A coffee maker is, for many, every morning the essential cornerstone – the day can not start without a proper cup of coffee! But whether you drink coffee because it feels almost necessary to survive the day or if you do it for more enjoyable reasons, it should be a matter of course that the coffee you drink should be excellent! And it’s not just the type of coffee that matters for the taste of the coffee – your coffee maker also affects it!
As taste is known to be very subjective, it is, of course, not easy to decide which brewer brews the best coffee – but you can take bitterness into account if the coffee gets a burnt taste and other things that are still direct results of how the brewer works (or not works). Some flavor elements depend entirely on the temperature of the water, how fast it flows through the filter, and what heat the coffee maker can hold when the brewing is finished.
ECBC Standard
Many coffee makers today are approved according to ECBC standards. ECBC, European Coffee Brewing Center, is a Norwegian laboratory where test brewers are tested to ensure that they can actually deliver coffee in the best possible way! The brewing time must not be too short or too long; if the water flows too fast through the coffee powder, it does not have time to absorb all the coffee’s flavors, but if it goes too slowly, it will instead be leached. The heat retention must be at a temperature between 80-85 degrees for the coffee to retain its taste even after brewing. The water must reach a temperature of 92-96 degrees for the taste to be optimal.
Ease of Use
Another thing that may be worth keeping in mind is how user-friendly the coffee maker feels. Having to wrestle with many strange attitudes and other nuisances, the first thing you do in the morning (also before you get the first cup of coffee of the day!) is not exactly a dream scenario. An easy-to-read display and clear buttons are simply preferable! And how easy is the machine to clean? If you do not have access to clean everywhere, it will affect the taste. A coffee maker needs to be both cleaned and descaled from time to time!
Lots of Different Features
A coffee maker can have several different functions, which can more or less affect the brewing result. It can also be about functions that affect user-friendliness in different ways. Here are a few examples:
Automatic Shut-off: switches off the brewer after a specific time so that it does not switch on unnecessarily.
Drip Stop: a function that allows you to remove the jug while the coffee is still brewing without it dripping down on the hotplate.
Aroma Setting: allows you to adjust the strength of the coffee you brew.
Heat retention Function: ensures that the coffee maintains a certain temperature when the brewing is finished (see above for ECBC standard).
Thermos Jug: some brewers brew the coffee straight down into a thermos jug or a thermos mug.
Integrated Bean Grinder: some coffee makers have a built-in coffee grinder.
Fixed Water Connection: the coffee maker is filled with water directly from the water pipe.
Automatic Descaling: descales the brewer at regular intervals so that you do not have to think about it yourself.
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