I agree, a good coffee maker is a definite difference! Though you don't actually need an expensive coffee maker to make good coffee, but if you want it automated, you do. I admit, however, that we've finally succumbed to a pod machine. It's not that it makes a perfect cup. It's just that it never makes a _bad_ one, assuming the coffee itself is good. And I confess I'm less fussy about my coffee than I am about my tea. I have a
Zojirushi hot water dispenser (updated model linked) for my tea, and I love it.