Small Coffee Maker


 
LMichaels

LMichaels

TVWBB 2-Star Olympian
So, when my dad had left his home for the Assisted Facility he had this little tiny 5 cup B&D Coffee Maker. We took it home as I honestly prefer not to use the timer function if "da boss" needs her AM Joe. So, here I'd been having her make her wee hours cup in this little guy.
Well next Fri we leave to the Kalahari resort for her b/day celeb. Yeah, they have those little coffee makers in the rooms but in polite terms...........they suck and the coffee sucks even worse. And honestly, even in their really nice breakfast joints IDK what brown liquid they're passing off but it ain't coffee.
So, I will be bringing my little Shardor grinder and figured I would experiment and see how good a cup I can get from the B&D. That is, until I noticed the horrid smell from the coffee maker itself. Mold, stale coffee, and other mystery scents that totally assault the senses. Attempting a vinegar cleaning now but YIKES that machine STINKS like :poop:
So, I just ordered this little Cuisinart 5 cup thermal. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B3G5Z7DR?tag=tvwb-20
Fingers crossed it works well. But still trying to get the B&D working without smelling like a sewer. :D
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
My mom had one of those B&D four cup babies, it was pretty good. Never had any “off” smells. The one you linked might be very nice, I expect a full review after a weeks use!
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I'll try it out possibly over the weekend. I just did another (4th) fresh water flush on the B&D. If this doesn't work it's going in the trash Friday.
 
I hear ya on the hotel coffee makers. I've gotten to the point that I won't really consider making coffee in them, with what I'm reading about hotel guests using them for, lack of cleaning, etc. I'll go get a cup of the life giving juice at a local coffee shop.

Oh, and hippo birdie to the missus.
 
JKalchik said:
I hear ya on the hotel coffee makers. I've gotten to the point that I won't really consider making coffee in them, with what I'm reading about hotel guests using them for, lack of cleaning, etc. I'll go get a cup of the life giving juice at a local coffee shop.

Oh, and hippo birdie to the missus.
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Totally with you on the quality of hotel coffee…rubbish! There is a place in town that used to have delightful coffee but, it’s gone straight downhill for a couple of years. I’ve stopped getting anything there anymore, even the pancakes that used to be good are awful! Most of the breakfast joints have gone to the pits on everything. There are two left that make decent food anymore. Sad!
 
So, I've seen your other posts about coffee and I can confidently say I am but a mere philistine when it comes to having a palette for coffee as you do. lol. So, you can feel free to scoff at my recommendation and I won't be offended in the slightest. But, last October we moved to Florida and I needed a coffee pot for myself. The wife has the fancy Breville upstairs in her office/lady lair and my mom's that I had been using is now in her MIL suite coffee bar area. I had been shopping for a while and wouldn't pull the trigger on anything but once we got the new house I had to make a decision and made a bit of a snap decision on this one:


I like that it uses Kcups and grounds. It also has a non heating milk frother, which I actually use to froth my half and half before I brew into my yeti cup each morning and it adds a nice little foamy touch to my coffee. I've used both the Kcups and grounds, but almost exclusively use grounds and only use the Kcups if I run out of grounds and am waiting or our next grocery delivery. Form factor is really nice but not sure if it's small enough for what you are looking for. Love that I can do all kinds of sizes of brews and there is a spot to stow the basket you aren't using and has an included scoop that attaches to the side so it really would be great for a travelling machine, in my opinion.

Then to really fancy it up, you can get at larger Yeti Rambler and the Yeti Cup Cap for it so you can take your coffee anywhere with you for breakfast or daily excursions and it comes with a cap cup that you can actually drink your coffee out of. Lol. Might be too next level for you but it's something I would do. lol In fact I have a similar setup for taking bourbon on the go.


