me as any other way I have ever made it.