A coffee maker that actually makes HOT coffee seems to be rare. I am looking for something inexpensive to take into the office. The hottest coffeemaker we have ever had is our current Kureg, which when set to 190 degrees (highest setting) brews a cup that when measured in the cup immediately after brewing is 178 degrees. By the time I add some liquid creamer out of the refridgerator, I still have to stick the cup into the microware (1200 watts) for 30 seconds. Then it is the temp that I like it (haven't measured what that exact temp is though). If I have a hot chocolate made from the Kuerig, when no cold creamer is added, straight out of the brewer is a good temp. So I'm guessing I must like my coffee around 180 degrees by the time it hits my lips.

I'm not going to take that expensive Kuerig into the office (maybe I could buy a cheaper Kuerig without the bells and whistles), so I tested an old Mr. Coffee 4 cup maker. An anemic 158 degrees. I don't want that for work as the nearest microwave is a bit of a walk. Tried an old Melitta we have. 156 degrees. We have an old Bunn that used to make it pretty hot IIRC, but that keeps its resevoir heated all the time and that is probably inappropriate for something at work. We have a Cuisenart also, and it comes out OK (warm+, but not HOT), however that is big and expensive and we still use that one at home sometimes.

Is there such a thing as an inexpensive coffee maker that actually makes HOT coffee? I wonder what Starbucks serves theirs at? When I buy a cup there, then add creamer, the temp is perfect.

I have noticed that with drip coffeemakers too. I take milk, not cream, so that adds a substantial amount of cold liquid. Then it's straight into the microwave. Bah!

Percolators are absolutely the best in that category. That coffee comes out of there smokin' hot. And the best by a good length and and a half are the old GE percs from the '60s. They are slow as heck but they make that coffee strong and hot. The modern percs try to speed up the cycle (people are impatient) and as a result they only get half the flavour out of the grounds. Though they can be hacked ...

http://www.sweetmarias.com/grind.brew.php

I have settled on a French press, brews some amazing coffee particularly with my own fresh roasted beans.

As you have noticed most automatic coffee machines don't reach proper temps or put the water in contact with the ground coffee for long enough. Try a French press with decent beans and good water and 4minutes soak time, its a decent cup of coffee, quite flavorful.

Ideal water temperature for coffee is 197 to 208 degrees. Any hotter makes the coffee taste bitter.
How about warming the milk or cream in micro before pouring it in the coffee?
As Lono said, french press is waaay better method to make good coffee than drip process.

Yep, water temp needs to be high enough to get the flavor out of the ground coffee beans, yet not so hot as to burn them. I read 195-205 F, but 197-208 is very close. Directions in the Melitta manual coffee maker I use says water just off a boil, which is pretty hot but below 212F.

Ditto on the French press (or "java press"). I'm a big fan of this one from REI:

http://www.rei.com/product/820424/rei-table-top-french-coffee-press-32-fl-oz

I also have the 48 oz version. Highly recommend.

Obviously you'll need hot water - Amazon sells electric hot water pretty cheap. I use mine for tea, as well.

.

Thanks Dagny, that looks like a nice French Press. I have a couple but both allow tiny pieces of coffee grounds into your cup.
"Built-in spout has a fine-mesh screen to filter out the grounds while you pour" -- How well does that fine-mesh screen work? TIA

Russ, you're venturing into the land of French press cognoscenti. There's a faction of us who love the coffee grounds and sediment in the bottom of the cup, and another who do everything to keep it out. You can buy an additional nylon filter that fits on the filter to reduce but not eliminate sediments. There's a religious war over whether the additional filter works on plastic French presses like the one from REI, or is only useful on glass ones (made by Bodum etc). Millions have fought and died to resolve this question without effect. And, its just coffee. In any case, inexpensive Bodum French Presses are available from Walmart and Target and slightly pricier glass models too. And I think Sweet Maria's carries the additional filters.

LOL! The coffee grinds war is more intense than the one over pulp over no pulp in your oj. Much, much more at stake. Bandana coffee, I'm tellin' ya, is the answer! (Or one of those metal tea balls, maybe?)

Too funny. One of my French Press' is the glass Bodum, the other is a Snow Peak Ti model. It was after using these that I "discovered" the Melitta manual coffee maker. Boil water, pour it through the coffee in the #4 filter and it's done -- no pressing, waiting or sediment and at a price point that's really hard to beat. Good coffee too. It's a drip coffee maker without the machine, and it works in the field. Boil water in my copper kettle (over whichever stove I happen to have) and pour it through...

