The search for the perfectly brewed cup of coffee at home has always proven elusive for me. I have an entire counter devoted to my various coffee gadgets, each with its own niche: brewing a single cup, full pot, drip, press. I have yet to discover the one-stop-shop coffee maker that can produce a great tasting cup or pot consistently. My father recently made me aware of the Technivorm Moccamaster coffee maker. Each unit is made by hand in Holland and is designed to extract and preserve the flavors and aroma in every cup of coffee. It has even been given top honors by Cook’s Illustrated magazine for brewing the perfect and best tasting cup of coffee. But what exactly does that mean? The perfect cup of coffee depends on three factors: water temperature, brew time, and the freshness of the water and beans. While it’s fairly easy to control the last factor, most coffee makers do not make the cut with the first two and as a result produce either bitter or flat coffee. The Moccamaster line is able to meet both requirements by maintaining a consistent water temperature (between 195-205 degrees Fahrenheit) through a copper element and a proper brew time (5-6 minutes) throughout the brewing process. Although it sort of resembles something from a mad scientist’s lab rather than a kitchen appliance, the coffee it produces is supposed to be supreme.
Perfection has its price though, $299.95 for the thermal carafe version or $279.95 for the glass carafe, both available through Williams Sonoma.
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I have had my mine for three-years. It is, in a word, perfect. We went through 8-9 different methods of brewing that perfect cup. Our search has ended with the Technivorm. Marry it with a good burr grinder and you will be very happy. The thermos will keep the coffee hot for 3-4 hours.
@Eric Coffee + Burr Grinder = What? 😉
In The Netherlands, this machine has been available for over 40 years, more or less in this form. My mother has been using one for decades, so did my grandparents. I personally don’t like the coffee it produces, as I almost dislike all coffee makers which use paper filters: relatively bitter, almost sour coffee. It does stand out however regarding the temperature: you’ll burn your lips and tongue thoroughly if you drink your coffee too fast, because is it *really* hot. But that’s about the only forté of the machine. And you can still get replacement parts for your 30 year old machine.
But I’d still avoid it.
Come on Valcon- you must be use to expresso over there in Europe! Coffee is not expresso! The Technivorm is perfect for coffee. COFFEE!
Eric, do you always make a full pot (i.e. does the machine make a good cup of coffee if you only wanted to make, say a half pot?) or does it come out weaker and more bitter?
My wife and I have a Technivorm that looks just like the one in the picture. And we use a burr grinder with the option to make coarser or finer grounds.
With the right (medium-fine) setting on the grinder, for the beans we buy, we find the coffee excellent. We do get a difference in taste depending on whether we set the filter control to fast flow or slow flow (slow makes a stronger but slightly bitter cup).
A cup of beans in the burr grinder is good for two cups of coffee. We hardly ever make more than that at a time…if you want more (I guess it makes up to 5 normal big cups at a time) then make more, or run it again. It is fast and quiet.
I would never want to revert to having to start my days with the old drip maker and its not quite hot coffee.
oops, meant to say 1/4 cup of beans, not a cup of beans…
My wife and I have had our Moccamaster KBT 741 coffee maker for two years. Makes a great coffee quickly. Unfortunately the power switch started to go bad and recently stopped working, otherwise the coffee maker works great.
I left message with Technivorm Service (855-662-2200); however, I do not anticipate they will sell me a replacement switch without sending the unit to them for service repair.
I found the switch on the website: http://www.huoltopalvelu.com/epages/Kaupat.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/Huolto/Products/.
I believe this site is from the Moccamaster manufacturer in the Netherlands. Has anyone found a US source for this power switch?
Hi David,
We are in the same boat. What did you end up doing to fix your issue with the Start/Stop toggle button? Thanks!