B&D Thermal Carafe Coffeemaker
Written: May 10 '04 (Updated May 10 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: attractive design, programmable
Cons: carafe is hard to pour; won't keep coffee warm as long as you'd like
The Bottom Line: good coffee; bad carafe design
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| lisatoy's Full Review: Bodum Eileen 1296 3.38-Cup Coffee Maker |
Having beaten my old Krups coffeemaker into the ground, I began to look for a new one last weekend. While I will occasionally pop into one of those much-too-expensive chain stores for an espresso (made by my very own barista no less) I'm pretty much a straightforward coffee drinker. Believe in grinding it myself, but beyond that indulgence I like my coffee with nothing fancy-pants.
I looked around in a number of stores, and my choices seemed to come down to the following:
1. Drip - your standard 'Mr. Coffee' machine
2. Percolator - the old stand-by your parents swear by
3. French Press - a little too fancy for me, but my brother will make coffee no other way
4. Single Serving - more on this below
I'd never paid any attention to these new single serving machines, so I checked them out a bit. The general idea is that they're easy - the coffee comes in little pre-packed servings (in their own little 'filter' pouches), you dump in a little water, and presto..out comes one (or two) piping hot cups of coffee. Two problems with these: first, the pre-packed coffee is both expensive, and limits your choices of coffee. I like to experiment with different beans, so that wasn't a plus. Second, we make more coffee than a single cup or two, so I prefer a good old-fashioned pot with room for several cups. So, the single serving makers were out.
The press makers were also out. Don't ask me to explain the rationale too deeply here. Maybe it seems like too much work to me; maybe it seems pretentious. I don't know - I'm just sure I prefer a machine.
I never seriously considered a percolator, though several friends who are serious coffee drinkers say they're far superior to the drip machines. I've never had a problem getting good coffee from a drip maker, and there's a great selection, so I kept to the familiar.
After visiting a couple of stores, I had a pretty good idea what was out there. You can get cheap models for under 20 bucks, and top of the line models for something approaching $100. I knew the features that were important to me, and these tended to force me to the middle of the pack: programmable brewing, a permanent filter.
I briefly considered one of the top-end models that included a grinder, but quickly decided against it. For one, it's considerably more expensive than buying a coffee maker and a grinder separately. Second, they're enormously loud. Try programming that thing to make your morning coffee, and having the grinder wake you. You won't use it twice.
So I settled on a middle-of-the-road model by Black & Decker. Its features are as follows:
- 8-cup capacity
- Stainless steel thermal carafe
- Digital clock
- Programmable
- Permanent filter
- Plastic coffee scoop
It's not the largest model out there - but at 8-cups it holds more than plenty for me and my wife. The scoop is a total waste - I don't know anyone who's made coffee more than twice who still uses one of these things, and wonder why they still include one. It went right in the garbage.
The carafe looks great, though its screw-on top is occasionally difficult to thread (as others have noted). I also am not a big fan of the top that stays tight to keep its content warm, but needs to be unscrewed to pour. Hasn't science already solved this problem ? I always either open it too little, so the coffee drips out,or open it wide, and the liquid dumps all over the place. Maybe it's me, but there has to be a better design.
The other seemingly negative feature is the hot plate. It automatically turns off after the coffee is done. I guess that the expectation is that the thermal carafe will do its job keeping the contents warm, but that doesn't seem to last very long, so you'd better drink all 8 cups quickly. This might be done by design, though, as coffee in a traditional drip maker which just sits on the hot plate tends to get a 'burned' flavor fairly quickly. I just have to adjust my plan a bit - make as much as I need, and make more later in the day if necessary, rather than just letting a whole pot sit around burning.
The machine works quickly, and the coffee I've made has been great - though that is likely more a function of the good Costa Rican beans, and less due to Black & Decker's masterful design. Either way, the coffee's good, so I'm not complaining.
Overall, it's been a perfectly serviceable machine. At $39 it was not too expensive (though I'd never pay the MSRP of $69), and the bad pour design is something I can live with.
Until I lose my anti-press bias, I'm sticking with this one.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
lisatoy
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Location: USA
Reviews written: 23
Trusted by: 2 members
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