What Kinds of Coffee Makers Are Available?

Many people have a coffeemaker but are curious what different types of coffeemakers are available. Maybe you would like to try something new or your old coffee maker finally died and you need a good replacement. With hundreds of types of coffee maker on the market, you have many options available and are sure to find something that will suit your needs.

Before you buy a coffee maker you should figure out what exactly you want out of it. Are you a coffee addict who needs 10 cups a day or should you stick with a smaller single serve coffee maker? Do you need to grind your own beans and want a grinder built in? Do you want foam or options for espresso and cappuccino? Or, do you just want something cheap that will make coffee as easy as possible? These are just a few questions you should ask yourself before going to find a new coffee maker.

Naturally, the easiest and most common type of coffee maker is the automatic drip. This is where you put some water in the back or side, put in a filter, fill it with coffee, then push start. Its ease of use is one of the things that makes this type so appealing. These can make just one cup at a time or gallons at a time. It all depends on what you want to use it for. The only thing you really need to worry about is the type of coffee you want to put into it. Quality coffee beans can be ground at stores and they can even be infused with flavors you like such as hazelnut, vanilla, and cinnamon.

The second most popular type of coffee maker is the manual drip. This is just like the automatic drip except you heat up and pour the water yourself. You pour it into the holder where the coffee filter filled with coffee sits. It drains into the pot and you are done. These also make either single cup or up to 12 cups but aren't usually used commercially. For people who love fishing, hunting, and camping, these are a good choice as they are portable and you can heat the water however you want. You can use a stove, campfire, even a hot car engine is an option if you really need a cup of coffee immediately.

Espresso and cappuccino machines are for a selective person who knows exactly what they like. Unlike a normal coffee maker, these are expensive and you need to practice to operate them efficiently. They utilize pressure, foam, froth, and milk depending on the type of machine you buy. Espresso and cappuccino are gaining popularity and these are becoming smaller and more affordable than ever before.

In addition to these, there are many other types of coffee maker you may be interested in. There are old fashioned percolators, vacuum brewers, French presses, and much more available if you choose to look around. You can find anything you are looking for either online or at a local retailer.

Coffeemakers - A Brief History

Once people discovered the great taste of coffee and the stimulating effect of caffeine on the body, they were hooked. The road to a quality coffeemaker has been long, but worthwhile. Originally coffeemakers had a slight problem in that they occasionally blew up. Sometimes they burned the coffee.

According to some, women who ran houses of ill repute were among the first coffee makers. In 1674, men were spending so much time drinking at local coffee houses that the women in England attempted to outlaw coffee. Coffeemakers in the 1600's and 1700's were designed in an array of styles, most featuring a fat bulge in an effort to help retain the coffee grounds when pouring out the coffee.

Some creative individual put coffee in a sock in an effort to contain the grounds in 1780. This heralded the birth of the Mr. Biggin coffee maker. The Mr. Biggin used a cloth filter. Coffee fans tried cotton, wool, burlap and other fabrics and materials to filter coffee. Cloth didn't work well. In 1802, metal coffee filters came into use.

The 1800's were a time of rapid coffee maker development. Madame Vassieux of Lyons, developed a vacuum coffee maker. Madame Richard also created a vacuum style coffee maker. Vacuum and percolator coffee makers were widely used. In 1818, a Parisian metal smith invented the first coffee percolator. In America, the Cowboy Pot was the coffee maker of choice.

During the years of 1835 to 1850, many, many coffee makers are invented. Glass balloon coffee makers, vacuum system coffee makers, piston system coffee makers, pressure steamer coffee makers, a Naperian balancing siphon coffee maker and other coffee makers, roasters and grinders are invented.

The birth of the Manning-Bowman Percolator occurred in 1890. House Furnishings Review magazine promoted the Cafetiere double blown-glass coffee maker. The Raparlier coffee maker featured a filter made of hemp. This style of Hydropneumatic coffee maker was used as late as the 1960's.

Vacuum and percolator coffee makers continued to be created in different syles. Plunger filters were first introduced in the 1900's. The principle is still applied to coffee makers today. Some say that it is virtually impossible to make a bitter cup of coffee with a plunger style coffee maker.

As the 1900's progressed, Willy Brandl invented one of the first ever electric coffee makers. The major development in this case was the switch that automatically turned the coffee maker off when the liquid level was low.
Coffee filters as we know them today were born in 1912. Frau Benz invented Melitta coffee filter paper. Goodbye linen and cloth coffee filters. Hello paper. Easy to use and easy to get rid of.

The first true espresso machine arrived in 1946 when Achille Gaggia designed the first espresso machine that didn't involve using steam. Within fifteen years, modern coffee makers using paper filters began to be used commercially. Bunn introduced the paper filter as it's known today in 1957. The first 'pourover' coffee maker was introduced by Bunn in 1963.

Mr. Coffee was born in 1972. The automatic drip coffee maker hits store shelves and start showing up in homes and businesses everywhere. After Mr. Coffee signed Joe DiMaggio to be the company spokesman in 1974, Mr. Coffee became a household name.

When the price of coffee beans skyrocketed in 1977, Mr. Coffee created a coffee saver coffee maker that used less coffee. The first thermal coffee carafe is born around this time, giving coffee drinkers the ability to easily keep coffee hot for long periods. By 1979, timers appeared on coffee makers and have come a long way from the Cowboy Coffee Pot. It will be interesting to see how the machines evolve over the next hundred years.