Consistently Flavorful Coffee for the Gadget Inclined Coffee Geek
Written: Jan 22 '08 (Updated Jan 22 '08)
Product Rating:
Pros: Consistently flavorful coffee made quickly and kept hot for a long time.
Cons: People that cannot follow instructions or cannot visually discern improperly located equipment may have problems.
The Bottom Line: The MT500 successfully makes coffee that is flavorful and unadulterated, consistent in quality from pot to pot, and keeps the coffee hot for several hours.
arbytronix's Full Review: Jura-Capresso MT500 10-Cup Coffee Maker
This review is being written from the perspective of a person who is not a “Coffee Snob”. I cannot tell you by drinking a cup of coffee, what blend, roast process, grind type, species of bean, or travel from what region of the world that the coffee bean came to be in my cup. What I can tell you is that I like consistency from one pot to the next, and that I don’t like flavor being added to the coffee as a result the choice of water or the choice of the means by which the coffee is brewed. I also have an engineering background and thus I will offer a more critical view of the various components and their operation. At the time of this writing I have owned and operated this product for one year.
The product name is MT500 however the model number of the product is #440. The MT501, model number #441 is functionally identical to the MT500. The difference between the two models appears to be cosmetic. The MT501 filter bin is metal on the exterior rather than plastic. Such knowledge has been useful when searching for the product online.
There have been complaints about this product and I shall also address them here. It should be noted from the outset however that in every complaint I have seen, it is evident that the user did not follow directions. Thus, I have decided that this coffee maker is perhaps, more suitable for gadget inclined persons that follow instructions and can tell the difference between a fully closed lid versus a partially open lid, and an off-center tilted carafe versus a centered and level carafe. More details will follow.
This product has been designed to provide you with the most natural coffee flavor possible by incorporating features that eliminate flavor contaminants. Flavors associated with the manufacture and materials used in filters are eliminated with the use of a gold-toned metal mesh filter and thus eliminating the need for disposable paper filters. Aluminum flavor is avoided by utilizing a stainless steel heater element. Flavoring from the water system is eliminated by the use of a carbon filter.
The thermal carafe is functional and attractive. It does occasionally take a little more effort to clean fingerprints and water spots from the exterior and it should be towel dried to prevent water spots. I’ve never needed anything more than a hot water rinse for the interior because, being sealed when it sits with hot coffee, there is no evaporation, and thus no coffee distillates accumulating on the interior of the carafe. Placement of the carafe on the base is important to avoid spills. I have only been able to cause a spill when the bottom of the carafe base is more than 1.25 inches off center, otherwise it still manages to tilt the top toward the spring loaded valve enough to catch the coffee properly. From any angle except from behind the coffee maker, it is visually obvious that the carafe is out of position if it has not been positioned properly to receive the coffee.
The carafe lid is sealed during brewing and should only be opened for pouring. The lid incorporates a floating ball valve that allows coffee to enter while preventing steam, and thus heat, to escape. The lid should be cleaned occasionally to ensure that the ball valve hasn’t become stuck; especially if you have a coffee grind spill on the lid. A single coffee ground could stick the ball in the open position allowing too much cooling, or in the closed position causing a coffee spill while brewing.
To pour, the lid must be turned about 140 degrees counter-clockwise to line up the lid opening with the pour spout. The lid is marked with a raised dot to assist with proper positioning. Attempting to open the lid farther my turning it too far will only increase the risk of spilling. When sealed the carafe can maintain temperature on a full pot for over 6 hours and 4 hours for half a pot. However, if the lid is left in the pouring position, a full pot will get cold an about 90 minutes. The pouring rate is a little low, but given that some people may mis-position the lid for pouring, it seems like a reasonable precaution to prevent a massive spill or potential scalding.
The filter holder fits in the filter bin at the top of the coffee maker. The bottom of the filter holder has a spring-loaded valve designed to stop the flow of liquid when the carafe has been removed. Cleaning the filter holder is important because, of the potential for a loose coffee granule to block the valve in the open position thus causing a coffee spill should you pull out the carafe during the brewing process. The filter holder fits in the filter bin in only one direction. It is not possible to completely close the lid if the filter holder is in ANY position except the correct position. The filter holder has a spill hole that will allow liquid to drain in the event that the spring-loaded valve does not open (which should only occur if the filter holder not seated properly, the carafe is not put in place properly, or the lid was not put on the carafe)
The gold-toned metal coffee filter does a good job filtering. Its plastic frame includes a handle to assist with insertion and removal and is shaped very well to fit in the filter holder. Initially I was concerned that the mesh filter would be too fragile, but it has held up well. It should be noted that I only hand wash the filter and I do not put it in proximity with objects such as knives or forks that could cause a puncture.
The combination of the carbon filter and its holder seems to do its job though, in my case, it is a superfluous feature as I already use carbon filtration in my home. The carbon filter does have the added usefulness of stopping any stray coffee grounds from accidentally entering the heating chamber in the event a few errant granules are spilled into the water tank.
The control panel contains a power button, selector for 3-4 cup brew setting, and a carbon filter change reminder reset button along with the buttons for setting the clock and programming the timer. It also uses a numerical display for the clock. The only thing that I really have to say in the negative category regarding this coffee maker is that the clock resets during the briefest power outages. Would it really kill anyone to design a clock circuit that could prevent a clock from resetting to 12:00 when the power flickers off for less than a quarter second? Would it be that much more difficult to extend that fraction of a second to10 seconds? A capacitor and maybe a diode is all it would take.
In all, I find the MT500 coffee maker to be a superb example of a well thought out coffee making device. It succeeds in preventing undesired flavors from creeping into the coffee. It succeeds in making coffee that is consistent in quality from pot to pot. And it succeeds in keeping a pot of coffee hot for several hours.
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