It is now time for the third test victim in my automatic drip coffeemaker brewing temperature test. The machines being tested are ones which I actually own. So far, I have not asked to borrow machines of my friends for running through this test, although, such a happening is not beyond the realm of possibility.
Most people who have lurked alt.coffee in the past year, or participated on alt.coffee, are familiar with the Melitta Clarity, made by Salton, and the Presto, so-called "Scandinavian-design" drip coffee brewer, made in China by or for, Presto National Industries.
The beast currently on the kitchen counter is the Melitta IBS-10S, (Interval Brewing System), Automatic Drip Coffeemaker made in Germany by Melitta. Claimed capacity is ten cups. There was also an IBS-12S, 12-cup claimed capacity model, which was already sold out and no longer available when I bought my IBS-10S back in 1998 or so.
We had a thread or two concerning this machine when somebody announced on the group that it was being discontinued at close to half its original selling price. I had owned an 8-cup Melitta automatic drip model back in the early 1980's which had some features I liked, especially that it was capable of brewing up a good-tasting pot of coffee, and I had enjoyed their one-cup auto-drip model which brewed its output into a nice, heavy, traditionally shaped, 12-ounce ceramic mug. I actually still wish I had one of those units.
Melitta claimed that the IBS models had the heating element up in the top closer to the drip spout area,, all housed in the top section which is about three times thicker than the drip spout section of just about any other drip coffeemaker made contemporary to this design. Furthermore, they claimed that it would heat the water to up to 208 degrees Fahrenheit before releasing it into the filter basket. One participant in the thread on alt.coffee said that since he lived at an elevation around seven-thousand feet above sea level, the Los Alamos, New Mexico area if I remember correctly, this machine would not be a candidate for consideration by him, since that high a temp would mean boiling the water, which we all agree is, well, verboten where coffee brewing is concerned.
The other main claim to fame for this model is that it mimmicks manual pour-over brewing. The machine heats water and pumps it into that large top area, then dumps a farily large quantity into the filter for a few seconds, and then it stops and takes about half a minute or so to reload before domping the next shower of hot water into the brewing basket. That's what they meant by "Interval Brewing".
The first time I ran my temperature measuring test, I noticed a wide fluctuation in temperature readings, which correlate to whether or not the machine is pouring water into the brew, and swinging over a wide range depending on how fast the water drips out of the basket into the carafe, and how much time passes between the time the grounds have little water, and the time it takes the machine to reload and pour in another stream.
This temperature swing is much wider than you get with a unit like the Clarity or the Presto which feeds into the basket at a more constant rate. The thing that bothered me was how long this unit took to give me a reading even close to 190 degrees Fahrenheit, still short of that 90-degree-Celsius, (194 dg. F.) bottom end of that generally agreed-upon optimum brewing temperature. I discounted the first test and waited until today, July 5 to try again.
If I use the same grind setting and the same ratio of ground coffee to water in the IBS-10S as I do in the Clarity or the Presto, the filter will back up and I have a mess coming out the top of the filter basket. I had to use less coffee, ground considerably coarser for the IBS-10S.
Here is what I got on the first brewing run. Note, the resulting brew was a sink drink, which made a nice drain opener. The brew was weak and wimpy, actually in both tests I ran today. There is a possibility that this heating element is just no longer up to the task, although the machine has seen very little use, and had careful storage for most of the time I've had it. I bought it mainly because it was designed around a unique brewing concept for an electric drip brewer, and also because it was from the last batch of brewers actually made in Germany, that Melitta was selling in North America.
First test: Equipment used, the cooking thermometer with voiced output of digital readings, the same one used in the other two machine tests; one coffeemaker; one digital watch with stopwatch, countup timer function; One cassette recorder to record ellapsed times and temperature readings, for copying to the computer later.
