a new, fabulous coffee maker!

the french press won my heart years ago.  however, as amazing as the french press is, it is nice to have a drip coffee maker around for those times you are in a bit of a hurry.  since we hadn't been in the market for a drip coffee maker in quite sometime, i had no idea how many options are out there!  after a bit of research, we (isn't it funny that i keep using "we", as if blake had any opinion on the type of coffee maker we have...) chose the cuisinart brew central 12-cup programmable coffee maker.

in addition to feeding my love for all things cuisinart, this coffee maker has some excellent features:

number 1: it's pretty.  if something is going to be sitting out on my counter all of the time, we know this is a must.  

number 2: something to always make sure your coffee maker has - brew pause.  it is perfect for when you are making a big pot & you don't really want to wait until the whole things is finished.

number 3: heater plate with three settings.  i, personally, like me coffee very hot, hotter than your average joe-drinker.  (haha, i am so clever.)  so i changed my heater plate to the hottest setting to make sure my second cup is as warm as the first.  great idea.

number 4: programmable auto shutoff.  how many times have you come back to your coffee maker an hour after you made coffee to  realize the heating plate is still on?  well, not only does it have an auto shutoff feature, you can tell it how long you want it to wait.  very smart.

number 5: a 1-4 cup setting.  why would you need this, you ask?  well, let me tell you.  the maker was designed to heat water over the entire 12-cup process to result in the perfect coffee drinking temperature. so when you only want to make a few cups instead of all 12, the water doesn't have time to heat all of the way.  the 1-4 cup setting is a dual-heating process that ensures your few cups are as hot as necessary.  seriously, the cuisinart people are geniuses.

a teaser for next week - after lots & lots of research, i ordered an espresso machine yesterday.  so so excited about this.  wait to see what it is...

love love,
kjp.