Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker
A thermal carafe coffee maker is perfect if you don't want to have to brew multiple pots of coffee a day. Traditional coffee makers with the hot plate underneath the pot can burn the coffee and create a sour or burnt taste. Avid coffee makers always notice this taste, and if you are one you are well aware of how unappealing over-brewed coffee can be.
Instead of using the hot pot to keep coffee warm, a thermal carafe coffee maker has a special carafe (pot) that creates a vacuum, holding the coffee in and keeping it warm until you are ready to drink it. It is as simple as that, and there is absolutely no burned taste.
The down side to these coffee makers is that the heat they use is the coffee's own heat from when it was brewed, so it will not get any hotter and after some time it will cool down. It's best to only make an amount that you believe you will finish within a couple of hours of brewing.
Many models of these types of coffee makers dispense the coffee straight into thermal travel cups to take with you on the go. These are wildly convenient if you like to brew a cup or two before leaving home for work in the morning and don't have the time to sit at home and drink it. If you use thermal cups that have tops, coffee done this way can stay warmer for a longer period of time because of the vacuum created, the insulation, and the top holding the steam inside.
The prices for your run of the mill thermal carafe coffee maker are higher than a traditional coffee maker, sometimes by quite a bit. Once that dispense directly into travel thermal cups are even more expensive, but the convenience may be worth the cost to you. If you are a coffee lover, then price is most likely not so much of a matter as long as you have a delicious and warm cup of coffee every time.
Technology is constantly getting better and better, and coffee makers are always evolving just like anything else we use these days. Models with timers, reusable filters, and even professional-style foamers are on store shelves for personal as opposed to commercial use, something we couldn't have even dreamed of 30 years ago. A thermal carafe coffee maker is just another improvement to an old classic, though it just so happens to be one of the more practical improvements. The taste of your coffee should not be sacrificed for the convenience of making one big pot for a few hours' worth of drinking, if you try thermally warmed coffee, you may never go back.