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.

On my wife’s birthday I wanted to give her something really meaningful and not the typical perfume, flowers and jewelry routine. My wife is not that tech savvy so the techie gifts were not considered. What next? Bluetooth was the answer. A good useful gift and it had nothing which suggested that it was too techie. It is pure plug and play.

Bluetooth stereo headset is nothing but headphones and a microphone which you use with your music player as well as your iphone. No wires and no hassles of programming etc. Bluetooth is wireless technology simple.

That alone prompted me to get the blue tooth headset or rather the stereo set for my wife. Another reason being that my wife just got herself an iPhone. Apple is definitely wow. I am jealous now as I want one for myself. The cost definitely is one thing that is preventing me from getting that.

Now here are a few things that you need to know about Bluetooth stereo sets.

In this there is a microphone which is not there when you buy Bluetooth headphones. Another thing is that if you have that old Sony Walkman (yes I am the older generation! ) then you can use these also but you will have to use what they call the small jack which can be plugged into the output jack and boom you are Bluetooth enabled.

A lot of people view this wireless technology to be not safer as these operate on radio waves and chances of the brain getting damaged because of the waves is there. My point of view is that it is yet to be proved however you can read about bluetooth headset safety here.

Update – My wife’s reaction was just wow! Now she is so comfortable driving the car and listening to the music while doing her dishes that seeing her makes me jealous and proud ! I want to own an iphone and a Bluetooth headset.

Another Update – If you are a blackberry addict like me then make sure that you get a blackberry car charger.