Productopia | Coffee Makers

You've probably been noticing a lot of buzz around cold-brew coffee recently. From celebrities singing its praises to coffee bloggers going crazy for it, cold-brew coffee has finally gained popularity in the U.S. (It's been a European favorite for years).

Cold brewed coffee is not simply chilled regular coffee poured over ice, a common misconception. The cold-brew method is a process by which the flavor is extracted from coffee grounds by sitting in room-temperature water for about 12 hours, and the resulting elixir is pressed through a filter to remove the grounds. This leaves a thick coffee concentrate that can be kept in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, according to editors at Cook's Illustrated magazine.

The other day, my coffee maker up and died. As you might imagine, this presented an immediate crisis. After all, between the hours of 6AM and 10AM, there is no more important device in my home. Mostly because without coffee, I'm incapable of operating any other devices in my home. Time for an emergency purchase.

With so many designs and models on the market, buying a coffee maker is no easy decision. Here are some tips to help you choose one that's right for you:

When it comes to retaining coffee's flavor and temperature, experts find that coffee makers with thermal carafes are better than glass carafes. The warming plate under a glass carafe can burn, negatively affecting the coffee's flavor. Coffee brewed in a thermal carafe doesn't rely on a hot plate, so the coffee will stay fresher (and taste better) longer.

At an eyebrow-raising price of $3 apiece, Chefmate kitchen appliances are among the cheapest doorbusters we've seen in Target's leaked Black Friday circular. The $3 Chefmate specials include a 12-cup coffeemaker, toaster, slow cooker and sandwich maker.

Walmart has a similar Black Friday doorbuster: your choice of $4 appliances, including a mini chopper, a 2-quart slow cooker and a hand mixer.

Theoretically, you could equip your whole kitchen for $17. These gadgets are priced as impulse buys, but we couldn't find reviews for any of them, and several of the pieces aren't very practical.