I'm something of a coffee snob, but what's a cognoscenti?

I love Melitta drip - growing up it was the way that my Mom always made coffee (Folgers). I have a Melitta too for when we have large gatherings and require a full 8 cups, for just my wife and me we use a 4 cup French press and get maybe 4 cups from it between us. I also have a spare Melitta in the cupboard in case the first one breaks or god forbid they stop selling them in the new reality of one-shot keurigs - bought it for $4.99 from some close out store. #4 filters are great too, but long ago I bought a gold filter that presumably leeches less of the acids or bases or something that alters the taste of the coffee oh so incrementally. I can't really tell anymore but at least there's no paper filter to throw away. As I say I prefer the sediments, something to chew on.

I am amazed at some of the coffee folks who get really excited over the best way to make a cup of joe. So much of it is context - I would crawl across hot coals for another cup of Folgers on a cold winter morning, made by my Mom. And even Starbucks Via instant at sunrise up on Mt. Stuart can't be beat. I roast my own beans in a $50 roaster and do pretty darn well if I say so myself, but even that has taught me to appreciate some of the local coffee roasts, especially Café Vita. Half art and half commerce - otherwise its just coffee.

If the penny stock portfolio ever goes way up instead of way down, I would love to mess with a Clover. Alas, a pipe dream. But there are two coffee shops within driving distance that have Clovers, so all is not lost.

But context is enormous. And ritual. I recall a place where I would camp and hike just after the big thaw. Good grounds and spring water, over a white gas stove, in my old enamel coffee pot, and the the thing would erupt all over the second I turned my back. Cue the cursing. And then it would sit and settle, and I would pour a big black cup, and ... one very special morning ... stroll up the creek, the spring melt roiling over the rocks, and sit perfectly still on a boulder, watching a harlequin duck working the eddies with perfect ease and grace. That, my friends, is magic; that is the best cup of coffee I have ever shared.

This is one of our most cherished pieces of equipment! Simple and effective.

These work well with coffee too,actually real well....muslin or cotton choices out there

http://www.amazon.com/Thai-filter-stainl...ywords=tea+sock



Thai tea filter stainless steel / muslin
by Importfood
Price: $3.32
This tea filter is made of stainless steel and muslin
The top is a circle 5 inches in diameter, and a handle 5 inches long
The mulsin filter is nice and long (8 inches) so it holds the tea well
Usually in preparation the tea is placed in the filter, then it's twisted a coupe times to keep it together

You all got me interested in those "pour-over coffee drippers".

After a bit of internet research, I found that this particular model is very highly rated for beginners at "pour-over brewing" to use (less technique is required): Bonmac #2 Filtercone. See How Ceramic Coffee Drippers Stack Up

Unfortunately, shipping costs nearly as much as the item itself, so I found a substitute at a local Starbucks: Starbucks Classic Pour-Over Brewer

The Starbucks version has the same single small hole in the bottom as the Bonmac does. And it's ceramic like the Bonmac. It is this single small hole that is said to make it easier for beginners. The large hole and multi-hole versions reportedly require some practiced user technique to get things brewed just right. The small single hole version is supposedly more forgiving of poor pouring technique.

I already have an electric kettle which takes the water up to boiling. That's going to give me the hottest coffee possible in my office at work. Internet searching turned up recommendations to pre-heat the coffee dripper, and not to fill it full, as methods to preserve heat. Pour smaller amounts of water slowly to keep the level down. Or, go ahead and fill it, but put a cover over the top to retain heat.

We'll give it a try tomorrow morning!

p.s. - I do have a Bodin coffee press, had it for years, and it makes good tasting coffee. However, what comes out is the coldest coffee of all the makers I own. The press has been demoted to car camping duty because of the lack of warmth of the brew.

Did some trials this morning with my new coffee dripper and the electric kettle.

At my altitude for 5300 feet, water boils at 202 degrees F (calculated, not measured). Right at the perfect temperature for making coffee. I did a test with the manual dripper, poured for speed - to give the hottest temperature after brewing, not necessarily the best coffee extraction. Just to see what the maximum coffee temperature I could expect would be. I also pre-heated everything with boiling water and used a cover over the dripper to retain heat during the test.

