America is great, and we pretty much invented coffee
921884
This French press will be a friend for life.  Ive nicknamed it the Freedom Press, because, well, you know..America is great, and we pretty much invented coffee.  Shes robust, simple to use and clean, and guarantees a full cup of coffee for three individuals when filled to the top.
2895720
Great coffee and I can feel good about helping the environment to boot.
1684290
I found this audio cassette to be very interesting.  Howard Schultz transformed this company from a small time coffee shop secluded in the Northwest corner of our country, into a world wide business allowing us to  start our day with a fresh cup of coffee from virtually any location.  Howard's sheer determination is motivation to us all.
1207342
I love coffee.
My husband and I purchased this French Press system to take with us on trips so that we didn't have to suffer nasty coffee when we were away from home or dish out absorbent amounts of jack to some pretentious coffee chain that, yes, has decent coffee and donates their grounds to be recycled into compost but, charges what most people spend on food in a day for one very "un-grande" amount. Savvy?
All rants aside, the coffee from this little beauty puts our own brewed joe to shame and we've begun using it instead of our brewer.
It's made of high-quality, tempered glass, comes with thorough instructions, an extra filter, and a measured scoop.  It makes enough for two large sized cups of incredibly satisfying java.
It also brews a mean cup of Thai tea, too.
2511498
I have lived or traveled extensively in 3 well-known coffee producing countries - Brazil, Colombia and Costa Rica - as well as Panama, which isn't the first country that comes to most peoples' minds when you mention coffee, and I have to say that Panamanian coffee wins hands down in my book. So as soon I saw the Facebook promo for 50% off this coffee, which is the only Panamanian coffee available on Amazon as far as I know, I snatched it up.  A few days later, my daughter's boyfriend was over for a visit and asked for some coffee, so I brewed him a cup of Zancona and he immediately sat up and took notice, so it's not just my imagination!
507530
Finally, I was told b a local merchant Bodum did not make the 12 cup any longer. The screen on this model is the secret over others, letting more of the coffees oil enrich you and a GUEST. In in the comfort of the cold Denver winter. Guest. There's that word again. Hell the smaller sizes remind me of the revolutionary invention of Chicory. Look it up.
Tbone
Littleton
3754973
Bells and whistles--that's what most companies add to their coffee makers to get you to think you need what they're selling. Truth be told, we can make great cups of coffee with minimal equipment. The Bonavita is one of those coffee makers that has avoided the alarm clocks and internal grinders to focus on what will make the best cup of coffee.

The best part about this machine is it's simplicity. Plug it in, add water to the reservoir, the grinds to the basket, set it in its place, and press the on button. I saw that many other reviewers focused on the technical advantages that the Bonavita has over its competition. It gets the water to the right temperature, the way the water drips over the grinds maximizes the amount of coffee flavor you get from brew, etc. There is nothing more important to me or to my girlfriend than a great cup of coffee in the morning. The Bonativa makes sure that happens for us. It's technically spot on and its easy-to-use design make it the perfect coffee maker.

I plan on using this one till it won't go anymore. And once it burns out, I'll look for whatever they're producing next. This is the coffee maker we all want to have in our kitchens.
4957822
Before the advent of caffeine beverages in Europe, which didn't happen until the seventeenth century, what did people drink?  That is just one of the many questions answered in this thoroughly informative book about caffeine.  Mostly they drank beer.  Indeed for breakfast it was typical to have beer soup sopped up with bread.  There were no stimulant beverages available, and people did not generally drink water since safe water was not readily available.  Such a world it must have been with most people drinking alcoholic beverages from sun up to sun down!  Then came first cacao, and then coffee and tea, and our world changed.  It is interesting to realize that part of the value of cocoa, coffee and tea is the fact that they are consumed in water that has been boiled.  The health benefits of drinking safe water made habitual by the mildly addictive force of caffeine turned out to be a boon to humankind.  When one considers the usually deleterious nature of addiction, this is a delicious irony.
The emphasis here of course is on the two most widely consumed caffeine beverages, tea and coffee.  Weinberg and Bealer guide us through the facts and the folklore, the history and the pharmacology of the world's favorite drug.  They begin with the origins of coffee and tea in Part I: "Caffeine in History," followed by its arrival and widespread use in Europe in Part II: "Europe Wakes Up to Caffeine."  Part III is "The Culture of Caffeine" including knowledge about such things as the tea ceremony in Japan, the famous Oxford Coffee Club and the birth of the Royal Society in England and the rise of the coffee houses.  The story of Coca-Cola in America and the advent of what the authors call (p. 195) "The Straight Dope: Vavarin, NoDoz, and Other Caffeine Pills," is detailed.  The cultural "duality" between coffee and tea is expressed and a two-columned list presented in which, for example, coffee is associated with the male and tea with the female; coffee with indulgence and tea with temperance; coffee with excess and tea with moderation; Americans versus the English, Balzac versus Proust, etc.
I found the last two parts of the book, Part IV: "The Natural History of Caffeine," and Part V: "Caffeine and Health" the most interesting.  The chemistry of caffeine is therein discussed and information is given about how much caffeine is in various beverages (Starbucks decaffeinated coffee, for example, was found to actually have 25 mg of caffeine, while an average cup of regular java contains anywhere from 40 to 180 mg).  Mat and guarana, caffeine drinks popular in South America, are compared with coffee and tea, as well as with cacao (the source of chocolate), and the cola nut (which is typically chewed), along with the bark of a tree from which something called yoco tea is made.  Even betel, khat, ephedra and coca leaves are brought into the discussion.  The mental and physical effects of caffeine are assessed as well as that of other methylzanthines found in caffeine plants, such as theobromine and theophylline. Caffeine's effect on memory, depression, aggression, alertness, etc. are looked into, and the question of whether caffeine is a drug of abuse is addressed.
I must say that I found just about everything I wanted to know about caffeine in this book.  It is easily the best book on the subject that I know of.  The presentation is readable and entertaining with tables, photos, black and white prints, and cartoons augmenting the text.  There's even some poetry.  One of the most interesting illustrations shows four spider webs spun by spiders each "under the influence" of a different drug, marijuana, benzedrine, chloral hydrate and caffeine.  Guess which web is the most distorted?
2500626
What can I say.  For the first 27 years of my life I was a tight ass who wouldn't drink coffee.  What an idiot!
Then we had two kids, 10 months apart.
This thing literally makes rocket fuel, legally.

