I'm Jane's Brother And I'm Here To Help: Toothpick And Free Paint Edition
There's also a recommendation for a very inexpensive coffeemaker that works as well as the most expensive ones.
I'm the guy who Jane and a lot of other people call when they can't figure out how to do something. Why isn’t my dishwasher cleaning? How can I get the best price on a new car? Which coffee maker is the best? As a product design professor for 28 years, I am uniquely qualified to help. Basically, I can fix anything. (Except software issues. Nothing irritates me more than software issues.) I can also share plenty of tips and advice that I hope will simplify your life. Feel free to ask me anything (my family and friends sure do), and I promise to share all of my DIY secrets with you (well, most of them anyway).
My picks this week:
The OXO Brew Single Serve Pour-Over Coffee Maker
A few years ago, I gave my students a project to design a coffeemaker and brought in a coffee-brewing champion to give a talk. (Yes, there are international coffee-brewing championships and this guy had won them.) Among many other things, he spoke about this simple product.
The OXO Brew (around $15 on Amazon) provides an excellent pour-over cup of coffee much more efficiently than the traditional drip type. Here’s why it works so well:
For a great pot of coffee, you want the water to be near boiling (around 205°). Because this coffeemaker has a lid, the water maintains its temperature much better. By comparison, typical drip coffee makers heat water to about 180 degrees, and the pod-style ones only get it to about 160.
Ideally, coffee grounds should be in contact with the water for around 2-3 minutes. The OXO does this for you without requiring you to monitor it during the process. After three minutes, the bitter oils in the coffee are released. Drip coffee makers take too long, resulting in coffee that is more bitter.
All the parts can be thrown in the dishwasher as well, so cleanup is as easy as it can get.
The lid serves as a drip tray after you are done, preventing any mess on your counter.
The only machine that comes close to the OXO is the Moccamaster. It gets the water hotter than a typical drip style and pumps it through the grounds at a faster rate. But it is a much more complicated machine than the OXO, and the cheapest one is $330. On the plus side, a Moccamaster allows you to make more than one cup at a time. But this is a double-edged sword. The more coffee you make at a time, the longer the water is in contact with the beans. (Also, in case you were wondering, your worst option for good coffee is a pod-style machine. The water is too cold, there aren't nearly enough ground beans in the pods, and the beans aren't fresh. These machines are fine for other artificial coffee-flavored drinks and other hot beverages, like cocoa. But they are terrible for real coffee--unless you like yours lukewarm and weak.)
OXO, if you’re out there--how about a ceramic and glass model for those of us who are willing to spend a little extra money for something nicer that isn't made of plastic?