Krups Coffee Maker

 In our household, one of the essential kitchen appliances is a filter coffee machine. While I’m happy to drink instant coffee, my husband refuses to, as do some of our friends. Since we don’t have complex tastes and are far from being coffee geeks, the simplest method of brewing several cups of pleasant-tasting coffee is with a filter machine.

CHOOSING A COFFEE MACHINE

When we chose our last one - a couple of years ago, after the jug from the previous one broke and could not be replaced - our main criteria was cost. Living in Cyprus we don’t have anything like the selection available in the UK anyway. So we went to the biggest local supermarket with an electrical section. 

First, we rejected all the machines that cost more than £50; most of them had extra features that were of no interest to us anyway. We also rejected the smallest ones, since we wanted to be able to make at least five or six cups of coffee at once. That narrowed the selection down to perhaps three or four possible coffee makers. 

We decided on the Krups FMD1 filter machine for the rather frivolous reason that it looked quite smart - the dark colour would go well in our kitchen. I’d never heard of Krups, but my husband had, and considered it a reputable brand. It cost us around €40. 

SETTING UP THE KRUPS

It didn’t take much effort or genius to get the machine assembled. There’s the outer part, matt black plastic, with a flip-open compartment for the filter and coffee, and the jug which has markings up to 12 on it. The jug has a lid which must be in place to trigger the drip mechanism.  The water is poured into a chamber at the back, accessed by a flip-up lid, and the amount is shown on a gauge at the front. 

As instructed in the rather sparse manual, we washed the jug manually, then poured a full jug of water in the back and turned it on to wash it through and ensure it all worked. The machine hissed and spluttered a little, no doubt due to drops of water on the outside of the jug, but in a few minutes the hot water had successfully made its way into the jug, to be poured away. 

OUR FIRST CUP OF KRUPS-MADE COFFEE

Having tried various options of coffee, the brand we usually buy is Rombouts medium blend. So, anxious to test out our new machine, we placed a filter in the correct place, with two scoops of coffee inside.  Knowing from past experience that the gauge on a coffee machine usually refers to small cups rather than mugs, we filled the jug up to 4, and poured the water into the back.  

It wasn’t long before the aroma of coffee filled the kitchen.  When the machine stopped burbling, we switched it off and poured the coffee out. It tasted exactly like the coffee made in our previous filter machine, with the bonus that it was rather hotter. The old one was never very good at keeping coffee hot. 

AFTER TWO YEARS' USE

The Krups machine has continued to serve us faithfully with regular use. I wash out the jug by hand, as it’s not suitable for the dishwasher, but that’s not exactly difficult. I wipe the machine down with a damp cloth.  We did, once, go away for a couple of weeks forgetting that there was a filter containing damp coffee grounds in the machine, and returned to a blue-looking mess that was trying to climb out by itself. Happily, we discovered that it was easy to lift the filter-holding mechanism right out of the machine so that it could be thoroughly washed. 

WOULD WE BUY A KRUPS AGAIN?

We’re not interested in modern ‘pod’ coffee makers, nor espresso machines; our tastes are simple, and we sometimes still use a non-mechanical cafetiere. But for ease of use and cleaning, as well as the ability to make half a dozen cups of coffee at the same time, it would be hard to beat this useful appliance.

We hope our filter machine will continue working for many years, but if the jug breaks and can’t be replaced, or if it gives up, then we would certainly consider another Krups machine. 

2023 UPDATE The Krups machine is still working, nearly twelve years after we bought it. However it's no longer used daily, but resides in our 'guest apartment', for use by visitors. In 2020 there was no coffee machine in our guest flat so we were going to buy a small one, but discovered a Senco machine at excellent price, which would make even more coffee than the Krups, and which didn't need disposable filters. So we decided to use that and relegate the Krups machine to the guest flat.

By then, the 10-year-old Krups coffee maker was looking a bit tired, with some rust on the base. But it still worked perfectly well, and still does. It was an excellent buy, and while no longer available new, can occasionally be found second-hand.