 
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Ahh Mike, could hold promise but a couple minor issues. It only makes a cup at a time, 2, it's nearly 3X more than I wanted to spend. I ordered the Cuisinart for only $38.
Also FWIW even after all the cleaning and flushing with fresh water the B&D still stinks like mold and old socks. Even the water that comes out of it smells awful. So how could it even make anything approaching a drinkable cup. Now, I feel guilty for never having checked it prior to having her used it :D Who knows what kind of toxic organisms she may have been consuming? :D
 
LMichaels said:
Ahh Mike, could hold promise but a couple minor issues. It only makes a cup at a time, 2, it's nearly 3X more than I wanted to spend. I ordered the Cuisinart for only $38.
Also FWIW even after all the cleaning and flushing with fresh water the B&D still stinks like mold and old socks. Even the water that comes out of it smells awful. So how could it even make anything approaching a drinkable cup. Now, I feel guilty for never having checked it prior to having her used it :D Who knows what kind of toxic organisms she may have been consuming? :D
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It can make up to 24 ounces on one brew, so it's not just a single cup brewer unless 24 ounces is a normal cup for you. I don't judge if it is. lol
 
MikeLucky said:
It can make up to 24 ounces on one brew, so it's not just a single cup brewer unless 24 ounces is a normal cup for you. I don't judge if it is. lol
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I didn't equate using K Cups to making 24oz coffee at a time. Still more $$$ than I wanted to spend and larger and more unwieldy than I want to pack in a small suitcase, and more complicated than my wife would like on those mornings she needs to make her own coffee. Although a small simple K Cup machine for her alone had crossed my mind.
But, again for this application it really would not suffice. I'm sure (knowing Ninja) it's likely a pretty cool apparatus. Just way more complex, expensive and larger than I want. Appreciate the sentiment though.
 
We used to use an AeroPress...it's a very versatile way of brewing. Our daughter gave us a Keurig for a gift several years ago and while it may not be the best cuppa joe I've ever had, it's certainly one the most convenient, and the older I get, the more important convenience becomes to me. We bought a travel-sized Keurig for vacations during Black Friday a couple of years ago.
 
I'm very happy with my new Nespresso Vertuo machine. Works great when I don't feel like making a pot of french press. Fast and simple one cup maker.

Brews a bunch of different sizes from single espresso size up to an 8 ounce coffee. Tastes better to me than K cup brew. And good for making latte/cappuccino type drinks. My first cup most mornings is now a double espresso latte that I drink while the french press pot is brewing.

Downside is that you are locked into proprietary Nespresso pods which are about $1.25 a pop.
 
Jim C in Denver said:
I'm very happy with my new Nespresso Vertuo machine. Works great when I don't feel like making a pot of french press. Fast and simple one cup maker.

Brews a bunch of different sizes from single espresso size up to an 8 ounce coffee. Tastes better to me than K cup brew. And good for making latte/cappuccino type drinks. My first cup most mornings is now a double espresso latte that I drink while the french press pot is brewing.

Downside is that you are locked into proprietary Nespresso pods which are about $1.25 a pop.
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Also the 1 cup at a time thing. This will be for small batch brews primarily.
 
BTW I left that little B&D on the counter lid up, full dried, cleaned, descaled well rinsed, for the last 4 hours. Still smells like the boy's locker room at my old high school. In a word. Disgusting! Phew. I've never smelled a coffee maker make so much moldy smell.
 
LMichaels said:
BTW I left that little B&D on the counter lid up, full dried, cleaned, descaled well rinsed, for the last 4 hours. Still smells like the boy's locker room at my old high school. In a word. Disgusting! Phew. I've never smelled a coffee maker make so much moldy smell.
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That'd be in indication to me that whatever has taken up residence isn't inside the water circuit, but somewhere else in the housing. Likely not cleanable without a full disassembly, IMO.
 
Ed P said:
Coffee brewing is such a personal thing I hesitate to make a suggestion. Have you tried an AeroPress?
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Ditto on aeropress. Very simple to use, and easy to travel with. My travel go to is aeropress, 1zpresso Q Air grinder, and vacuum seal pre-weighed beans. Hot water kettle available in most hotel rooms takes care of the rest
 
So I looked at one. Thing is Not sure I'd have a way to heat water reliably to put in it. So, I'll test the little Cuisinart when it comes and if that works as well as I hope, I'll be a REALLY happy guy as then I don't have to drink hotel coffee. Even the restaurants in the resort. They brag on their "gourmet blend beans", and brews. Gimme a break! Maybe if they actually used some coffee in the brew? But I doubt they come anywhere near to using proper coffee to water ratios and who knows how long the ground beans sit open. They always taste weak and insipid to me.
 
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