Let’s just start by saying we aren’t coffee experts.  This was simply a quick test to see if what kind of coffee pot you purchase can affect the quality of coffee you get in the morning.  And honestly, who doesn’t love a great cup of coffee?  Today we did a testing on three types of brewers to see if the pot you brew your morning joe in really matters or not.  We decided to take a middle of the road coffee brewer and a single cup brewer against a fancy-schmancy Technivorm.  The K-Cup brewer retails for around $100, the Cuisinart for $140, and the Technivorm $300.  First we measured out our usual amount of coffee grinds for each pot.  We timed each pot to see how long it took to brew a 6 cup coffee pot.  We also measured the temperature of the coffees in each cup.  Finally, we did blind taste testings of each of the coffees to see if we could taste the difference between brewers. 

Here are our findings:

Keurig Brewer (K Cup) – 162 degrees F, didn’t measure time as it was a single brew cup

Cuisinart Grind and Brew Coffee Maker – 161 degrees F, 6:45 minutes for a 6 cup pot

Technivorm Moccamaster – 180 degrees F, 4:22 minutes for 6 cup pot

Tastings –

Blind Taster #1 notes –

Technivorm – smooth flavor, no bitter notes

KCup – sharp and bitter, wow, this is really bitter

Cuisinart – more bitter than the first one, more acidic flavors in the background

Blind Taster #2 notes –

Technivorm – different than the others, less bitter, more rounded

K Cup – (note: tester made an icky face), this is the most bitter, worst flavor

Cuisinart – good, but nothing spectacular, a little bitter

We both agreed the Technivorm made the least bitter pot of coffee.   The single brew coffee maker didn’t fair as well as the other brewers.  There were off notes and it was incredibly bitter compared to the Cuisinart and Technivorm.  The Cuisinart makes a nice cup of coffee, but real coffee connoisseurs will definitely notice the bitterness.  If you are a big coffee drinker, than in our opinion the Technivorm is worth the extra investment.  The cups of coffee had a rich, rounded flavor, with just the right amount of bitterness.  It’s a very noticeable difference to even the least experienced coffee drinker.  If you drink coffee everyday, then the Technivorm may be a good investment for you.