What is a good American made coffee maker with a grinder?

2 Responses to “What is a good American made coffee maker with a grinder?”

1. Comment by singletrack65

   Well, if you build it I might buy it. So far, most of the ones out there suck.

   And it has to be better than all the Chinese ones out there.

   I have seven ways to make coffee. Only my Chemex was made in the US, but it has no electronics at all.

   At least none of my methods were made in China either.

2. Comment by Stappy

   There is no “good” grinder that is built into a coffee maker. A good burr grinder is built with that purpose in mind and only that purpose in mind. If you are buying a good burr grinder wouldn’t you want to use it for more than just the one coffee maker anyway??? You would then need to buy another one for your french press, and one for your vac pot, and one for your espresso machine… A good burr grinder is essential, a good coffee maker is not. You can make excellent coffee from a good burr grinder, fresh beans, and a pot of hot water, no coffee maker needed.
   The Baratza Maestro is a burr grinder made in the US that is a good entry level grinder. There are other companies such as Capresso that are made in the US also. Most coffee sites imply that grinders below $150 are not worthy but a cheap grinder is better then preground from the store. I have found stand alone burr grinders at garage sales for as little as $2.
   The cheap grinders will give you coffee dust and inconsistant size of grind but like I said, it is still better then preground. (note: French press/permanent filters do not like fine grinds as they will pass through the filter mesh and leave sediment in the cup, just don’t drink to the last drop…)
   The world of coffee is too huge to miss out by sticking to only one style of coffee maker.

   I am thinking you intend to save time and put coffee beans into the hopper the night before and let the machine grind them in the morning and make the coffee. One drawback to this is now the coffee will sit on the burner and smoke until you wake up. Get a good Bunn machine with an internal water tank and it will make the coffee fast enough that you will not need to worry about this. Once the coffee is done brewing put it into your cup or thermos before it sits on the burner any length of time.

   p.s. Check out your local coffee roaster and find out what truly fresh coffee is (roasted within 14 days). Once you experience this, try a French Press. Pots are available at Target, Meijers, etc… and if you keep an eye out you can find em cheap (I got one new for $5 and one at Salvation Army for .89).

   Oh, BTW, DO NOT buy a whirlybird/lawnmower style grinder, there is NO consistency in the grind. Think of the size of the granule of coffee bean as being directly related to how long it has to brew to extract the flavor. Now, if every granule is a different size then some will over extract, some will under extract and very few will extract correctly. Burr grinders by design makes the granules at least approximately the same size. Whirlybirds just whack at the coffee.