Ok, I have owned thermal coffee makers before, so I am used to how they work. If you have any issues with the lid, read the manual and do not complain about it. These reviews about how the lid is not easy to work and that the coffee spills all over is purely based on people who are lazy, and/or do not follow directions. If you simply close the lid all the way before you brew, NOTHING will spill and all of the coffee will go into the carafe. Also, if you need extremely hot coffee when you drink it, then preheat the carafe with hot water before you brew the coffee. If not, your coffee will still be pretty hot, but not scalding like normal warming plate coffee makers. By the way, warming plate coffee makers always overcook the coffee and make it stale 99% of the time. I prefer a bit less hot coffee where the taste is still in tact. The coffee tastes wonderful in this coffee maker, and is just as good as most of the $100 to $199 coffee makers. This thing is very compact, and not as tall as other thermal coffee makers. The brew process is slower than other coffee makers, but this is how it should be. You want the full flavor of the coffee, not just a hint of it with boiling water added. Not all things need to be so expedient. Waiting for a nice cup of brewed coffee in this machine is worth it. But if you cannot wait and need it right away, set the timer and wake up to hot coffee waiting for your drinking enjoyment.
So in a nutshell, if you have never owned a thermal coffee maker, read the directions. If you have problems with the lid or the temperature not being 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, don''t buy it. However, if you are not a lazy person, am able to wait 5 minutes instead of 2, and know how to line up arrows on a lid......this coffee maker is for you!
I love this coffee maker, and it does an excellent job. The coffee is very robust and flavorful. The machine is very quiet, and works exactly as it is supposed to. The temperature of the coffee is very hot, and is still quite hot after adding a refrigerated creamer to it. I have no qualms with this machine, and the price is perfect for what you get. Please take this review for what it is worth, for I am a very educated coffee consumer. I have owned numerous coffee machines, and this is right up there with the best of them. No, I do not work for Mr. Coffee is case you were wondering :-)
It works and I don''t mind twisting a lid half-way open to pour coffee... I''m rough & tough...
I grind my own organic beans, so I''m a bit picky about burnt-flavored brews... Burning it hurts it''s constitution therefore just won''t do... I like my coffee strong... I like it to reach out and grab me by the throat while gulping it down, shouting, "I''m coffee!!!" with no other surprises...
Many of the varied coffee makers I''ve used over the years have tended to muffle the flavors. I suspect it may be their water sprinkling systems I dunno... All I know is this coffeemaker makes it full-body, full strength and with a wee less beans than with other machines, too... And because I drink my coffee thick and mean God knows that I really don''t need large volumes of the stuff..! So a couple of cups a day is all I want to get me into my wide-awake, work, and gab-alot mode... The carafe makes four mugs-full and that''s enough for me and the spouse with another pot for an after-dinner dessert, perhaps.
Ok -ProsI think this coffeemaker makes coffee plenty hot enough yet without the fear of it being overly cooked. Perhaps some people are used to hot-plates, common on other coffeemakers which does tend to make for hotter (often cooked) brews... The timer and the other controls are easy to read and use... It''s not hard at all to clean, if you rinse out the pot and filter cup with hot water right after the machine''s been emptied, and then wipe the machine down where needed...
You''re also going to need a type of bottle brush to scrub the inside of the carafe, occasionaly, and, rarely, for the water resevoir, but it''s not all that bothersome...
And -ConsIt does take getting used to living with the stainless steal thermo-carafe... It also takes an extra step and hand to work the lid but becomes easy, once you get used to lining up the arrows in order to close for brewing and half-open for pouring... Plus I discovered that by screwing the lid shut it has kept the flavor and richness of the coffee contained much better than those breezy flip-lids of the glass pots do... So I''ve grown to appreciate it lots, actually... It''s weightier-bottom, ace-of-spades shape does make it a bit awkward at first in pouring that last cup, but I''ve gotten used to it...
So, Four Stars**** from me..! This particular Mr. Coffee coffemaker does brew an excellent pot of coffee, in my humble oppinion with the only minor drawback in learning to live with the thermo-carafe...
