I wouldn't consider myself a coffee aficionado: I just really like my morning cup(s). For the longest time, I was a Keurig guy, and I was happy with it. I'd load up a K-Cup into my single serve machine, and two minutes later, my morning was saved.
There were two problems I had with my Keurig, though: One, I did hate the daily waste of the K-Cups, even with "recyclable" ones hitting the scene a few years back. Two, using the machine was a bit of a pain when trying to make more than one cup at once. It'd be nice to fill a travel mug, for example, but one cup felt like not enough, while two cups would risk overflowing. And if we had multiple guests over who wanted a cup of coffee, they'd have to wait their turn as my machine brew exactly one serving at a time. Madness.
So, I started to eye a more traditional coffee maker—something that would use one paper filter to make an entire pot of coffee. If I had guests over, or if I wanted to perfectly fill my travel mug, no problem. If the coffee was just for me, well, I'd be very happily over-caffeinated. Win-win.
While I'd probably be satisfied with a standard coffee maker, I was turned on to the Moccamaster Technivorm, and I never had a chance of looking elsewhere. This thing has it all: It's stylish, it makes 40 ounces of coffee at once, and supposedly optimizes the speed at which the coffee brews to extract the coffee's "full flavor" and maximize its "complexity, taste, and aroma." Again, I have no scientific or expert background when it comes to my coffee "extraction." I just like a good cup. And this thing makes a pot of good coffee every time. (This YouTube review does a good job of explaining the machine in greater depth.)
As for actually brewing your coffee, I frequent Moccamaster's advice quite often, which is posted online (although it should also come with your machine in paper form). It has the suggested ratio of water to ground coffee for any amount of coffee you're looking to make (I tend to brew a liter at a time, which equates to six scoops of Moccamaster's two tablespoon scoop, or 55 ounces), as well as advice on what to do if the strength is off: If your coffee is too strong, Moccamaster recommends you add hot water. But if it's too weak, Moccamaster doesn't recommend adding more grounds: Instead, it advises "exploring different coffee varieties or roast profiles to find one more suited to your taste." To me, that sounds like a very polite version of "your coffee's trash, dude."
From a novice's perspective, everything about this Moccamaster machine is amazing—except the price. The thing retails for $359, which is, the last time I checked, expensive. That's why, when I opened Amazon this morning, and saw the Technivorm was on sale for Black Friday, I had to write about it.
Unfortunately, the deal is already fluctuating. Originally, Amazon had this machine at half price. But since then, only the Polished Silver color is currently 50% off. For most other colors, the has been cut to 30%. As of this piece, that includes Apricot, Black, Brushed Gold, Butter Yellow, Candy Apple Red, Matte Black, Matte Silver, Midnight Blue, Off-White, Orange, Pink, Stone Grey, Turquoise, and Yellow Pepper. Pistachio is currently 31% off, while Rose Gold is 36% off.
If you don't have a color preference, grab that Polished Silver right now: You'll spend $179.50 on an amazing coffee maker that normally runs twice that price. Although, I'd recommend clicking through the various colors before you buy to see if the deal has shifted at all since this article.
