Best Coffee Maker

Q: I would like a little discussion on what is the best coffee maker for the home - Braun, Krups, Master Chef, Mr. Coffee, Bunn, ...

A: Of the above selections, I'm familiar with all except MC - and I prefer Braun, hands down. I love mine... Bunn. Period. Of the 12 or so I've tested in a lab (when I worked for a large N. American houswares company for a summer) it brewed the most consistenlty to SCAA's Golden Cup standard. It also is the quickest brewer out there; a fact which I find very worthwhile. Yup. Only home dripper I can stand. Got a Mr. Coffee high speed (w/reservoir) for road trips to use in hotels... wish I had bit the bullet and shelled for another Bunn. Wal-Mart used to sell the Bunn home units for $40 not so long ago, but now the price has doubled, and Wallyworld doesn't carry them any more unless you find a leftover. I've seen them as high as $120 (the stainless cased version, but still the home model) in department stores. The white plastic one works just great, should still be able to land one for under $80 if you look. I figured that out myself - it's all in the wrist. Once you get used to it, you won't drip at all no matter how fast you pour. Also, if you take off the top, you have less chance of dripping. So instead, I impress guests with the funky spherical carafe. Great machine, BTW. Makes great, strong coffee. Krups is good - the built in water filter is a plus IF you don't already have filtered water. If you do, like many of us, it's a useless feature. As for Bunn...I had one for several years, and became so frustrated by having to wait for the water to heat up before I could make a pot, I finally got rid of it. It makes good coffee, but you can't brew one pot after another. I had a Krups. I had a Braun. I have also had a Mr. Coffee, Proctor-Silex and one or two others. I decided that because I deserved it, I bought a CAPRESSO AROMA and after a month of use, decided that I wasted a lot of money in the past looking for "the best". I bought it at a Williams-Sonoma and said that it was a lot of money for a coffee maker and was told that they stand behind it and could bring it back if I wasn't happy with it. I Love it. It Makes the best coffee that I have had since my old Sunbeam Vacuum brewer bit the dust so many years ago. I have a Braun Crystal Arome (factory refurb) drip coffee maker and am thoroughly pleased with it. The filter system really does make an amazing difference, not to mention cutting down on calcification problems! I also have ordered the Spidem Espresso Dream espresso/cappuccino machine and am waiting in breathless anticipation for its arrival (tomorrow with any luck AT ALL!). This will be my 3rd espresso maker in as many years, I recently replaced my Maxim (HA! What a TOY!) with the DeLonghi Caffe Siena, but was displeased with the final temperature of the cappuccino I was creating, the system just didn't get the milk hot enough. So I ordered the Espresso Dream, I'll let you know how it works out but several "coffee experts" from the web have recommended the Spidem product line and the Espresso Dream is, after all, a stainless steel pump machine. Much better than a steam toy or so I'm told! Back to drip coffee... I really do love my Braun, my mother says it makes the best "plain old coffee" she's ever had, IHHO. I tend to agree, but since I'm really a cappuccino junkie and have the Braun for company it doesn't get used as often as it should. I have had every machine from Mr. Coffee with a built-in grinder to a Melitta 4-cup machine and still prefer the Braun to them all.

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