Air temperature at test time, 77.5 degrees Fahrenheit Temperature of water in the tank, 74.9 degrees Temperature in pile of coffee in filter basket, 79.8 degrees
10 seconds, machine begins pumping, 81.8 degrees 20 seconds, 81.8 degrees, still no water in basket 30 seconds, 81.2 degrees 40 seconds, 81.5 50 seconds, 81.4 1 minute, 81.3 degrees, top is becoming warm 1 minute 11 seconds, 151.9 degrees 1 minute 18 seconds, 154.3 degrees 1 minute 28 seconds, 151.3 1 minute 42 seconds, 149.1 degrees 2 minutes, 147.1 degrees 2 minutes 19 seconds, 157.8 degrees 2 minutes 31 seconds, 154.1 degrees 2 minutes 45 seconds, 151.5 3 minutes, 171 degrees 3 minutes 16 seconds, 163.9 degrees 3 minutes 32 seconds, 163.8 degrees 3 minutes 42 seconds, 158.6 degrees 3 minutes 50 seconds, 158.8 degrees 4 minutes, 169.9 degrees 4 minutes 11 seconds, 163.3 degrees 4 minutes 24 seconds, 160.3 degrees Coffee backs up, I have to stop the brew and let water drip out of the basket into the carafe. 5 minutes 21 seconds, 169.3 degrees 5 minutes, 28 seconds, 172.1 degrees 5 minutes 6 minutes 10 seconds, 176.5 degrees 6 minutes 18 seconds, 169.9 degrees 6 minutes 27 seconds, 165.4 degrees 6 minutes 35 seconds, 163.3 degrees 7 minutes 19 seconds, 174.1 degrees 7 minutes 53 seconds, 186.3 degrees 8 minutes 186.5 degrees 8 minutes 46 seconds, 189.2 degrees 8 minutes 52 seconds, 189.1 degrees 9 minutes 1 second, 198.2 degrees, Pumping stops 9 minutes 12 seconds, 191.2 degrees fahrenheit 9 minutes 18 seconds, switch clicked 9 minutes 37 seconds, everything stops except dripping from the basket. 19 minutes, 191 degrees 10 minutes 11 seconds, 191.2 degreesTemperature inside the carafe, still on warmer plate, still turned on:
11 minutes 9 seconds, 173 degrees 11 minutes 18 seconds, 173.1 degrees 11 minutes 25 seconds, 173.4 degrees 11 minutes 40 seconds, 173.5 degrees Fahrenheit.Conclusions: I have too much ground coffee ground too fine for this machine in this test. I don't like that wide temperature variation, and 191.2 degrees as a final high temp reading inside the brewing basket is definitely not good enough by any standard.
I'll need to try this test again, using less coffee, a coarser grind, and paying closer attention to when the machine is actually pouring water into the basket. The size and shape of this thermometer's business end precludes any possibility of reliably coupling it to the drip opening, and definitely no possibility of installing it inside the drip assembly. At any rate, brewing doesn't take place that high up in the machine; the ground coffee is at least four or five inches further away, down in the basket.
I stil can't let this pass just yet. "Must have another go!" as I"ve heard fold from an island a few thousand miles northeast of here say.
