Canter Bridge

In our home, a morning without coffee is not anything like a day without sunshine. It’s more like a dark and terrifying nightmare that never ends with a soundtrack of Eagles tunes sung by the young Madonna (‘You can check out anytime you want but you can never, ever leave’).

Much, then, was my joy when the Good Wife determined that the semi-human gasping sounds that accompanied every morning’s brew time on my old coffee maker now justified the purchase of a replacement. Having done her homework, she tracked down a Cuisinart DCC-220 Brew Central 14-Cup Coffeemaker for a song at the local Macy’s.

First lesson: do not pay full price for this coffee-maker.

Second lesson: do buy this coffee-maker with confidence.

Some will appreciate the clock function, finding themselves marginally more competent at measuring out the right heap of brown gold at night-time rather than at the break of dawn. The more fastidious may enjoy the ‘clean’ function. The economy-minded will applaud the gold-plated filter (included) that relieves one of the trauma of discovering late on, say, a Wednesday night, that the paper filters are all gone and that one will have to be jerry-rigged with scissors and paper towel.

Me, I like the quantity of coffee this puppy puts out, the just-right flavor that results from good engineering work on the temperature variables, and the very effective carafe. The latter keeps the coffee warm for a very long time but—ingeniously—does not require twisting of a lid before pouring.

The slightly retro design strikes this reviewer as handsome without becoming quaint. Quaintness, so goes one of my core convictions, is not a matter for the kitchen.

The machine feels solid and dependable. It makes good coffee. It can be found at steep discounts to the asking price. It makes enough coffee for a serious end user or a small horde of more casual tipplers of the bean.

You won’t go wrong with this one.