Our Coffee Maker
A long time ago my friend Reed came over on a Sunday morning, and I offered to make coffee. He replied, laughing, "Yeah sure, as long as it's not Yuban." I froze in the middle of taking my bag of Yuban out of the fridge, mildly horrified.
Fast forward a few years to when Brandie's Aunt Kathie advised us not to buy good coffee, because it was expensive and we wouldn't want to go back to the old, bad stuff (ie. Yuban).
We didn't listen, and got spoiled at work with Peet's and Starbucks brewed daily. We started buying big bags of Starbucks beans at Costco, and wound up buying this beauty of a coffee-maker on sale at the same store. It grinds the beans and sends them right into the hot water, making a pretty nice tasting cup of joe.
On the other hand it's a pain in the butt to clean, with seven unique parts that need to be disassembled, washed, dried and reassembled every time you want to make coffee. And lately it's started to leak coffee all the counter instead of pouring neatly into the carafe, which makes for a frustrating start to the day.Aunt Kathie & Reed were both right. Good coffee is a slippery slope, but bad coffee tastes terrible.
UPDATE: We took a play from Carol's book and tried cleaning the coffeemaker more thoroughly, and with a little help from a toothpick Brandie was able to clear out the channel inside the carafe lid that had been clogged by grinds. Daily cleaning with soap and water and regular vinegar brews weren't enough to tackle this, but thanks to Brandie's efforts it's working great again now! Not the most convenient way to clean something but it beats buying a new one.
Just wait until you buy an espresso machine! Then only *certain* brands of milk texture properly, and we *have* to order coffee every week from Portland. It's pathetic.
"What else you gonna do with your money?"
Irony - I was just surfing overstock.com and I saw the same coffee maker at quite the discount...check it out!! Believe it or not I was on overstock looking at faucets when I saw the coffee maker pop up on the search and I thought it looked like yours!
MR.COFFEE!!!!!! If you have a problem with it, they'll replace it and ship you a new one within days. I know - I'm on my third in 3 years. I thought it was a flaw in the machine, but my mother-in-law asked me how many times I cleaned it????? I didn't know you were supposed to clean them. When my new one quit working, I tried cleaning it and guess what - IT WORKED. Bummer I chucked the old ones in the dumpster . . .
I think our hard water is particularly tough on coffeemakers too, but we're planning on getting a water softener soon.
Does anyone recommend any brands that are comparable to Starbucks French Roast? I hate to sound like such a dweeb, but the Member's Mark French Roast just ain't cutting it...
When Brandie and Jake had their flat in San Raphael a good majority of the time when I called to visit with Brandie Jake would be vacuuming. This made it difficult for Brandie not to be distracted by the noise. Was this a subliminal message directed towards me, I thought? This occurred more than once. Through the years the vacuuming subsided while we visited. UNTIL the dreaded, current, coffee maker became a part of the Stephens residence. The first time I heard it I thought it was the dreaded vacuum again. Had I done something to pi$$ Jake off. ha ha But Brandie assured me that is was just their new coffee maker. Wow! Sounded just like the vacuum. Hopefully the new one will have a silencer on it. Then I will know I have truly been accepted as the Mother-in Law