Capresso Coffee Makers - Which one is for you?

1st in Coffee sells the Capresso brand of drip coffee makers.  We believe that the Capresso brand of electric coffee makers encompass the best line of coffee makers sold in the United States.  Design, construction, innovative features and above all, great tasting coffee are hallmarks of Capresso coffee makers.

So which Capresso coffee maker is right for you?

We have organized the Capresso coffee makers into three groups. Glass carafe, thermal carafe and dual-purpose machines.  A couple of discussion points will help determine in which group of machines you will find your ideal machine.  We will first discuss glass carafe models and thermal carafe models.

Drip coffee makers brew into a serving carafe, this can be made simply of glass or it can be thermally insulated.  There are advantages and disadvantages to both.  With glass carafes, the carafe sits on an active heating plate in the coffee maker.  This assures that the carafe is warm when coffee is brewed into it and that the coffee is kept hot after brewing.  Ideally, coffee is brewed at about 202 degrees and kept hot at around 180 degrees.  Glass carafes do an excellent job keeping coffee hot regardless of how much coffee is brewed.  One disadvantage of glass carafes is that if coffee is left for an extended period of time, it "cooks and burns" imparting poor flavor characteristics. Glass carafes are also somewhat fragile -- care must be taken when handling and cleaning.

Thermal Carafes are much more durable than glass carafes and they retain the coffee's heat, rather than relying on heat from the coffee maker's heating plate. This allows brewed coffee to remain hot while retaining good flavor longer than coffee in a glass carafe.  One note -- while thermal carafes do a good job at keeping coffee hot,  you must brew 3/4 of a pot or more in order for the thermal carafe to function optimally.  Also, the thermal carafe should not be used to fill the coffee maker with cold water, as this will cool down the carafe, reducing its ability to keep coffee hot.

If you usually brew 3/4 a pot or more, thermal carafes are an excellent choice.  If you often brew less, consider a coffee maker with a glass carafe.

If in addition to drip coffee you also wish to prepare espresso, cappuccino or latte, consider a dual purpose machine.  We will now look at each of these three groups in detail.

Capresso coffee makers with glass carafes - Capresso offers one model the Capresso Coffee Team

The Capresso Coffee Team is on of our favorite 10 cup coffee makers.  This Capresso features a built in conical burr grinder.  Using this grinder makes brewing coffee with fresh ground coffee very convenient.  The Capresso Coffee Team can be programmed to begin grinding and brewing at a pre-selected time, allowing you to wake up to a fresh-brewed pot of coffee.

Capresso thermal carafe coffee makers - Capresso offers three models, the MT500, and the Coffee Tec

The Capresso MT500 is Capresso's most feature-rich thermal carafe coffee maker.  It features an alloy body and a stainless steel lined heating system.  The Capresso MT500 features a 10-cup double insulated stainless steel thermal carafe which is virtually indestructible.

The Capresso Coffee Tec is a very nice thermal carafe coffee maker with a unique feature -- the Coffee Tec provides a milk frother, allowing for the production steamed milk for cappuccino, latte or hot chocolate.

Dual Purpose Coffee Makers - The Jura Capresso line of Super Automatic coffee centers.

The Jura Capresso line of Super Automatic coffee centers provides the ability to produce espresso or coffee at the touch of a button.  They grind, measure, tamp and brew 1 to 16 ounces of pressure-brewed coffee. The also provide steam to create cappuccino or latte.  Super Automatics are the ultimate fresh-coffee making convenience.