Java Jim

True coffee lovers have been known to engage in some very heated arguments over which type of coffee maker actually produces the best coffee. The answer? It all depends. It’s as simple as that.

Once civilizations figured out that a liquid could be made from the coffee beans they had been popping like vitamin pills, future generations invented multiple ways to fix the perfect cup of coffee. Before that, coffee beans were chewed on to prevent fatigue as warriors headed to battle.

Many agree that there is nothing better than a pot of coffee percolated over an open camp fire. Cowboys and cattle rustlers drank their coffee like this for decades sans the luxuries of cream or sugar. For those who chose to stay closer to home, the stove top percolator did the trick just fine. However, one of the drawbacks of these percolators is that they tend to perk all over the place if not watched carefully.

These percolators, however, were used well into the 1950s when a new invention came about – the electric percolator. Housewives fell in love with these new coffee makers because boiling over accidents became a thing of the past. Water temperature was regulated, and ingredients were measured. A perfect cup of coffee was guaranteed if you just did what you were supposed to.

Nothing much happened until the 1970s when the drip coffee maker came on the market. And once again, housewives flocked to the store to buy them up. Some actually came in selection of colors to match kitchen decors. The technology of these drip makers was almost reversed. Rather than boiling the water and forcing it up through coffee grounds, the water was heated separately and dripped down through the coffee grounds. One major difference in this methodology is that the only thing being dripped through the coffee grounds was pure water, not the coffee that had already been forced up beforehand as with a percolator.

No major improvement came about for another 15 years or so. In the late 1980s coffee lovers began to frequent gourmet coffee houses to enjoy richer blends – espresso, latte, cappuccino, etc. They loved these so much that manufactures started to make the same machines found in coffee houses for the average coffee drinker. They now started showing up in homes all over the place, usually sitting on the counter top next to their regular coffee maker.

As other cultures continued to influence American cuisine, we became familiar with the French press and what is affectionately known as “the Cuban coffee maker” – two coffee makers that produce very strong brews, tastes that need to be acquired by the average American. The French press is similar to a drip coffee maker since the water in effect still drips through the coffee grounds. However, the water drips very slowly because the grounds are very fine. When they get wet they turn into a sort of clay, forcing the water to take its time going through, and building up strength as they do so.

Bottom line – no matter what kind of coffee you like, or how you prefer to make it, there are plenty of options available to choose from.

John McKain writes many coffee maker consumer reviews. Being a coffee lover himself, he posts them on his coffee makers review website for all the coffee lovers out there.