Today the family coffeemaker died.
It was an old Black & Decker unit that I picked up from a surplus store (XS Cargo) about four years ago for about $30. We never really used the programming feature much as about a year ago it started to turn on by itself if we left it plugged in. Nice.
The machine met its demise as I prepped coffee for myself and a friend who was over for a visit. The thing simply decided it wasn’t going to pump water anymore. So that’s that.
Now we are in the market for a new coffeemaker. And while I tend to use my trusty AeroPress more often than not, whenever my wife and I want to have coffee in the morning it’s nice to have a machine to do the job.
My wife isn’t fussy about features. She wants to be able to simply press a button and – poof – instant coffee. She doesn’t care for programming the thing, doesn’t care if it grinds the beans1, doesn’t give a hoot about adjusting the brew strength. The only button she cares about is the on/off one.
That probably means we could have a crap coffeemaker. Except I also will be drinking coffee from this machine. And I actually want to enjoy my coffee, as opposed to whatever liquid swill that a cheap unit would offer.
So there’s the rub.
We need a unit that would satisfy my drinking needs and not put off my wife too much (which means that price is definitely a factor as she controls the purse strings around here — $100 or less is going to be the price range, I’d imagine). So while I may not be able to get the best coffeemaker out there
That means I need recommendations…and quickly.
Here’s what I’d like in a coffeemaker:
- Programmable start and automatic shut off time.
- A built-in burr grinder would be great.
- Ultimately, something that makes an excellent cup of coffee; something that won’t make me regret not reaching for the AeroPress instead.
To recap, here’s what my wife would like in a coffeemaker:
- A power button.
So if you’ve got suggestions, please leave me some in the comments below or on my Twitter feed. After all, I can only AeroPress for two for so long before it gets tedious. And I can say emphatically that my wife is not going to be doing any pressing of coffee at 5 a.m. despite her insatiable need for the stuff.
Which means my need to get a new — and ideal — coffeemaker is just as insatiable. Caffeinated wife, happy life, right?
Photo credit: Rosa Say (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
1 To be honest, my wife would prefer that the beans come from the store pre-ground. But that won’t cut if for me, so she acquiesced on that.
