There are various types of coffee makers and it really depends on the person as to which type is actually preferred for each lifestyle. For hundreds of years, brewing coffee was a simple process that simply required a pot of water and some ground coffee beans. The water was taken to a boil and the ground coffee was tossed into the water. A lid was placed on top so that the mixture could steep. The test to know when the coffee was adequately brewed was to basically smell it. If it smelled right, it was good enough to drink! Sounds simple, right?

To this day, some people still brew coffee the old fashioned way by tossing ground beans into almost boiling water and steeping it for awhile for drinking. This is a good way for camp cooking if your strapped for equipment. But with the advancement of technology and the emergence of coffee 'snobs', there are requirements for a better way to produce a smooth, tasty, hot beverage.

The drip coffee maker was the first modern advancement of machines that allowed a user to process coffee by dripping hot water onto finer ground coffee beans and so produce the dark beverage as it was strained through a filter. The first drip coffee maker was developed over a hundred years ago and has not diminished in popularity. In fact, it continues to evolve as the demand for better tasting coffee climbs in intensity level among consumers.

Other types of brewing machines were prepared later on such as vacuum brewers. The vacuum brewer operates on the principle of warming water in a lower boiler until it comes to a boil which forces the water through a narrow tube into an top chamber. This upper chamber holds the coffee grinds and gradually fills up with the boiled coffee. As the coffee cools, it slowly pours back into the lower chamber, ready to drink. The process is not as easy as drip brewing and not continued as popular, although people worldwide still use the process.

Percolators are another machine that were quite popular in the first half of the 20th century. The body of the percolator holds the water and there is a small basket located near the top of the machine. When the water is brought to a boil, it is forced up into the basket that holds the coffee grinds. The water seeps through the grinds and falls back into the lower body of the percolator. This process proceeds for several minutes until the coffee is brewed. Some people still use this method although certainly not as popular as more modern methods.

The drip coffee maker is by far the most popular even though there are still more machines such as the french press, expresso machine and other versions of coffee brewing equipment. The drip coffee maker basically operates by using a holding tank for water that is forced through a small, flexible tube into a basket that usually contains a filter where coffee grinds are placed. As the water seeps through the grinds and filters the liquid, it then falls into a glass carafe that sits on a heated burner. Coffee made with drip systems can be kept warmed up for hours at home or at the office.

This basic design has been updated year after year by different coffee machine manufacturing companies until there are many drip machines that accommodate a single cup, two cups or even allow for brewing through pods rather than a filter basket. Most people choose a machine that is in sync with their lifestyle and quality preferences. There is no end in sight for the constant evolution of coffee makers that are designed to please even the most discriminating tastes.