Manual Coffee Makers

A few manual coffee makers get good reviews

Experts say you don't need a coffee maker at all to make great coffee. You can boil water and pour it over freshly ground coffee in a reusable filter, stirring as you pour. Kenneth Davids, coffee consultant and editor of CoffeeReview.com, says that this method results in a clear, strong cup.

The simple Aerobie AeroPress coffee maker (*Est. $30), which consists of a plastic tube, plastic plunger and paper filter, earns raves from owners posting to Amazon.com and CoffeeGeek.com. Using the plunger, you force the coffee through the filter. Grounds stay in contact with the water for less than a minute, producing a strong cup that's nearly sediment-free. Although the AeroPress is not as convenient as a standard or pod coffee maker, owners say that the coffee is exceptionally smooth, with very little bitterness. The experts at Sweet Maria's, a coffee maker and home-roasting e-tailer, say that the AeroPress does just as good a job as the Technivorm KB741 (*Est. $265), the preferred full-size drip coffee maker of many aficionados. And the AeroPress can be used while traveling, since its only requirements are hot water and coffee grounds.

The AeroPress's only drawbacks are its utilitarian appearance and the slightly misleading way it's marketed: the manufacturer says that this machine makes espresso, but true espresso can only be made when water is forced through grounds at a higher level of pressure than can be generated manually. It takes a fair amount of force to depress the plunger, so people with arthritis may not be able to use the AeroPress. The AeroPress doesn't come with a permanent filter, but a pack of 350 disposable filters only costs around $4.