Moccamaster Thermal Coffeemaker Silver

Those scientific testers at Cook's Illustrated magazine gave the Moccamaster coffeemaker from Technivorm three stars in every category (brewing, flavor, user-friendliness), awarding it the coveted "Highly Recommended" rating. They even went so far as to say the Moccamaster made better coffee than their previous reference standard, the classic Bodum Chambord French press. Not only that, the Moccamaster is also one of the few electric drip coffeemakers approved by the Specialty Coffee Assocaition of America for as certified brewing equipment. And now, the latest Moccamaster adds a drip-stop mechanism to the filter basket, so you can pour yourself a cup before the whole pot has finished brewing. Yay!

We've been drinking coffee made in a Moccamaster for years, and we can say without hesitation that the Moccamaster makes the best damn cup of coffee any of us has ever tasted. And we've had the coffee produced by more coffeemakers than you can shake a stick at.

So, what's the secret? Simple: ideal control of both time and temperature. The Moccamaster, according to Cook's Illustrated came the closest of all coffeemakers to the ideal brewing time of six minutes and alone among the machines tested achieved the perfect brewing temperature of between 195 and 205 degress over the full six minutes. It also met the standard for the ideal serving temperature of 155 - 175 degrees. The result is coffee that will change the way you think of your favorite morning beverage, complex and dynamic, powerful, but smooth. And hot, too!

The Moccamaster isn't for everybody. It's expensive and it doesn't do any tricks. There's no timer, no programmable features, no clock, no choice of brewing cycles. In fact, there's simply an on/off switch that starts the brewing. That's it. Simply fill the clear water tank on top of the stainless-steel tower with water, put your favorite ground coffee in a filter in the filter basket, place the carafe under the basket, and hit the "on" switch. The water is heated, pumped over to the filter basket and dispersed via a 9-outlet spary head over your ground coffee. In about six minutes, you'll have a carafe full of the most wonderful coffee you've ever tasted. Thanks to a switch that closes automatically, you can remove the carafe and pour yourself a quick cup without waiting for the brewing process to finish. But, that's about as fancy as the Moccamaster gets.

The Moccamaster is hand-assembled in Holland (if it's not Dutch, it's not much!) out of the finest materials; the power cord alone looks like it belongs in a power plant. It measures just over 16" high, 6.75" deep and, with the carafe in place, 11.50" wide. If you love coffee , if you want the best drip coffee you've ever tasted, if you don't need a bunch of fancy electronic features, you'll love the Moccamaster.

To see a range of Moccamaster videos, with thorough explanations of all facets of coffee brewing, click here.