Result: 168 degrees F.

Summary (at my altitude of 5300 feet):
---

Standard drip coffeemaker (Mr. Coffee, etc.) - 158 degrees
Manual coffee dripper (best case: preheating everything, using a cover, pouring for speed) - 168 degrees
Kuerig coffee maker set to hottest temperature - 178 degrees

Even when using the hottest method, the Kuerig, I still require a microwave to get the final temp up to my liking after adding refridgerated liquid creamer. The Kuerig temp would be OK if using powdered creamer (yeuch) or pre-heated liquid creamer (preheating the creamer would require a microwave in and of itself).

Conclusion: I need to use a microwave in some capacity to reach my desired drinking temperature, no matter what the brewing method. No way around it.

I did not try my French press during this test. I already know from previous experience that the resulting coffee temperature is lowest of all other brewing methods.

Additional notes: You need to use more coffee grounds for a manual dripper than for a standard drip coffeemaker. Of all the brewing methods, the Kuerig is the most convenient, the fastest, the easiest to cleanup, and the hottest. It is also the most expensive and the most wasteful (the little K-Cups it uses are not currently biodegradeable, I don't think).

I cannot really comment much on what tastes the best. That depends on the brand/type of ground used. But ignoring that extremely important point, since I did not have the same coffee grounds in the Kuerig as in the other methods, I do prefer the coffee made by the Kuerig (given my preferred choice of "Extra Bold Dark Roasts"). Second place is the manual dripper, but it is close to the Kuerig. Last place is the standard Mr. Coffee type coffeemaker, which is far behind the others. It is valid to compare the manual dripper taste results to the Mr. Coffee taste results, because I used the same coffee for each (albeit a higher volume of coffee grounds in the manual dripper). The manual dripper tastes better. But also takes more attention and work. The Mr. Coffee type makers usually have a warming plate to keep coffee warm for a longer time, whereas the manual dripper does not, if that is important to you. I tend to drink what I brew quickly, I mostly brew only one mug at a time, so a warming plate is not something I care about.

Thanks everybody for all the suggestions!

For the Keurig, you can use a Reusable K-Cup coffee filter, your favorite coffee and get less waste, just toss the grounds and reuse.

A French press is good for work but you can look at all your available options for coffee makers at the Daily cuppa coffee store online : http://www.dailycuppacoffee.com/coffee-maker-machine-home-office-commercial. Their products are affordable and I hope you find the hottest coffee.

The Aerobie Aeropress can work very well with the right variety of coffee and some attention to detail. It's simple and affordable. Perfect if you like espresso-style. I suggest you inquire, perhaps locally, about the grind that works well with the Aeropress. Get someone who knows and cares. Don't get the average salesperson.

Keurig is a fancy toy that makes making coffee fun, easy, and hands-off. However, if you, like me, care about the taste, usually you'd want to control every step of the process.

Some people also really like Chemex. Who can blame them? It makes good coffee, and it's pretty enough to make its way into a art museum. Again, some skill is required.

I use aluminum espresso makers. They make the coffee really hot and the actual brewing is fast so the coffee is not as hard on the stomach as coffee from dripping filters or java press and it keeps the grounds reliably out of the brew.
When you like cream or milk in the coffee, I would not recommend the french press. You always have very fine grounds in the coffee. The fat drops keep the grounds afloat. Some do not like the feel of the grounds in the mouth.

Okay, I liked what I saw and read on the Chemex website so I bought the Chemex six cup carafe and a box of their square filters. Today is my first cup and it's good coffee, but IMO it's no better than the coffee I get from my Melita manual coffee maker. The Melita is cheaper and can be found in most grocery stores along with the #4 conical filters.

That said, I can (and will) use the Chemex Carafe for red wine...

For me the biggest factors in brewing are boiling water in full contact with grounds for 3 1/2 to 4 minutes. Do that and there isn't really much that can go wrong. Then it comes down to preference. Once upon a time I used the Melita exclusively then I started to taste the paper filter. So I went to a Krupp gold filter and all was good for years, until my wife and I started drinking less coffee, and we moved to a French press. Right away I could taste the difference from immersing the grounds in all the hot water rather than pouring it thru. Ymmv. And we love the grounds, it gives you something to chew on. :-)

Love the repurposing of the chemex Russ!