Brews great espresso and pretty good coffee

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By Dustin LaBrake

I was initially skeptical about the Mr. Coffee ECM21. I didn’t think a machine that brews both coffee and espresso could really be good at either. It also seemed like it was priced too low to really deliver the flavor I want. After reading many positive reviews I decided to take the leap and boy and I glad I did. I’ve used this coffee maker for around 2 months now and can say with confidence that it does a great job. And while most of the machine is made of plastic it does seem like it will last for a while. I do understand that if they opted to use stronger materials then the price would go way up so I’m ok with it.

As for the coffee, I’m a pretty picky person and I enjoy professional grade brew or as close as I can get it. If the coffee tasted bad I would not have kept the ECM21. However, after brewing several cups with it I am pleasantly surprised. I have found a good brand of grounds that gives me great flavor. Sometimes I will use my grinder and beans but usually I’ll just buy the grounds. I guess I’m lazy with that.

The espresso carafe is another positive as it allows me to prepare two drinks at the same time. My wife and I like to change it up between coffee during the week and cappuccinos on the weekend, and even though this machine doesn’t do either very quickly it still is versatile enough to satisfy our needs. The only reason I docked it 1 star is for the brewing speed which I feel they could improve. Other than that it’s been great. I highly recommend this Mr. Coffee machine.

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Good idea and it brews great coffee

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By Lorraine H

I wanted to buy a coffee maker with a thermal carafe for better flavor and the fact that it keeps the coffee warm for long periods. I looked at several machines and decided on the Cuisinart DCC-1150 in black and really like it. This machine really does everything I need it to and then some. Not having to leave the coffeemaker on to keep everything warm is a big plus and one less worry when I can’t keep an eye on it. It simply turns off when the brew cycle is finished and the thermal carafe keeps the coffee just the way I like it, nice and hot. It doesn’t even need a warming plate.

Some reviews I read noted a couple complaints and I must agree on them. The design of the carafe makes it hard to completely empty it without spilling. I would like to use the carafe to fill up the water tank but this just isn’t possible. It also pours pretty slowly due to the spout. I’m guessing that this design is part of what keeps the fluid inside so warm because no air can escape. I just wish it didn’t make it hard to pour. I have to dock it one star for that. I will say though that I have left coffee in it for over three hours and when I came back it was still warm enough to drink. I love this as I don’t drink my cup very fast.

I like the way this machine looks too. It’s a little bigger than my prior coffee maker but it fits nicely on my countertop. It has a modern look to it so I don’t mind if it is left out when I’m not brewing with it. Overall I really like the Cuisinart DCC-1150BK and would definitely buy it again if needed.

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Great little machine for our household

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By Gerry K.

We used to find ourselves wasting too much coffee when we had our 12 cup machine. We just couldn’t drink enough to justify brewing that sized pot. So we decided to get something smaller and found the inexpensive Mr. Coffee DRX5 4 cup coffee maker. I really love this product for several reasons.

Ok, for the good. I find that it is the perfect size for one coffee drinker. The timer also works great and allows me to brew it when needed. It’s nice and hot when I’m ready to head out to work. This machine is also simple to clean. It has a removable filter cup that is much nicer than our old coffeemaker was. The auto pause option helps keep the spilling to a minimum as well.

One thing I would like to see improved is the overall time of brewing. It seems to take longer to prepare 4 cups than it did our old coffee maker to make 12. This might be due to the small size of it but maybe they could put a bigger heating source in it. Not a big problem though.

In summary, we really like this product in our home. It brews coffee perfectly, is quite compact, and is very inexpensive. I would say it is the perfect coffee machine for our needs. Other online reviews seem to agree with me.

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The best small brewer we could find

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By Debbie H

We spent quite a bit of time looking at the various 4 to 5 cup coffee makers and decided to buy the Zojirushi Zutto. I started looking at the popular brands like Braun and Mr. Coffee but they just didn’t seem to have very high reviews from actual users. This machine stood out as most people liked it, especially for the price. The brand name doesn’t matter to me. The quality of the cup it brews is important, and that is where it shines.

