Everybody uses electric coffee makers.  Even people who drink tea use them.  They can be as cheap as $20 to more than $100 and come with features to make using them easier and safer.  Electric coffee makers allow tasty fresh coffee to be enjoyed anytime.

The coffee machine is an improvement over the percolator.  The taste of the coffee is better and the clean up process is simplified.  The back of the machine holds the water to be heated and when it is the right temperature, it is pumped up to the coffee grounds at the top of the machine.  The water drips through the ground coffee and a fragrant beverage is collected below.  The pot of coffee sits on a heater to keep the coffee warm.
There are many different types of electric coffee makers on the market.  The cheap ones cost as little as $20 but they tend to not last and are usually noisy.  In addition, they have no extras. Other models of electric coffee makers cost over $100 but they are made much better and can last a long time.

The delay brew is a very handy feature for people who need a cup of coffee when they first get up. Set the time the coffee should be ready and it will be.  It is very nice to grab a cup of coffee when first getting up.    All electric coffee makers should come with an automatic shut-off.  Many people forget the coffee pot is on and leave for work or go to bed. Burned coffee is no fun to clean off the bottom of a pot.

The best coffee maker is the Keurig.  It is a single cup electric coffee maker.  Patented technology makes one cup at a time of perfectly brewed coffee or tea.  A small canister is inserted into the top of the appliance. Enough water for one cup is instantly heated and passed through the canister into the cup.  Clean up consists of discarding the canister.

The electric coffee pot comes in many sizes.  The Keurig is the single serve model.  A four-cup version is also available.  One of the range of small electric coffee makers, it is a miniature of the larger models that make twelve cups.  It has a smaller reservoir, a smaller basket, and a smaller filter.  Even though it only makes four cups of coffee, it still has all the same features of larger models.

There are not many accessories for electric coffee makers.  One of the most useful accessories is the reusable coffee filter.  There is one to fit all coffee machine models including the Keurig.  There is no need to keep buying filters.  Just wash the one filter and use it again.  The Keurig coffee machine has special racks to hold the K-cups it uses.

Electric coffee makers are handy and reasonably priced.  They use only a small amount of electricity so it is tempting to leave a pot of coffee on the burner all the time.  After about half an hour, coffee that has sat on the burner evaporates, so the taste is not as good as fresh coffee.  So think about how a person drinks coffee before buying a new electric coffee maker.  It may be money well spent to spend a little more for a Keurig. For more on coffee lovers gifts you can read this post of mine.

Update Mar 2010 – If you need to have those new smart machines for coffee making which do not have all those various messy things and instead can make just one perfect cup of coffee then coffee pods is the way to go. Coffee Pod will make your coffee making routine absolutely easy and in fact the sales of coffee pods and single coffee cup machines is going steadily up as opposed to traditional coffee making machines.

If you are thinking of coffee mug gift as gift on the friendship day then sorry to say that those days are over( You can still give those special name mugs!). Well not that we do not drink coffee now in mugs but the latest in thing is the coffee pods. These small packs are beautiful. I got introduced to them when my office procured them and started using them rather than the filter coffee machines. The wastage that went with regular coffee filters in the office was huge. All coffee brewed by someone would go waste imply because someone wanted to have one coffee taste over the other that was already in the flask.

Coffee pods were great in that sense that you would never have to worry about the quantity. Each pod is just enough for one cup and also it is less messy.

I bought one for my home and we just love it. No wastage and no major hassles in terms of what to brew. Every one can get the gourmet coffee of their choice and we spend a bit less on coffee now. Another benefit is clean espresso machine.

In fact this prompted me to give the gift of coffee pod machine to my best friend Ryan as I knew how he loved our machine whenever he visited. So Ryan this cup of joe is for you.

There are a wide variety of brands available in the espresso pod machine category. The best is the Senseo coffee pod machine. It works like a charm.

I looked at the Keurig K-cups also as they also serve as the single serve coffee but the fact is that with K-cups you need to buy a Keurig coffee machine. In the case of coffee pod machine you can use any brand espresso coffee pods.

In fact I decided to make it as a gourmet coffee gift basket with the several gourmet coffee pods as well as coffee pod canister. This is needed if you need to store the coffee pods somewhere easily.

Update Feb 2010 – Coffee Lovers and people who want to give coffee gifts. This place has tons of information on coffee including K-cups, Espresso pods and types of coffee machines. So sit back relax, have a cup of coffee and then read everything you wanted to know about coffee.