Used to have a Capresso (still have one of their burr grinders and love it!). We have the Technivorm Moccamaster (KBT-741 I think) going on to over 2 years now. Like baver and weissman mentioned, it does have its quirks but it's also been the best coffee maker we've had. I agree with weissman that the lid is tweaky and that it really needs to be on all the way and then loosen a bit to get a good pour. If not, then there's a weird split stream that comes out. As far as keeping coffee warm, in our experience, putting the lid on right after brewing keeps the coffee "hot" for about two hours without preheating. The carafe will keep the coffee "warm" for another few more hours thereafter. Also the amount of coffee in the carafe affects how long it stays hot/warm. We have a Nissan thermos that we use if we need to keep the coffee "hot!" for several hours. It's a huge difference and I highly recommend the Nissan. Not that most people will need to keep their coffee hot for 24 hours but when we first got it, I put it through a test by preheating the thermos with very hot water and kept the thermos about half full with coffee for 24 hours. That coffee still came out pretty hot (not warm) the next day! There are 2 other nits I have about the Technivorm but really are little nits and just took some adjustment on our part. First, there is no automatic shut-off. Which means we had to learn to shut if off once the coffee was done brewing. The saving grace is that when on, there isn't a hot plate that can burn out. The 2nd nit is the filter basket's lever in our model. There are 3 positions: full brew, half brew, and closed. Sometimes when washing the basket, DH would accidentally push the lever in the closed position and not realize it. Go to brew coffee and nearly had an overflow issue. Luckily he always caught it in time before it overflowed. The way I fixed this problem since he never did learn to look at the lever before he brewed coffee was to use painter's tape to keep the lever in the correct position. We handwash the basket so the tape stays on for quite a long time. But other than that, Technivorm makes the best tasting coffee in our opinion. We've done side-by-side taste comparison when we first got it and still had 2 old coffee makers. Same grind, same coffee, same water, noticeably different in taste. Oh yeah, as I understand it (but I could be wrong), all the parts on the Technivorm are replaceable.

Another Technivorm fan here. We'd been using (and enjoying the coffee from) the Cusinart 12-cup coffee maker we'd gotten when we'd reno'd the kitchen almost 4 years ago. Early last month, DH and I were in the kitchen, and we heard a sizzling or crackling sound, not unlike the sound of coffee that has dripped onto the hot plate. Only thing was, coffee had long since finished brewing and neither of us had poured any coffee in awhile. When I walked over to the coffee maker to take a look, I noticed the display (clock) was out and thought it best to unplug the coffee maker. As I did so, I saw a thin wisp of smoke curling up from the bottom of the machine--eek! Despite the coffee maker being long out of warranty, BB&B took it back (we no longer had the receipt and we absolutely did not want another of the same model, so they issued us a store credit that we'll surely use on something). We were also leery about buying another similar type of coffee maker (e.g. Made in you-know-where). Having read rave reviews about the Technivorm (when we did the kitchen and more recently when W-S started carrying/advertising it), we decided to check it out despite the high price tag. What won us over (besides the glowing reviews) were the facts that it is a very simple machine to set-up (to brew) and take apart (for cleaning after use) and a biggie; Technivorm coffee makers are made by hand, in the Netherlands (not you-know-where). We were drawn to the thought of good, hot coffee to start our days, and just as drawn to the thought of purchasing an appliance that was made well. We thought we'd miss having a timer (we set our coffee maker up the night before--a no-no for coffee afficianado's), but the Technivorm brews so quickly, it's literally ready in minutes. There's no automatic shut-off (brewing mechanism/heater shuts-off at the end of brewing, but the hot plate stays on until it is manually shut off). The lack of an automatic shut-off gave us pause, but we decided the benefits outweighed that one "flaw." Still makes me a little nervous that one of us will forget to flip the switch to off after pouring a last up of coffee, but we're very conscious of being careful about that. All in all, we're enjoying it (ours has the glass carafe, BTW), and feel that it was money well-spent.

I'm one of those who cannot make a good pot of coffee, because hubby and I are not coffee drinkers. If we have guests who want coffee, I usually have someone else make it or pull out a VERY old perculator which many of our friends and relatives seem to prefer. We have some good coffee stores and that is where I buy coffee. You can grind it then or buy the beans and grind at home. We have a keurig at work and there are two who especially seem to like it and use many different flavors. However most seem to prefer the old drip maker or the espresso machine. I do get the comment about a "good" cup of coffee. Occasionally, in a restaurant I might order a cup with dessert and there is one restaurant especially who has really good coffee. tina

That reminded me to grind a pot worth of beans to stick into the freezer. It will be fine taste-wise if we loose power as we also do not loose our gas cooktop during a storm. (labeled emergency coffee) Last week, during 65 temp, our lights flickered, twice, then power went out for an hour. No sensible reason. If a long term storm we have a back-up generator. Grind and brew as usual. From coffeeGeek, an easy 5 post forum read... That said.... percolators are generally considered to be at the bottom of the quality scale when it comes to producing good coffee. Excessively high or low temperatures are not good - the best coffee is produced in a certain brewing temp range that is a bit below the boiling point. Percolators, by design, boil the coffee to send it up through the tube and allow it to drip down through the basket. Once again, however, some folks who are accustomed to the taste of percolator coffee may actually prefer it to all others, bu then again, my parents drink month old Folger's decaf from a giant can and just love it. brew methods It is really just finding what you like. We wet our Chemex filter once the kettle whistles. And helps to heat the glass caraf and clean the paper filter of the 'paper taste'.. Pour that out, grind the beans, then proceed with the first pour-over that blooms the fresh grinds. Also gives the hot water a chance to cool down a bit. Morning methodical tasks like feeding the pups, etc. are happening at the same time. What i have noticed, and did a temp test, with the auto-drip machines, is the first two minutes of drip are well below a good hot temp when wetting the grinds. Not unlike a heat-on-demand hot water heater, that first water out of the pot is not hot at all on the lower end machines. (the exception was a thrift store SpaceSaver that made great electric drip)...that thing was super and no longer made. The two recommended elec pots mentioned, one is the technovorm, (sp) i considered at one time but we found our preferred method with the Chemex. Now have that at both homes and a basic elec drip at the farm. I think a Cuisinart. Not great but perfectly fine coffee, but looking for a elec kettle and a cone system as i can use the kettle for tea...something i drink all day during the summer months. Easy to find and i have a few months before spring planting. My parents have the most basic cheap drip and get a bag of A&P beans and pull out the braun grinder for us. Fine for the visit and no need to travel with my system. (we are not that picky). Just have our method at home. Just helping azmom make that good cup she remembers from her trip, attempting to make at home. -and important to note ..roasting at home is 5-6 $ per pound as opposed to buying roasted at much more, often double the cost. Co-workers stop at coffee shops on the way to work and spend 4-5 dollars. That is 25-30 dollars a week. Often send someone out after lunch and spend on another round of coffee drinks...we on the other hand spend 5-6 a week and like our home brew. Just a personal choice.