gear

I’ve been using a Moccamaster for the past two years and love the way it makes coffee. Choosing a model was relatively hard though, since they have multiple options and models. A few friends have asked how I picked a model, so I wanted to share the 3 main decisions you’ll need to make:

1. Glass vs. stainless steel carafe

Stainless steel pros:
* Lower chance of breaking
* Will keep coffee warmer by itself longer (e.g. taking the carafe to the kitchen table)

Stainless steel cons:
* Harder to clean since it’s not dishwasher safe and the mouth is narrower
* Some people are sensitive to the taste that stainless steel imparts to coffee

Glass pros
* Dishwasher safe and easy to clean by hand
* No aftertaste

Glass cons
* All the glass carafe models have a hotplate to keep the coffee warm, which means there are a few more parts that could break over time
* Easier to break, though it seems quite strong

2. 10 cup vs. 8 cup

For anything more than 1 person, would definitely get the 10 cup. The “cups” are European sizes (4oz), and  we go through one 10 cup pot easily. Plus, you can easily make less than 10 cups if you don’t need a full carafe.

3. Manual drip stop vs auto drip stop

Manual drip stop has a switch that controls how quickly coffee leaves the brew basket into the carafe. You can close it completely to steep for longer, put it halfway to let it brew more slowly, or open fully to get a weaker cup. We keep ours on half speed all the time and that seems to work really well. Auto dripstop works as soon as you remove the carafe, which is easier but means you don’t have as much control with coffee strength etc.

Manual dripstop pros
* Can adjust how strong your coffee is

Manual dripstop cons
* Removing carafe midway through brew is harder — need to fully close the brew basket, use carafe, and then reopen the brew basket
* You can easily forget to reopen brew basket, which will overflow if you don’t. (We’ve gotten close to this a few times when absentmindedly making coffee in the morning).
* The mechanism is a bit finicky

There are a few other differences, but basically once you decide on those 3, there’s 1-2 models to choose from.

Ultimately I chose this model with glass carafe / 10 cup / manual drip stop — in the future, I might choose the automatic drip stop since it’s a bit easier for guests to figure out if they want to make coffee.

Other resources

• https://www.beanpoet.com/which-moccamaster-should-i-buy/
• The water pouring spout has so-so water distribution by default — new models have this new spout but you can also buy it separately for older models or there are third party options like this and this that spread the water more evenly
• Moccamaster recommends using this descaler every few weeks – I use it once a quarter with good results

Recently upgraded my Dyson v7 to a Dyson v11 after the battery ran out. The v11 has a larger bin, stronger suction, and swappable batteries.¹

Research

• v11 absolute vs torque – only difference is soft roller attachment, which you can buy on eBay separately
• v11 torque vs animal – animal is missing the LCD screen and auto-detect mode

1. Swappable batteries were introduced mid year, so not all models include them. Those bought off Dyson all have them, but if you’re buying used you’ll want to look for a red switch on the bottom of the battery indicating it can be removed easily. Other Dysons have replaceable batteries, but they require a screwdriver so you can’t do it intraday. ↩︎