Thoughts on a coffee pot

[Ed Breen]

I'm realy confused. I live in a world where we have a camera taking pictures of Mars, Astronauts are repairing a space station, I sit at a computer typing words that many folks will read almost instantly in many states, and after all this i have never, in my 76 years, had a glass coffee pot that comes with todays percolators that doesn't leak when you pour out a cup. Where have all the engineers gone??
Ed:confused:

[Brad Tallis]

I'm realy confused. I live in a world where we have a camera taking pictures of Mars, Astronauts are repairing a space station, I sit at a computer typing words that many folks will read almost instantly in many states, and after all this i have never, in my 76 years, had a glass coffee pot that comes with todays percolators that doesn't leak when you pour out a cup. Where have all the engineers gone??
Ed:confused:

Ed, I've always wondered the same thing. How come we can land a man on the moon and bring him back, but we can't make a road that doesn't end up full of car-eating potholes?

[Michael Perata]

Ed

They replaced all of those old percolators with something called a Starbucks, or something similar to that.

They are one-off (occasionally multiple cups if you were foolish enough to offer to fly) dispensers of coffee, or some other form of coffee that was alien to most of the western world south of Seattle until a couple of decades ago.

Lemme see, I'll have a double mocho vente latte with non-fat milk and no foam and a bit of chocolate sprinkled over the top. :o

[Lee DeRaud]

I'm realy confused. I live in a world where we have a camera taking pictures of Mars, Astronauts are repairing a space station, I sit at a computer typing words that many folks will read almost instantly in many states, and after all this i have never, in my 76 years, had a glass coffee pot that comes with todays percolators that doesn't leak when you pour out a cup. Where have all the engineers gone??
Ed:confused:Did you mean "leak" or "drip"? Every glass pot I've ever seen was one-piece: only way it leaked was if it was cracked, although that tended to happen more often than you'd expect. (Usually under the metal band that holds the handle on, so you can't see the crack.:eek: )

My current coffee maker (Krups) is nearly 10 years old: the pot is a plastic shell with a replaceable glass 'Thermos' liner (still the original). What looks to be the current equivalent(http://www.krupsusa.com/krups/All+Products/Coffee+Machines/Coffee+makers/Products/Proaroma_FMF4/FMF4.htm) is a bit more upscale, with a double-wall stainless carafe that looks pretty much bulletproof. I'd consider buying one, but it looks like the only thing that will put my old one out of commission would be if I hit myself in the head with it.

As far as where all the engineers have gone, this one at least has retired.:cool:

[Ed Breen]

Right On Lee

I meant drip. I pour my morning libation and immediately reach for the towel.
Oh well! Maybe I'll go back to the old iron pot with a handful of beans and an eggshell
Ed

[Ken Garlock]

Ed, we had the same problem with a Kitchen-Aid coffee pot of the Mr Coffee type. The solution for us was to buy a Mr Coffee pot. It doesn't dribble when pouring a cup. The opening on the top of the glass carafe is much smaller than on the Kictchen-Aid. It probably steers the coffee into a smaller area that in turn fits the cup better. On the KA, the stream of coffee coming over the lip of the carafe was to wide and it, as you say, spilled all over the counter top.

[Cecil Arnold]

Ed, had the same problem for years, usually with Mr. Coffee or something therrebouts. Since the wife and I are coffee snobs (love Starbucks) we bought a Cuisnart with a glass caraf and it DOES NOT drip. It's pricy at about $120, but I dont reach for the paper towel each morning.

[Earl Reid]

Ed, we gave up on the glass type several yrs ago and got Presto, SS electric Perk. Easy to clean and dosen't leak, drip or break.
Earl

[Lee DeRaud]

Right On Lee

I meant drip. I pour my morning libation and immediately reach for the towel.
No worries, the pot I mentioned doesn't do that either.:D

[Bruce Page]

Hello Ed,
We had a Braun 12 cup that dribbled every time no matter how careful you were:mad: . I kept waiting for the thing to die and finally said the heck with it and tossed it into the trash. We bought a Cuisinart DCC-1200 based on several reviewers comments stating that it made a good cup of coffee and IT DIDN’T DRIBBLE! :eek: :p We’ve had it for a few months now and I couldn’t be happier with it. We could have spent a lot more on an expensive frou-frou coffee maker but I have always preferred just good, plane ol' coffee.:rolleyes:

[Vaughn McMillan]

My solution...I drink iced tea (poured from a no-drip gallon jug in the fridge) and/or Coke throughout the day and night to keep the blood level in my caffine and sugar system at the optimal levels.

- Vaughn

[Bob Yarbrough]

Go to Wal-Mart, Target, whateber and get an old fashioned stainless steel purculator. I swear by mine.

[Cecil Arnold]

Bruce, that's exactaly the one I meantioned in my earlier post. Glad to see someone else confirm my findings.

[Jason Roehl]

My wife doesn't drink the black stuff, so I just brew straight into one of my two 20 oz cups. I had to rip the the little "Pause'n'serve" doohickey off to make that work. The upside is that I automatically limit myself to "one cup", and brewing directly into the mug means that the mug itself gets warmed up by the hot plate, so the coffee stays hot much longer. And, I don't pollute my coffee with sugar, cream or all that other "stuff".

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

My wife doesn't drink the black stuff, so I just brew straight into one of my two 20 oz cups. I had to rip the the little "Pause'n'serve" doohickey off to make that work. The upside is that I automatically limit myself to "one cup", and brewing directly into the mug means that the mug itself gets warmed up by the hot plate, so the coffee stays hot much longer. And, I don't pollute my coffee with sugar, cream or all that other "stuff".

