You'll never go back to "heating pad" drip coffeemakers again
Written: Dec 20 '02 (Updated Dec 20 '02)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: delicious hot coffee, thermal carafe works wonders, easy to use
Cons: for the price, battery backup for the clock/timer would be nice
The Bottom Line: Go ahead and splurge. You deserve a great cup of coffee and the Aroma is the way to go if you like drip brewers.
|
|
|
| spaced's Full Review: Starbucks Starbucks Aroma Thermal Brewer |
I am a coffee fiend.
I have the espresso machine (reviewed as well), the grinder, the stainless steel bean storage containers, the faucet-mount water filter, and all the right coffee-related accessories. And now I have the perfect drip brewer.
So you're in the market for a new coffeemaker. I know what you're thinking. "Gee, why should I spend $149 ($99 during Starbucks' twice-yearly sale) on a coffeemaker when I can go to Target and get one for $20?"
Ask yourself this question: what is the one kitchen small appliance I use every single day, nearly without fail? In most people's case, especially if you're reading this review, you just answered "coffeemaker." So why skimp? Sure, this one is a bit on the expensive side but I believe in the adage "you get what you pay for." And it's so true. Go ahead and spend $20 on a coffeemaker that puts out warm coffee into a glass carafe on a heating pad. Heat (after the brewing process) is the second worst thing you can do to drip coffee. Using stale beans and/or unfiltered tap water is the first.
I highly recommend grinding your own beans moments before brewing if you can, and to do that I recommend either Starbucks' own Burr Grinder or the Solis Maestro (both $99 to $150 depending on where you get them). Either of these high quality grinders and the Aroma are a small price to pay for years of great coffee every single day.
Next time you're at Target, pick up the $35 PUR faucet-mount water filter. Coffee is 98% water and I can't stress enough how important fresh filtered water is to your overall coffee enjoyment. Filtered water also helps reduce mineral buildup in your brewer's innards.
The thing about this unit is that the heating mechanism inside is of top-notch quality. Very hot water is required in order to release all of the subtle flavor and scent attributes of your favorite coffee bean. Water so hot that most brewers with cheap thermostats can't even come close. This unit dispenses coffee directly into a thermal carafe (perfect for entertaining) where it stays steaming hot for hours, away from the damaging effects of an external heat source. From the very first cup you'll notice a remarkable improvement in taste and aromatics over your $20 Mr. Coffee. Cleanup is easy, just hand rinse the carafe and filter basket.
My only beef (and believe me, this is the only thing I could find wrong and it is extremely petty) is that for this price, there's no battery backup for the clock/timer. It's almost absolutely necessary that I wake up to a fresh pot of drip coffee and when the power goes out, which is unfortunately frequent in my neighborhood, I have to manually hit the brew button. *Gasp*! ;)
In short, for your taste bud's sake, it's very important that three main ingredients of great coffee come together. Very hot filtered water, fresh ground beans, and no external heat source after brewing. Once you've tasted this machine's sweet coffee nectar, you'll wonder how you ever got along without it. Enjoy!
To reviewers who complain about filter fold-over and cleaning difficulties... I certainly hope that you clean your brewer using the lemon or vinegar and water method at least every month (every 6 months if you consistently use filtered water). This is required for quality coffee and for the health of your machine. Filter fold over isn't a problem if you take a moment to position the filter correctly in the basket. You can't just throw the filter into the machine and hit brew.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
spaced
|
|
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.