Slightly OT--do any of you airpot folks have recommended brewers? Looking for a pour-over variety. Danke.
I have a Bunn CW15-APS that is a pourover and works like a champ. Brand new they are about $330 if you look around, but you will probably find one used for $150 or so. The only shortcoming is that the supplied plastic funnel (brew basket) is a tiny bit too small, so you need a Gourmet 'C' basket (made by Bunn) that allows for a larger filter and won't overflow so easily. The C basket is stainless, so it will not warp, either. [The plastic one probably doesn't warp if used as intended, but if you overfill the basket with fresh homeroast, and it blooms a whole bunch, it can put enough downward pressure to cause the basket to slightly warp and pop off the holder, making a hellacious mess. Had this happen a couple of times and it was not a happy event, hence the larger, stainless basket]
I also have a Bloomfield 8773 airpot brewer that is okay but works slower. It is a pourover but may also be attached to a dedicated water supply (I think it works faster then... need to try it). I got that one on eBay for about $80 including shipping. I picked up an inline filtration system for it this morning, in fact, so I'll probably be permanently installing that one in my basement.
Most of these have adjustable batch size and temperature. I have the Bunn set up to run at about 204?F in the basket, which makes really great coffee (but it does boil like crazy in the reservoir at this temperature - this is higher than they tell you to set it - the control is mainly meant to adjust for boiling temperature at higher elevations). The specs are 1.9L to 3.0L batches, but the recovery seems to be ideal at 2.5L or less. At this size and temperature I can knock out airpots in about 8 minutes. People make such a fuss about Technivorms and proper brewing temperature, but you really can get the same quality out of one of these if you tweak the settings.
One of these days I want to get a Fetco extractor that does 1 gallon batches, but not until I find one for cheap on craigslist or at an auction. I believe that they are more efficient - but a Bunn CW15-APS will do everything you need it to for most circumstances, and get you about 4 gallons an hour of top-notch brew.