I think the single most irritating sound in the world is a spoon clinking around a cup as someone ruins perfectly good black coffee with sugar or cream. :(

I'm a Mr Coffee guy, and like the original post, I've never understood why they always drip. I pour over the sink.

KC

[Dave Anderson NH]

I'm an old fashioned kind of guy. After years of irritation with those drip things we gave up. About 8 years ago we went back to the old fashioned stainless steel percolator with grounds basket that you heat up on one of the stove burners. It makes great coffee.

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

I just love my cup of coffee, sometimes with additives, sometimes without, depends on my mood :D

I have a Japanese drip unit that has the thermos jug, works great!

We have a Starbucks expresso machine at home (a buddy who was leaving the country gave it to us, I'd have never spent that much cash on one!)

It does make a nice cuppa, and I like the steamed milk.

I don't have the time or the $5 to go to Starbucks in Japan!! :eek:

Cheers!

[Matthew Poeller]

I have the answer to your drip problem and the reason that the one that doesn't drip costs sooo much money.

The time, money and computer power that it would take to run the CFD, computational fluid dynamics to ensure that the coffee pot does not drip is way too much. :cool: The company would never suffice for the 25% margin after all that work when they are still selling plenty at 50% margin and a dribble. :eek:

However, as many of you have mentioned, there is a company that completed this work :confused: and because they spent all that time and money they are charging nearly 4 times as much as a normal coffee pot.

This is just my take on it but I am a disgruntled engineer since they (large companies) never give us enough time to do our job right.

[Russ Filtz]

The effect causing the drips is called the Coanda Effect. Basically it is caused by "adhesive" properties of the fluid as it passes over an object. You could experiment by placing any object (large, round is best/worst for this) under a faucet. As you move the dowel, or whatever into the stream, you will see it veer off of the vertical plain as it detaches from the dowel. This is how those clean-free gutter caps work!

I guess a sharp object might help to minimize the Coanda, but then you've got a knife edge to worry about and it would probably cause spattering (vortex shedding measured by the Strouhal Number).

So with the Coanda Effect as you pour, the coffee goes in straight when you go fast, but as you start to bring the pot back to level, the Effect takes over making you miss the cup, or leave drips!

Yes, I'm an engineer, and tha's about all I remember from my Fluid Dynamics course :p

[Ernie Nyvall]

My solution...I drink iced tea (poured from a no-drip gallon jug in the fridge) and/or Coke throughout the day and night to keep the blood level in my caffine and sugar system at the optimal levels.

- Vaughn

No coffee? Yer not frum eround here are ya.

Ernie

[Ernie Kuhn]

Same "dripping" problem. Cheap solution is a paper towel. Irritation level hasn't reached my threshold yet ($$$$).
Ernie

[Tim Morton]

Hello Ed,
We had a Braun 12 cup that dribbled every time no matter how careful you were:mad: . I kept waiting for the thing to die and finally said the heck with it and tossed it into the trash. We bought a Cuisinart DCC-1200 based on several reviewers comments stating that it made a good cup of coffee and IT DIDN’T DRIBBLE! :eek: :p We’ve had it for a few months now and I couldn’t be happier with it. We could have spent a lot more on an expensive frou-frou coffee maker but I have always preferred just good, plane ol' coffee.:rolleyes:

thanks for the recommnedation ed, I ordered that pot from amazon and they have a $25 off $125 so I got a krupps burr grinder to go with it....

[Randy Meijer]

I'll bet there is a simple solution to this problem that all of the high powered engineers have overlooked. Someone needs to email Heloise or Martha Stewart and I bet the problem will be resolved!!:D :D :D

[Ed Breen]

Golly,
This resulted in more response than I figured. Anyway, I justr bought a Hamilton Beach Brew Station. Doesn't use a carafe and so there's no way for me to spill any java.
Stu, I guess Starbucks in Nippon is expensive, but I'll not forget the surprise I got one evening in a Morioka hotel when I ordered a "double jack" - $20.00 American.
Anyhow everyone, thanks for the good advice.
Ed:D

[JayStPeter]

My solution...I drink iced tea (poured from a no-drip gallon jug in the fridge) and/or Coke throughout the day and night to keep the blood level in my caffine and sugar system at the optimal levels.

- Vaughn

I'm with you. Nothing like a good Coke to get you going in the morning.

Cofee smells good, but tastes like ... uh, I guess it must be an acquired taste. Anyway, no drip problems with either cans or plastic bottles. :cool:

Jay

[Jason Roehl]

Cofee smells good, but tastes like ... uh, I guess it must be an acquired taste. Anyway, no drip problems with either cans or plastic bottles. :cool:


I guess I must be weird, then. People say that about beer, too, but I've liked both from the first time I've had them.

Jason

[Vaughn McMillan]

I'm with you. Nothing like a good Coke to get you going in the morning.

Cofee smells good, but tastes like ... uh, I guess it must be an acquired taste. Anyway, no drip problems with either cans or plastic bottles. :cool:

Jay
I can drink coffee if I put enough cream and sugar (and maybe cocoa mix) to mask the coffee taste. :p Then Katie bar the door!


I guess I must be weird, then. People say that about beer, too, but I've liked both from the first time I've had them.

Jason
I was the same with beer, then I got to where I liked it TOO much. I stick with tea now. It's a lot cheaper, too. ;)