Wake up and smell the coffee (Bodum Kenya Coffee Maker)

Member Name: CAFCGirl

Product:	Bodum Kenya Coffee Maker
Date:	27/10/08 (222 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent brew

Disadvantages: Plastic-icky outer

Working in the tea and coffee industry, Im forever looking at gadgets and gizmos all promising to be the only thing I would ever need.

One thing that has never needed much work on its design and engneering is the cafetiere.

Working in the principle of longer brewing rather than pressure (like an esppresso) the full flavour, aroma and character of a coffee is more preserved for a better cup.

Now I wont bore you with the history of a cafetiere, or who invented it etc. I'm concentrating more on this specific model cafetiere.

So how to use. It comes with a handy scoop for measuring your coffee out. When I make a coffee I use 6 of these scoops but you can play around with how you like your coffee.
Usng water just after the boil, is my tip, as boiling water can bring out some nasty characteristics of the coffee.
Brew for 5 minutes and then slowly push the plunger down. Be careful not to push too quickly as too much pressure can break the glass and make for a very serious accident.

Even though this is classed as an 8cup, you're more likely to get 6 decent size cups or 4 decently filled mugs.
The cafetiere itself will retain enough heat to enjoy the coffee for about 1/2 without a cosy on it, but then any longer the coffee starts to taste aged and loses its heat. Luke warm coffee is never nice.

Finish wise its not as classy as some others on the market, but its a very good entry level cafetiere.
When cleaning it, you can remove the glass from the outer holder but do be careful when doing this and when washing the glass as a slight tap can cause them to break and they can be a bit difficult to get spare parts for, but not that difficult.
On some of them dependant on the finish of the plastic they can have little snag areas of plastic. When using a tea towel etc you end up with bits of fluff stuck to it which is a bit annoying but thats probably the worst thing I can say about it.

Before using I would wash the glass out carefully, and always buy decent quality coffee.
After all you cant polish a turd!

Summary: Buy good coffee, dont overbrew, drink hot. Enjoy!

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