The Best Coffee Brewers for 2009

Let’s face it. There hasn’t been another invention quite as wonderful as the automatic coffeemaker and of course the latest invention, the Keurig coffee maker for brewing gourmet coffee house coffee at home. For those of us who think that coffee should be the sixth food group, here is a review of the  rated by consumersearch.com.

Cuisinart Brew Central DCC-1200:

Praise has been lavishly bestowed upon this quaint little sophisticated machine by Amazon, Consumer Reports and many others. It features a twelve cup brewing capacity, programmable timer, auto shutoff and an adjustable temperature hot plate, all for around $80. There is a small batch setting for all those morning people out there, who don’t need quite as much artificial get-up-and-go.

Braun Aroma Deluxe KF150:

According to reviews in Amazon, Cook’s Illustrated, and Consumer Reports, this machine is a great bang for your buck. At approximately $40, this no-frills coffeemaker produces a decent cup of joe, though the brewing time leaves a little to be desired and the brewing temperature was not quite hot enough to make exceptional coffee according to the hundreds of mostly satisfied customer reviews. Though lacking in convenient features like a programmable timer, small batch option, or auto shut off, this coffee maker received excellent marks from consumer reviews.

Technivorm KB741:

This coffeemaker comes in number one in at least one arena, price. Averaging about $265, this Dutch-made is one of the few auto-drip machines currently certified by the Specialty Coffee Association of America as being able to brew coffee at the optimum temperature for an exceptional cup of coffee. This machine is a particularly simple to use appliance that will deliver the kind of coffee a true connoisseur can enjoy.

Newco OCS-8:

This machine incorporates a plastic carafe into its design to avoid “cooking” your coffee as some glass carafe coffee makers tend to do. It is also certified by the Specialty Coffee Association of America as having the ability to brew at the precise optimum temperature and is priced well below the Technivorm at a measly $140. The drawback is that this unit is extremely difficult to find and is mostly available in online specialty stores.