Air temperature, 5:53 PM, July 5, 77.5 degrees Water temp in tank, 77 degrees Temp of coffee in basket, 78.2 degrees
Throw the switch: 210 seconds, 29.1 degrees
30 seconds, 79.2 degrees 40 seconds, 79.2 degrees 50 seconds, warm top 1 minute, water begins dripping in 1 minute 20 seconds, 145.3 degrees 1 minute 23 seonds, 140.5 degrees 1 minute 34 seconds, 137.1 degrees 1 minute 43 seconds, 139.3 degrees 1 minute 55 seconds, water pours in, 146.7 degrees 2 minutes, 163.4 degrees 2 minutes 14 seconds, pouring stops, 152.7 degrees 2 minutes 28 seconds, 149.8 degrees 2 minutes 46 seconds, water pours 3 minutes 167.6 degrees, water not pouring in 3 minutes 16 seconds, 162.5 degrees 3 minutes 40 seconds, water pours, 173.5 degrees 3 minutes 50 seconds, 183.8 degrees 4 minutes, no pouring, 170.4 degrees 4 minutes 26 seconds, 163 degrees 4 minutes 31 seconds, pouring, 179 degrees 4 minutes 36 seconds, 186.1 degrees 4 minutes 42 seconds, 180.7 degrees, pouring stops 4 minutes 55 seconds, 170.5 degrees 5 minutes 18 seconds, 165.5 degrees, water begins pouring in 5 minutes 24 seconds 182.6 degrees 5 minutes 30 seconds, 187.1 degrees 5 minutes 37 seconds, pouring stops, 180.2 degrees 5 minutes 47 seconds 174.9 degrees 6 minutes, 171.2 degrees 6 minutes 11 seconds, pouring begins again, 175.2 degrees 6 minutes 16 seconds, 184.1 degrees 6 minutes 25 seconds, pouring stops, 179.5 degrees 6 minutes 40 seconds, 173 degrees 6 minutes 54 seconds, 169.6 degrees 7 minutes, pouring, no announced reading 7 minutes 13 seconds, 184.3 degrees 7 minutes 44 seconds, 174.9 degrees 7 minutes 51 seconds, 176.5 degrees 8 minutes, 177.3 degrees 8 minutes 10 seconds, 173.8 degrees 8 minutes 17 seconds, 172.5 degrees 8 minutes 15 seconds, 171.3 degrees 8 minutes 35 seconds, 173 degrees 8 minutes 45 seconds, pumping stops 9 minutes, slurping the bottom 9 minutes 4 seconds, 174.2 degrees 9 minutes 11 seconds, 174.1 degrees 9 minutes 17 seconds, 171.5 degrees 9 minutes 23 seconds, 170.7 degrees.Check temp inside carafe:
10 minutes 36 seconds, 176.3 degrees 10 minutes 43 seconds, 176.3 degrees.This time, I did not see any 190-degree-plus Fahrenheit readings.
I think this beast is headed for the laundry room folding table where it will be fair game for whomever wants to snarf it up.
OH, the coffee? Sink drink. Hey, my budget won't stand for much of this, even if it is Eight O'clock 100-percent Colombian wWhole Bean Coffee mixed equally with Eight O'Clock French Roast Whole Bean coffee.
From the Clarity, it had a nice strong flavor with a good sharp, estringent bite. From the Presto, it was much smoother, without the estringent bite, and with more of the floral and fruity notes generally said to be characteristic of a good Colombian coffee. I like them both for different reasons, and would not usually prefer one over the other unless a specific mood of the moment might dictate a preference. Now, because my Presto seems to do a better job of bringing out the finer and more subtle nuances and complex characteristics of a flavor profile than dows my Clarity, between those two machines, if I'm trying an origin new to me, and I trust that the source has not committed some kind of attrocity against it in the storing and roasting phase, I will choose the Presto over the Clarity as my machine of choice for brewing it, at least for the first try. If I'm going to brew up any beans bought from Starbucks or something like Eight O'clock French Roast, The Clarity might be my brewer of choice over the Presto.
My Braun KF-157 and KF-187 actually usually get me both things in the same brew; the complex subtle notes are brought out, and there is still that estringent bite of the top note that the Clarity seems to favor.
The IBS-10S is goin' Bye! Bye! Quite a number of people I know would say I have far too many coffee grinding and brewing machines, anyway.
IN this machine's case, it made no difference whether it was made by Turks and Albanians, under German supervision in a factory in Germany, or made by Mexicans under German supervision, in a factory in Mexico.
When this line was discontinued after being sold through most of the 1990's, Melitta contracted Salton to make an electric drip-brewing machine for them, with their name on it, in a factory in Hong Kong, which was still a year away from passing from British to Chinese sovereignty, and we got the Clarity as a replacement.
OK, so I"ve bored some of you to beers. But at least this is about coffee and coffee brewing equipment, instead of a dust-up about whether or not alt.coffee has "hit bottom," and whether or not it was "good to the last drop". Wait a minute! That's somebody else's line! Sorry! Well, maybe not. Anyway, guys, it's only coffee. When you hit bottom, you can make more, reload, and keep on drinking.
Brent Reynolds, Atlanta, GA USA Email: snipped-for-privacy@bellsouth.net Phone: 1-404-814-0768