It's been a while since I did any kitchen blogging, largely because I haven't needed much in the way of new equipment. However, the timer on my giant Cuisinart coffee maker died after only four years (grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr), so time for a replacement.
I actually bought two replacements, both of them manual to minimize the possibility of future such incidents.
For individual use, I bought an
AeroPress, which makes one or two double espressos (just dilute with hot water for American coffee). It's a tad fussy: you heat the water to exactly 175 F and then press it down through a microfilter.). It's sort of like a cross between a french press and a vacuum brewer, takes about 30 seconds from water pour to coffee, and makes one of the most delicious cups of coffee you've ever had.
For larger groups, I now have a
Chemex. This makes regular drip coffee; you pour a little hot water over the grounds to make them blossom, then fill the filter with water. Five minutes later, beautiful drip coffee.
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2008/06/gadgetblogging/3717/