Starbucks is like drinking tap water in a third world country compared to this thing.

I'm 2 sips in this morning, and this is my 9th product review.
Kids are still sleeping thank god, wife is too.

And for about a buck, I feel like superman with the wind at his back.
3888704
This way of getting your coffee on a regular basis is a very good idea.  The taste is rich and pleasurable.  Me: black coffee.  Husband: cream.  Great either way.
4712810
I am not an extreme coffee purist, but I, and my family, can generally tell the difference between a decent coffee, and not very great; and this coffee has passed muster with everyone in the house. We will be re-ordering regularly.
1678821
wonderful story about us in the sense of America as us. Well worth the read and a second read and another and... ext. Its well worth taking the time to really think about as well. Good fiction helps us process reality like dreams helps us solve the days problems, and this book certainly was dreamy in that sense. Can't recommend it enough it may not be everybody's "cup of tea" but I think most Americans would benefit from drinking it in.
1294392
Tim Horton's coffee is the find of the century.  We have been going to Canada for over 12 years to hike and see the Rockies, etc.  Fell in love with Tim Horton's coffee on first trip to Thunder Bay, Ontario, and have been thrilled to finally be able to order it.  I don't take enough back, but, am doing more of that on our rather frequent trips up there...the Border guards make fun of us and say it has Chicory in it!  Well, it doesn't, I am sure or I could taste that, but it is the finest blend of Arabica I have drunk and it is famous in Canada.  Just keep the price fair for us American buyers, Amazon!  You have some really expensive sources, and it is approx. $16. Canadian per large can, so these sellers with $28 and $32 per can are wayyyy out of line.
1194027
Can't believe it, but I've put aside my Chemex and cone in favor of an auto-drip maker with a timer. Amazing. But I will still grind my beans daily with my old Bunn commercial grinder, which still runs like a champ after nearly 20 years of service.

As so many others have said, this machine is cleverly designed and also is attractive. The programming is about as simple as can be. The extra-strength brew setting does what it says it will do, and the temperature of the brew is close enough to perfect for me. My wife and I like a couple of big cups in the morning, so we fill the water reservoir about halfway and use a goodly portion of fresh grounds. Lest anyone is worried, you absolutely can make a very hearty brew with this machine. In fact, it appears we get more coffee from fewer beans now, compared to the manual cone process we've used for many, many years. Not sure how that's possible, but that's what we're experiencing.

We did take the advice of others here regarding "pre-treatment" of the maker, using white vinegar followed by straight water to clear out plastic flavors. We detect no plastic in our coffee.

What we really wanted was to cut the time we spend every morning making coffee. We may still use the Chemex on our days off, but having a timer is a bigger treat than we'd expected. We save ourselves at least 20 minutes in our morning routine, maybe more, by using the timer.

My hat is tipped to Hamilton Beach. Nicely done and fairly priced. If it holds up reasonably well, we'd buy another.

UPDATE:  Four months later, we're still happy. Would buy gain.
4862427
My housemate and I both love STRONG coffee.  We have found that yours is right up there among the best of them and we will continue to buy this.
2193615
I love this idea and wish I had known about it ages ago as it would have saved me a lot of money on Keurig cups. (the machine itself I received as a gift, but still had problems with it clogging up, which is something Keurig does not tell you about when you use the washable filter instead of the actual cup, otherwise no one would buy one.)  This method I can make my coffee as strong or weak as I like.  It's Great!...and cost pennies.
4331413
Have you noticed changing trends in coffee lately?  Smaller chains and independent coffee shops (Blue Bottle on the coasts, Intelligentsia in Chicago, for example) are teaching us that good coffee comes from:
1) Carefully selecting good coffee beans
2) Making sure those beans are recently roasted
3) Getting a consistent grind with a burr grinder rather than a blade grinder
4) Measuring carefully (both the weight of the coffee and the temperature of the water)
5) Brewing by hand rather than machine (as evidenced by the wide variety of pour-over filters, Aeropresses, a resurgence in Chemex pots, and so on)

If the idea of making coffee by hand appeals to you, or if you want to know more about how to roast coffee at home (a worthwhile endeavor if you're willing to learn), or if you just want to learn about where your coffee is grown and processed, then get this book.

The authors truly have a passion for coffee, and that passion shines through in this book.

Side note: I have the book in both Kindle form and in hardback form.  If I had to choose one or the other, I would go with the hardback book.  Though both have the same pictures, the physical book itself is handsomely put together and truly a joy to read.