Need help with gift for husband

Husbands birthday is coming up and I know he's wanting a new coffee maker. Anyone know much about those Keurig coffee machines? How does the coffee taste from something like this? My husband loves his coffee and REALLY loves a good cup in the morning. Not to be redundant, but just making a point.

What are your thoughts on this thing?

Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it!

I guess for me simplicity is king. I received a Kitchen-Aid coffee maker from Jennifer 4 years ago and love it. Although once in a blue moon I will have a craving for french-press coffee and make that instead.

As far as the Kitchen-Aid brand we've been very happy with their products and their customer service. We have an immersion blender that had the motor go bad one year after the warranty had expired and after a phone call to Kitchen-Aid they shipped us a brand new unit free of charge.

More important than the particular machine you use is the quality and condition of the coffee itself. It is very perishable, especially after being ground (we are talking about one or two days), and vacuum packing is irrelevant to its deterioration. So nothing like a Keurig or Nespresso is more than a convenience of dubious value, because the ground coffee is stored in those packets for months, possibly years, before use. If your husband really likes coffee, he can probably tell the difference.
I would recommend a grinder as well as a coffeemaker, so beans can be ground as you need them every day or couple of days. Cuisinart makes a combination machine with a grinder built in- very convenient. And Costco's Kirkland brand coffees are good and not at all expensive.

John is a man who knows his coffee!

Freshly ground coffee will definitely taste far better than anything you get from a pre-packaged Keurig cup. My wife and I got a Keurig machine as a wedding gift, and even though I've always been particular about fresh coffee, we used it for the convenience. After that experience, there are several reasons I do NOT recommend it!

• Most of the coffee tastes old, not to mention weak. We only found one brand that tasted good, but it had to be ordered online and shipped.
• The accessories that allow you to use your own coffee grounds are inconvenient, and tend to either leak, leave grounds in your cup, or both.
• The machines have terrible water pumps. We went through four machines in two years because the pumps kept failing and we had to keep exchanging for a replacement machine.

I could go on with more if I thought about it...but the water pump thing is the biggest reason I wouldn't recommend it.

I would go with John's suggestion -- a good grinder (burr grinder, not blade grinder) and really just about any coffeemaker. Or the combination machine.

And get a pound or two of freshly roasted whole bean coffee. See if you can find a place locally that roasts their coffee in house in small batches. Small-batch roasting leaves all the beans evenly roasted, compared to mass produced coffee where some beans are burnt and others are under roasted. (That's why coffee from some of the big companies is inconsistent -- sometimes you get a bag that tastes great, other times you get the same blend but it tastes burnt, because of the way it's roasted.)

If you don't have a local shop that roasts their own, look for Peet's coffee at a grocery store. They roast in small batches, and deliver their own product to the stores with a much shorter shelf life than the other brands, so you can always count on it being roasted recently.

If your husband REALLY likes a quality cup of coffee, you might also try a French press instead of a traditional coffee maker. Hands down the best tasting coffee I've ever had is the coffee I make in my French press.

(Is it obvious yet that I'm a coffee addict??)

rmeyer7 wrote:
John is a man who knows his coffee!

Freshly ground coffee will definitely taste far better than anything you get from a pre-packaged Keurig cup. My wife and I got a Keurig machine as a wedding gift, and even though I've always been particular about fresh coffee, we used it for the convenience. After that experience, there are several reasons I do NOT recommend it!

• Most of the coffee tastes old, not to mention weak. We only found one brand that tasted good, but it had to be ordered online and shipped.
• The accessories that allow you to use your own coffee grounds are inconvenient, and tend to either leak, leave grounds in your cup, or both.
• The machines have terrible water pumps. We went through four machines in two years because the pumps kept failing and we had to keep exchanging for a replacement machine.

I could go on with more if I thought about it...but the water pump thing is the biggest reason I wouldn't recommend it.

