Hi,

We have the Grind and Brew Cuisinart at the office and nobody uses it - coffee seems weak. My husband loves his programmable Cuisinart - I think they now come with a thermos - ours still has the glass carafe (had it for 4 years - no problem with it)

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Coffee Maker...

We have the Techni Vorm Moccamaster. I did a lot of research on coffee forums and this one kept coming up. I got a small one to fit into my appliance center in my kitchen, but they have bigger ones. Mine also goes straight into a stainless steel carafe. They are a little pricey, but, we love ours. Mine doesn't grind though. They may make them that do.

We've got a Zojirushi, and we love it! It has been our first carafe coffee maker, and you really can tell the difference in the coffee. I will never go back to coffee heated on a burner. I have several cups of coffee in the morning, and then one at lunch, and sometimes one in the late afternoon. Coffee is still hot in the carafe at lunch and still warm in the late afternoon, but since I like my coffee really hot, and I put a bit of chocolate milk in it at lunch, I do heat it a bit in the micro wave.

If you read the reviews on Amazon, some say that when it brews right from the tap with cold water, then the coffee is not hot enough. We have not had this problem at all.

The secret to the coffee maker is the filters used. The #4 cone makes better coffee then the type the Mr Coffee makers use.

Other then that, I can't really recommend one. We've tried the metal carafe; 2 brands IIRC; make sure you can fit your hand into it to wash.

I'm now using a Delongi model with glass carafe until it breaks then it goes in the trash if I can't find a new pot.

If it was me, I'd buy a separate grinder.

Our last 2 (Krups and KitchenAid) have had stainless thermal carafes. I'd never go back to glass. I really wanted a Bunn last time, but when the Krups went couldn't find one locally. You know what it's like without fresh coffee every morning ... so we settled for the KA. I like a separate grinder. Much easier to clean.

How often do you make coffee? And how many pots at one time?

I've had the Bunn which was excellent, but didn't have a automatic setup with a timer. So, I just bought the Cloer 10 cup which has a timer.
It keeps the coffee very hot in a metal carafe, which was a big selling point. It's more stylish than the Bunn.

I use a Krups burr grinder, and like it better than the ones that are built-in.
I got the Cloer through W-mart, but it's actually from some small kitchen supply outfit in Utah.

Hmmm - I am headed to Walmart tonight and will check out the Cloer. If I can come home w/ one tonight that would be awesome!

I did read that the Zojirushi could be hard to clean because of a narrow opening but I have soft bottle brushes anyways so that won't be a problem.

We brew coffee every morning and we love a good fresh hot cup (okay - many cups) each day.

At this point my 2 top priorities are programmable and brewing into a carafe. Looks like I'm going to give upon the integrated grinder. Sounds like it's too much Hassle in the Castle for me!

The bottle brushes may not be long enough to comfortably reach into the pot so keep that in mind. We found 2 different brushes at Target I think which worked well when we had the stainless.

I also like the look of the Cloer; what type of filter does it use?

I don't drink coffee, but bought the Grind & Brew with the crafe for my DH last year. He said it works well, but that the crafe doesn't keep the coffee as warm as he usually likes it. Hope that helps! -- Lukki

Unfortunately, narrow openings are what you'll find on the majority of stainless thermal carafes. That was another reason we went with the KA. My hand had to fit inside.

I love the programable timer. Bought my DD a grind & brew and she isn't overly impressed. She is also a strong brew girl and she said she can't get enough beans in to make a good brew.

We're serious about our coffee here in the PNW, so freshly ground beans are essential. We go through one pot in the AM for the 2 of us, and we don't make a second unless it's a long, lazy day. I thought about the carafe kind, but it's not a priority for me now. Just having one that is easy to clean is, however.

Ours has a stainless steel basket, but I still use filters. I believe the filters make it a much better brew.

I have used two different iterations of the cuisinart grind and brew and the cleanup was awful. The steam would get into the shoot where they ground coffee would travel and the whole system would get caked with mud. I switched to the capresso machine with built in burr grinder. I love it.. it was a few pots to come up with the strength I like but making coffee couldnt be EASIER. There is no cleanup and all I need to do is rinse the gold filter, add water and press a button. Voila.

I don't know why I don't use the program feature but I don't. It is fully programmable.

It is big.. but I am happy to trade off space for the simplified morning routine. I have had one since they first hit the market-- five years or more? I don't think I could even think about going back to grinding my own.

My Capresso CoffeeTEC just turned ten years old; I bought a new one, gave the used one to my DD, and it's still working fine, although it needs a "bump" now and then to finish the brew. The metal carafe keeps the coffee hot for hours without "scorching" and it makes the best coffee. My model has the frother feature, as well.

Capresso does make a model that grinds the beans but I prefer to grind them just before brewing with my $10 twelve year old Gloria Jean's grinder. The larger Cuisinart grinder I bought is terrrible.

Capresso CoffeeTEC