Is cleaning my coffee carafe necessary for better tasting coffee?

[Evo]

this statement is false

I've actually had a few instants that weren't bad. They were in foil pouches, maybe that helped.

 

[Integral]

Yesterday I decided to take the next step. I added ~250ml of white vinegar to the water and ran in thorough the coffee maker. Today I actually think I tasted an improvement in our coffee. I am still not convinced that cleaning the patina out of our carafe made any difference but just maybe there were some mineral deposits in the heater mechanism which were adding something to the water.