I would go with John's suggestion -- a good grinder (burr grinder, not blade grinder) and really just about any coffeemaker. Or the combination machine.

And get a pound or two of freshly roasted whole bean coffee. See if you can find a place locally that roasts their coffee in house in small batches. Small-batch roasting leaves all the beans evenly roasted, compared to mass produced coffee where some beans are burnt and others are under roasted. (That's why coffee from some of the big companies is inconsistent -- sometimes you get a bag that tastes great, other times you get the same blend but it tastes burnt, because of the way it's roasted.)

If you don't have a local shop that roasts their own, look for Peet's coffee at a grocery store. They roast in small batches, and deliver their own product to the stores with a much shorter shelf life than the other brands, so you can always count on it being roasted recently.

If your husband REALLY likes a quality cup of coffee, you might also try a French press instead of a traditional coffee maker. Hands down the best tasting coffee I've ever had is the coffee I make in my French press.

(Is it obvious yet that I'm a coffee addict??)

I use a french press in the morning, and an espresso maker in the afternoon. I recommended the Cuisinart for convenience as well as a well made machine that brews consistently (my daughter uses one). I recommend again Costco, if you have access. The volume of their sales ensurfes the coffee is fresh, and their Guatemala is more than just good.

and if he's really into his coffee, he probably enjoys the process as well. I have a lever-style La Pavoni, fully manual espresso machine. Retro styling, totally reliable, every cup is different because you can make it different every time. Looks great in the kitchen too. I've had it for around 20 years now, been reconditioned once, it stays on all afternoon. Must have had 10,000 espressos through it. Brilliant!

I do have a Costco membership, I'll have to try their Guatemala coffee. Most of my favorite coffees are South American, so that sounds like a great one to try. I've never had anything as good as the coffee I bought in Nicaragua, but lots of other South American varieties are great too.

Also agree that Cuisinart's quality is great.

You seem to enjoy your coffe as much as I do. May I encourage you to try roasting your own? I get my hardware and beans from Sweet Maria's, an Oakland e-mail seller where the varieties of beans available is amazing, and the service first-rate. Right now, I have three kinds of Guatemala, in addition to Ethiopian and Sumatra. Great fun!

I hear this year camera accessories are the hot gift

John Landolfi wrote: You seem to enjoy your coffe as much as I do. May I encourage you to try roasting your own? I get my hardware and beans from Sweet Maria's, an Oakland e-mail seller where the varieties of beans available is amazing, and the service first-rate. Right now, I have three kinds of Guatemala, in addition to Ethiopian and Sumatra. Great fun!

I've kicked around the idea of roasting at home once or twice, but never seriously looked into it. I think maybe I should do some more research and possibly give it a shot. Does it make a big difference whether you go with a drum, air, or stovetop roaster?

It does. I use a hot air roaster, my foray into this, to try and see if it was worth it. I think definitely yes for me. Learnign is relatively easy, two or three tries will get you there, and you will be astonished at the aroma and flavor you get compared to even the best store-bought pre-roasted beans. The I-home unit I have is inexpensive, but offers limited and not very precise control over the roast. It is very noisy, to the point that you can't hear the cracking sound that indicates the roasting stage. You have to pretty much use their presets, but, as I said, I've been using one for 2 years, and I'm drinking the best coffee ever. I'm ready for a drum roaster, and I'll be upgrading soon. Visit the Sweet Maria site, and you'll get a good idea of what getting into this entails. Let me know if you give it a try!

I don't know if I'd want to get into roasting coffee, but I do sometimes grind my own - love the smell of it! If you're husband's a coffee lover he might like some equipment like a grinder or others that have been mentioned, and maybe some specialty coffees. There are places in my area where you can get whole bean or they'll grind it for you - either way it's a nice treat sometimes (none of the ones locally sell online). A friend of mine does have the Keurig but I wouldn't like that system where it seems like you can only get what works with that type coffee maker.