There are some folks that like blistering-hot coffee but not me... I prefere it hot yet not painful, and so with my other coffeemakers I found myself turning the things off as soon as they finished brewing, so the hot-plates wouldn''t burn the coffee as it sat there, sometimes hours on end while staining the sides of the glass carafes those interesting baked-on patterns in shades of brown... This, of course, made the first cup hot but then the rest of the pot would become luke-warm to cool so then my microwave oven came into play...
Now it''s nice to have warm, eye-popping coffee, without the use of an extra major appliance and the added electricity expense for either the microwave or the hot-plate...
And besides, microwaving a cup brewed from organic hoity-toity beans well, it just ain''t goshe''...
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This is probably one of the less expensive coffee makers with a stainless steel thermos pot. This makes for MUCH better coffee-it does not become muddy as does coffee that is constantly warmed.
During winter months, the thermos pot keeps the coffee good and hot for over an hour, acceptably hot for two hour maximum, after that it will keep it warm for hours (but will need a shot in the microwave). Of course, if the pot is left full, it will keep it hot for about 3 or 4 hours. It does even better in the summer. You need to let hot water sit in the pot first to warm it up a bit (this will help the coffee to stay warm longer).
There are two flaws to the machine:
The hot water comes out of a wand which has to be moved to remove the coffee basket. If you do not get the filter in "just right," the water will hit the back of the filter and push it down...and grounds get into your coffee. This is a real nuissance; I tried "double filtering," but the final solutoin is to buy a permanent (screen) filter (they cost less than $4 at a grocery store).
The spring loaded "pause" feature can drip a lot.
There are a few other issues (like putting on the lid) that might be a bit of trouble at first, but after a week or so it becomes second nature. This is no issue.
I am not disappointed I bought this product; it makes for GOOD coffee, and after buying the pemanent filter, I am especially well-pleased; but the manufacturers need to do a better job of consumer testing. The design flaws are obvious early on.
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Unlike others we have not had any problems with this coffee maker which we have had for over a month. Everything works just fine. We like the programmable overnight feature and the auto shut off. The carafe pours easily and I have never spilled any coffee using it.
We bought ours at Costco for $15 cheaper.
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I agree with Mr. Vasicek''s review for the most part, and with the other reviewer below who has mentioned problems with the clock. I got this pot because it would be more difficult to break than the ones with the glass carafes, and the lack of a burner meant no more burnt coffee.
I do have the problem with the filter flopping over and getting grinds in my coffee, and may try the permanent filter solution. I definitely recommend pre-heating the carafe with hot water, regardless of the time of year. Otherwise the coffee gets tepid fast. The coffee is not as hot as it could be, most of the time, but maybe that''s also to do with the amount of (also preheated) milk I put in my cup.
I don''t like the delayed brew function, but only because it is time-based, like an alarm clock, and I''d rather it was a straight delay, because I don''t make coffee at the same time every morning -I''d like to be able to set it to go off after a set time, so I could go outside, or shower, or whatnot, and return to fresh coffee. But it doesn''t really matter, because the clock itself seems a bit wonky now that I''ve had the appliance for a few months. I can''t say whether we''ve been bumping it and accidentally changing the time, or whether there is a problem with the clock itself; anyway, it seems to be a weak point.
I''ve cleaned it a few times with white vinegar; I can''t get all the coffee stains out of the carafe but I don''t really care. I don''t have a drip problem with pouring the coffee, but I do line the lid arrow up carefully and have found that it helps to steady the lid when you pour. If you try to pour without the lid, it will often spill! But compared to pouring out of the little glass carafes on the "freebie" type coffee makers, this one is great.
Forget the pause function... if you take the carafe out during the brew cycle you are just asking for trouble.
All in all, I''d say that it''s not "the perfect coffee maker" but it''s the most suitable that I have encountered in recent years -speaking as someone who has recently ruined a percolator by running it without water. I would buy this one again.
I live in an area with hard water. We installed a water softener to combat most of the problem.
