I Hate My Coffee Machine

My coffee machine, a Krups-something-or-other that I probably got for free with the purchase of some coffee, has my vote for worst designed thing ever.  But it's only marginally worse than most coffee machines so I haven't bothered to get a new one.  Consider all the possible ways I can screw up making my coffee.  I have done *all* of these, probably because when I need my coffee in the morning it's because I'm too tired to actually make it without mistakes:

* I can forget to plug it in. (That's the one I did just now, that prompted this post.  Sometimes Sofi plays in the sink so Cathy unplugs everything.  So if this post seems incoherent it's because I haven't had my coffee yet.)
* I can forget to add water.
* I can forget to put a filter or grounds in.  (If I remember the grounds I remember the filter, thankfully.)
* I can forget to turn it on.
* While running, the filter can sort of fold over in the chamber and then the water goes past the grounds entirely, making a really weak pot of coffee.
* And I can forget to put the lid on the pot, which causes it to do that back-up-don't-actually-make-any-coffee thing.  Oh - and when I pour the coffee - that lid often gets in the way and causes me to spill coffee on the floor.

That last one is the one I hate the most, because it's the most obviously fixable.  For a feature I never wanted (be able to take the pot out before your coffee is finished brewing and have a cup of overly strong coffee) they added this extra point of failure.  Alvin Toffler would disapprove.

Comments

[Susan]

Coffee puts the system under the strain of metabolizing a deadly acid-forming drug, depositing its insoluble cellulose, which cements the wall of the liver, causing this vital organ to swell to twice its proper size. In addition, coffee is heavily sprayed. (Ninety-two pesticides are applied to its leaves.) Diuretic properties of caffeine cause potassium and other minerals to be flushed from the body.

All this fear went away when I quit, and it was a book that inspired me to do it called The Truth About Caffeine by Marina Kushner. There are five things I liked about this book:

1) It details--thoroughly--the ways in which caffeine may damage your health.

2) It reveals the damage that coffee does to the environment. Specifically, coffee was once grown in the shade, so that trees were left in place. Then sun coffee was introduced, allowing greater yields but contributing to the destruction of rain forests. I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere else.

3) It explains how best to go off coffee. This is important. If you try cold turkey, as most people probably do, the withdrawal symptoms will likely drive you right back to coffee.

4) Helped me find a great resource for the latest studies at CaffeineAwareness.org

5) Also, if you drink decaf you won’t want to miss this special free report on the dangers of decaf available at www.soyfee.com

[Dan]

Getting a percolator will get rid of the filter problem, and the way its made almost guarantees you remember water and coffee since it all "goes in the same hole".

here is an example of one: http://www.amazon.com/Presto-02811-12-Cup-Stainless-Coffeemaker/dp/B00006IV0Q

they also give off a very nice homey gurgling sound :)

[Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee]

Sounds like KRUPS has let you down big time with that model. But as a KRUPS retailer I'd be happy to speak with you about your coffee needs and get you another machine at cost (seriously). I know waking up is hard to do but we'll also toss in a quality grinder and some excellent coffee to started bright eyed and bushy tailed from here on out.

[Jamie Fristrom]

Woah. Couple weird comments there, as if my blog is being read by non-game-developers out there somewhere. Or maybe some clever publishers and retailers have robots that alert them when a subject-matter-related post comes up?

Anyhow, Susan, if that is your real name, Dr. Mehmet Oz is a fan of coffee, for whatever that's worth.

[Arne Claassen]

I've got a solution for all the problems except for the first. We have the Krups Pro Aroma, which is programmable, i.e. "add water", "put a filter or grounds in" and "turn it on" are decisions made the day before while you're still caffeinated.

"While running, the filter can sort of fold over" can be solved with a gold filter.. No more throwing out filters, no more folding over, just overall better.

"And I can forget to put the lid on the pot" again is a decision moved to a more coherent time, plus the Pro Aroma won't let coffee out of the filter unless the stopper on the filter is triggered by the lid. This means that it you can also take the pot out for that first cup, while it's still brewing the rest.

HTH.

[Mike]

I remember when everyone used percolators and drip coffee was gaining ground. Percolator fans liked the strong coffee they made.

I think you might have better luck with a french press. Grind beans, heat water, pour both into vessel, put lid+plunger in, wait four minutes, push in plunger, pull up plunger, serve coffee. $20 for the good ones.

You might be able to hack the gadget on the bottom of the cone on your Krups so that it thinks the pot is always present. It's just plastic and springs (unless they've changed them in 20 years, I'm going by the old Krups I've always had).

We have a super-automatic espresso machine at the office. At $1200 for a referb it might be a bit much, but it has held up well over 7 months. I hate to think what would happen here if it broke down.

[Robc]

French press is too much work, though it does make a nice cup of coffee... but only one or two at a time. :/

I use re-usable filters in my Krup-like coffee making apparatus thingy. That fixes the folding over filter problem, but it is very easy to forget to put the filter in... made that mistake several times and what a mess.

[Jamie Fristrom]

I broke down and got a new coffee machine, a Braun, that has the gold filter and a light goes on when you turn it on - so that solves the plugging-in-problem.

It's still theoretically possible to forget to put the lid on the thermos, but I haven't yet. The thermos doesn't look right without its lid on. And I have yet to spill while pouring.

So far so good!