Brewing Coffee in a Drip Coffee Machine

My friends and family enjoy coffee. Here are the type of coffee brewing machines I use.

They are drip machines that all brew coffee the same way. You put the coffee in the basket and cold water in the tank. The machine brings the coffee to the basket but boils it on the way to the basket. Therefore the coffee is always the same. They all have the feature that lets you pull the pot out safely while it is still brewing. That is great if you can't wait for the machine to finish brewing all the coffee.

Here are three coffee machines I have used. On the right is a Proctor Silex Machine from Canada. The middle machine is a Britania machine from Brasil and on the left is an Arno Machine, also from Brasil.

These three machines all work the same way but they also have some very different characteristics.





Here is a one cup black machine I used in Canada and brought to Brasil. We use it occasionally when we want just one cup of coffee.



Here is where we see the differences in the three big machines. The two on the left let you see how much water is in the tank. The one on the right has a Clock and Timer so you can fill the machine and it turns on at a predetermined time the next morning. I rarely used that feature.




This is the Proctor Silex Machine from Toronto, made in Mexico. I prefer my coffee machines to be white. But black seems to be the most prominent style available now. Of course the colour of the machine makes no difference in the taste of the coffee. This is the second Proctor Silex machine I have had. This one and its predecessor lasted a combined total of 28 years. This one finally died after two years in Brasil.




Notice the pot. It holds 12 Canadian cups or 6 mugs of coffee. The sides of the pot are straight and the pot is calibrated in cups although you cannot see the calibrations in this photo.




The coffee basket pulls out of the top of the machine and it carries a permanent filter or you can use standard paper filters. Some people use both together.




Here you can see the slot the basket slides into. Sometimes it was a little difficult to get it in right.




Water was poured into the tank on the top via this small door. If you were not careful water poured all over the counter.




Here is the top of the pot. Notice the large beak and the wide throat. This made it easy to pour without spilling.




When the Proctor Silex died we bought a new machine in Brasil. It was a Britania, made in China.





It opened easy to get access to the basket and was easy to clean.





We used the permanent filter from the other machin in this basket.




Notice that when the basket was removed you can see the pins that it hinged on.
Some times it was difficult to remove so I would bang on it to make it pop off the pins.




That caused a problem. See the rubber pipe inside. It feeds the water from the tank to the basket. After many bangs it finally popped out itself. We finally managed to get it back so the machine was still usable but we had to be very careful with it.




Notice the pot, it has straight sides like the Proctor Silex and a has large beak and a wide throat for pouring. It also held 6 large mugs of coffee. There are no calibrations on the pot.



The Britannia only lasted 6 or 7 months till we had to get a new machine. It died prematurely.



Then we bought this Arno Machine. It holds slightly less water than the others but it brews well.




This one opens real easy. The lid covers the tank and the basket. We use the old Permanent Filter from the Proctor Silex.




You can easily take the filter out for cleaning.




Or you can remove the entire assembly. Notice the jumbo pin it sits on. It comes off real easy for cleaning.




Here is the water tank. Notice the pipe is plastic and is an integral part of the machine. That is why we bought this machine. Our experience with the hose coming off the Britannia was the main reason we selected this machine.




Notice the small beak on the pot and also no throat. Therefore when we take the pot out to pour coffee into a cup we often spill coffee. This pot holds just 4 large mugs of coffee.




Notice that the sides of the pot slope. This makes it impossible to put under the tap on our water supply so we must fill cups and pour them into the machine. Also there are no calibrations on the pot.


Of course the other straight sided pots wont fit into the coffee machine. Now we have to see how long this machine lasts. After a while you get used to the design errors in the coffee machines.

If it was up to me I would have them redesign the Arno and have it use straight sided pots with a large beak and a wide throat.

You may have your own favourite coffee maker. They come in all kinds of styles, shapes and colours. The main thing is that they brew a great cup of coffee.

Now, sit back and enjoy a nice cup of coffee with me!


I drink two of these larger Canadian mugs for breakfast and two more in the late afternoon. Yes . . . . I love coffee. I used to like Tim Horton's Coffee in Canada, but I have become acclimated to Brasilian Coffee and I discovered recently discovered, upon receiving some Tim Horton's coffee from my friend in Toronto, I now prefer Brasilian coffee.





Photos by Urso Branco