beverage making material and resulting in non uniform and unpredictable brewing behavior when boiling water was poured into the reservoir 106 of the embodiment of fig1 on the other hand the water tended to first accumulate in the depression 104 and then spill gently over the sidewall 100 without disturbing the loose beverage making material this resulted in a more even distribution of material in the receptacle 108 and improved the quality of the brew alternatively the brewing member 20 of the embodiment of fig1 4 may be used in combination with a control ring 110 which retards the flow of water into the receptacle 25 in much the same manner as the depression 104 in the embodiment of fig1 as shown in fig1 and 13 the control ring 110 comprises an annular body preferably fabricated of a rigid material such as injection molded plastic which is dimensioned to be inserted between the inner wall 37 and the upper edge 28 of sidewall 27 of the coffee receptacle 25 thereby forming a removable ceiling above chamber 38 a plurality of grooves or notches 112 are formed along the outer circumference of the ring 110 each groove or notch 112 has an open exterior side which is closed by sidewall 27 when the ring 110 is properly positioned within the chamber 38 thus the notches 112 form passageways which allow water to drain slowly into the chamber 38 rather than gushing in and dislodging the coffee as when the ring 110 is not present fig1 and 15 show yet another embodiment of the invention in which a filter member 120 is removably mounted on the lower edge of the sidewall 122.