Hamilton Beach 12 Cup Brew Station

I just received this coffeemaker directly from Hamilton Beach after my previous Hamilton Beach coffeemaker (purchased from Amazon) died after less than one year. Hamilton Beach replaced it under warranty after some bickering. I''m still chuckling about Hamilton Beach''s request that I cut the electrical cord on my old coffeemaker & mail it to them, then mail them a photo of the cordless machine (which I did). Luckily, I was able to search for the order & I e-mailed the date of purchase to Hamilton Beach. The HB before that one lasted seven years, but I guess those days are over with cheaper manufacturing & outsourcing of parts. I have always liked these carafe-free coffeemakers & the coffee always came out hot enough--provided you preheated the unit by running water through it before brewing coffee.

One of the supposed "upgrades" or "improvements" is the detachable water reservoir. I have never had trouble filling the old non-detachable reservoir, so I don''t find this feature especially useful.

The worst (and dumbest) thing Hamilton Beach could have done is to make the round filter in the coffee tank non removeable. With the previous models, the filter is removeable. I always left it off because it filters out too much coffee flavor & the coffee comes out weak regardless of how much ground coffee is used. Besides, I always use filtered water anyway. I just made a 12-oz cup of coffee & I used 5 tbsp. of coffee which should make pretty strong coffee. The coffee came out weak. I prefer coffee with a little cream & sugar, not cream & sugar with a little coffee.

I bought a $10.00 Hario Coffee Drip from Starbucks & made better, stronger coffee using less grounds than with this machine.

Had I paid for this machine, I would have returned it.

If you like weaker coffee, you''ll like this coffeemaker, otherwise, buyer beware.

Update: 10-13-12: After contacting Hamilton Beach & asking if I could remove that filter without damaging the unit, they explained that I could not, because if I did remove it, coffee would leak from the tank. So, I tried an interesting trick: After making the coffee, I lifted the coffee tank & poured the coffee directly into my cup instead of using the dispenser lever. That bypasses the filter. The coffee came out a bit stronger but still rather weak. WARNING: If you do it that way, you have to be very careful not to touch that metal heating plate at the bottom of the tank. Yeah...it''s very HOT.

UPDATE: 10-28-12. I found my older Hamilton Beach Coffeemaker & made an interesting discovery that further explains why the coffee is so weak regardless of how much coffee is used. On my old HB coffeemaker, there are NINE LARGE HOLES, spaced far apart in a large shower-head design that allows the hot water to fall on ALL the coffee in the basket simultaneously. This is ideal. On this new coffeemaker, there are only SEVEN SMALL HOLES close together (like a hose nozzle) so the coffee can''t possibly be completely saturated by the water. This is likely a much bigger issue than the permanent filter in the tank. MAJOR FAIL on Hamilton Beach''s part. If you use expensive coffee in this machine, you''re wasting money with each cup.

For our last 4 coffee makers we purchased only Hamilton Beach Brew Stations. This latest is the best so far due to the separate water tank. While I agree with others that a light would be helpful under the fill spout, the only thing that really concerns me is the percolating sound it makes for the entire 2 hours that it is keeping our coffee warm. None of the other models over the years have made this continuous noise. It sounds like the coffee is still brewing when it clearly isn''t. I''ve never seen a review that mentioned this problem, so maybe it''s an isolated issue. If anyone has input I''d like to hear it. Other than that, once again we''re satisfied with the brew station.

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This is my 3rd Hamilton Beach Brewstation. The first lasted 3 years and the last one still works after 3 years but looks old and tired in our new kitchen. So it was a no-brainer to try this new iteration of a great concept in drip coffeemaking.

It makes fantastic coffee every time. Bold, regular, iced coffee all great!! We clean the filter and tank every morning so they don''t get scuzzy, and we clean the pot itself every month with either vinegar or dispenser cleaner. Not a problem ever. Easy to program, looks good on the counter, with an improved footprint from the 48464 (not as tall or deep, but slightly wider to allow for the water reservoir). A snap to use. Love the fact there''s no carafe and we can fill up any container we want to easily and quickly from the well-positioned, high pour spout.

We feel the use of filtered water is important, not only to the taste of the coffee, but to the longevity of the machine as well. For this reason, the addition of the water reservoir was an important selling feature for us. However, when we try to use it at the filtered water dispenser on our fridge, we find its curved shape and non-removeable lid make this awkward, so we''re back to filling a Rubbermaid pitcher and pouring filtered water into the reservoir that way. Note this Brewstation has no water filter inside the tank.

We''d love it if there was light at the pour spout so we can see when to stop pouring when the only light comes from undercounter lighting or from the instrument panel (which lights up the room at night with a pleasant soft blue glow).

If this machine had a lighted pour spout and an a removeable water reservoir lid, it would be PERFECT! :D

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I like the idea of the brew station, but after a few days I returned it to the retailer. There were two issues. First, even on the "BOLD" setting, it require more coffee than my old $20 pot to get a good flavorfull cup of coffee. Intead of 12 tbs as recommended, it needed 14-15 to get a strong enough brew. Most importantly, it would not keep the coffee hot enough in the on-board pot. Even after being in the resevior for 30-40 minutes, I still had to microwave each cup to get them piping hot.

I don''t know if I go a lemon, or if this is normal for a Brewstation. I didn''t take a chance on another. I''ll go back to a conventional coffee maker.

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This is the third BrewStation we''ve owned. The first one had that horrible leaky tank problem... the second one was pretty good and lasted us for a long while, but still had the issue w/being difficult to fill, plus the serving spout was too low for filling travel mugs.

When the second one died w/o warning (still not sure what happened), I purchased this machine. I really like the look, the removable/refillable water tank, and the higher dispensing spout. The coffee is very good and stays drinkable until the end of the pot. The features of this machine (timer, customizable ''keep warm'' time) are the same as the last machine I had, so nothing new to remark on there, but it works well. I particularly like the fact that the ''program'' button glows brightly and is easy to see across the room when I''m not quite sure whether or not I''ve already set it up for the next day (don''t ask, I''m getting old.)