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In the age of aesthetically pleasing morning routines, a cheap electric coffee maker can feel dated — something to begrudgingly use at the office rather than a gadget that brings joy to your kitchen. And, while I enjoy fancy coffee gadgets that require a manual, multi-step ritual, there’s one thing that keeps me coming back to a standard Mr. Coffee machine every morning: its dead-simple “brew now” button, which instantly begins the process of getting caffeine into my body.
Because of the single-button operation, I don’t have to worry about brewing temps or ratios while I’m still half-asleep. I simply press it, and the machine gurgles to life, heating up water and pushing it up a tube onto the coffee grounds I’ve added. My only decision is how much coffee I’ll need to get through the day.
The hardest part is, without a doubt, the waiting. Photographed by Mitchell Clark for The Verge
While its controls are similar to those of a Keurig’, the Mr. Coffee requires a little more than just inserting a pod and pressing a button. At the very least, you’ll need to get a paper filter, some coffee, and fill up the tank before pressing the brew button. (This can, however, be done the night before.) The simplicity of the Mr. Coffee allows you to complicate the process with hand-ground coffee, reusable filters, and more if you want, but it doesn’t necessitate the ritual that comes with more Instagram-friendly Moka pots, Aeropresses, and Chemexs.
While there are plenty of other coffee makers with fancier features that can also be activated with a single button press, it’s difficult to imagine a better version of this button than the one on my Mr. Coffee. It’s large enough that you don’t have to be precise in the morning. It also sounds fantastic, owing primarily to the machine’s loud “click” when it begins to heat up. However, because it activates as soon as you press the button, my brain interprets the click of the electronics as the press of the button (kind of like how newer AirPods play a sound whenever you squeeze the stem).
Filter should be added. Pour in the coffee. Pour in some water. Press the button. Photographed by Mitchell Clark for The Verge
Given how good the button is, it may come as a surprise that we’re not talking about a high-end coffee maker. My Mr. Coffee, the five-cup model, is one of the brand’s most affordable options. (Please keep in mind that a Mr. Coffee “cup” is not the same as the American volumetric standard of measurement — it is five ounces, which means my machine can brew about two mugs’ worth of coffee.) My Best Buy order history shows that I purchased it for around $25 last year, shortly after starting at The Verge and realizing that my mornings were becoming too hectic to perform my Chemex ritual. Somehow, this coffee pot has gotten $4 cheaper since then.
While other coffee machines have buttons that appear to be identical, a strange thing begins to happen when you move up to more expensive models: the buttons begin to deteriorate. I’ve seen coffee makers with a small brew button on a crowded panel. Some even have touch-sensitive buttons, which is horrifying.
I’m not going to judge anyone who chooses a fancier model to adorn their counter, but it’s not for me. I like that I can operate the machine that gets me caffeine while only using 2% of my brain capacity. May the “brew now” button last for many more years of sleepy jabs. — just like the snooze button that I may or may not hit a few times before clawing my way to Mr. Coffee.