The Zutto has a well thought out design. It is quite functional and looks nice sitting on my kitchen counter. We don’t even tuck it away when we aren’t using it. The coffee filter is actually located in the lid on the pot, which differs from the other drip coffeemakers we looked at. There is also a removable charcoal filter which keeps the water nice and clean. My first pot that I brewed was my favorite Green Mountain flavor and I have to say that the coffee tasted excellent. It really is the best I have had from an automatic drip coffee maker. The heating element also kept the pot nice and warm.

There weren’t any messes during pouring and cleaning it up afterwards was simple. The Zojirushi Zutto is a well designed, well built machine and is a lot better than anything else we saw in this class. We give it a big thumbs up and highly recommend it.

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Brews coffee quickly for the road

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By M Sorrino

The Hamilton Beach Stay or Go thermal coffee maker does a very good job at brewing coffee, which is to be expected. It is well constructed and looks nice on our kitchen counter. The stainless steel is nice and it matches our other appliances. Using the machine is quite simple as the programming really is self explanatory. Your coffee will be ready to go when you are. I love to grab a warm travel mug on my way to work each morning. The fact that they included two travel mugs as well as the thermal carafe is very nice.

Now for a couple of things that I don’t like, though they are minor. The permanent filter that comes with this coffee maker does an ample job but I still prefer a paper filter. I find that some very fine grounds can get through to my cup. This filter is also not that easy to clean and I find it much easier to just throw the used paper filter in the garbage. Again, this is no biggie as I just buy extra paper filters. And while I do think the LCD display is easy to read, the bright blue light is a little too much for my tastes. It really stands out at night.

Overall the Hamilton Beach Stay or Go is a great coffee machine, but I felt compelled to only give it 4 stars since there are a couple minor things I don’t like. I would buy one again though.

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Nice machine for the price, not the best though

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By Will Hetsko

We bought the Delonghi BAR32 Retro pump driven espresso machine around 8 months ago and have had no big problems with it. Others complained about the gaskets around the tank leaking but ours is fine. I like the removable tank design quite a bit as it is simple to fill and clean. The frother works very well but I did have to tinker a bit to get a good shot of crema, or at least the way I like it. I now have it working perfectly but it did take some experimentation. The built in tamper works ok but I like my handheld one better as it isn’t as big a mess to cleanup. This is a big thing for me as I don’t want to spend 15 minutes cleaning it up every morning.

One thing I don’t like about it is the operating noise, it is quite loud. It also takes a bit of time to cleanup after the brewing is done, especially if you use loose coffee grounds. I really like my coffee strong and bold, and this filter doesn’t quite hold enough of the grounds for my taste. Sometimes I have to prepare a second bowl to get it just the way I like it. I also had to get used to the amount of time to warmup the machine. The instructions said 30 minutes but I find that it doesn’t take nearly that long if you do it right. I would say that the only thing keeping me from giving this espresso machine 5 stars is the time to create the latte or cappuccino as well as the cleanup when I’m done.

I recommend the DeLonghi BAR32 Retro as a solid, affordable espresso maker. While it won’t compare with the best machines out there today it is FAR cheaper. If you aren’t an expert then you probably don’t need to spend that much anyways, and this model will be just fine.

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Excellent coffee and tea, recommended coffeemaker

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By Jack Lafferty

I had been looking for a single serve coffee maker for quite some time. I knew I wanted a Keurig and I found their B77 coffee and tea brewing system which looked like a nice package. We knew we didn’t want a machine that brewed a large pot and the single serve machines are all the rave nowadays. I even found a great deal online for a bunch of K-cups to use, and boy are these simple to brew with. You just pop them in and add water. One minute later you are drinking your favorite flavor.

Another thing I like about this is it can make a glass of iced tea as well. It does a great job on hot chocolate too and it is very fast. I find that it is done in under a minute and there is no cleanup at all. The iced drink feature is really nice and a reason to spend more on this model over their other coffee makers.

We had some family visit from out of town and they fell in love with this machine. They are older folks and kinda set in their ways but they quickly came around to this rather new style of coffeemaker. After a few cups they were hooked and now want one for their house. Like me, they feel that the k-cups provide the perfect amount of flavor to any cup. It just seems to taste better when it comes from this Keurig.

Overall I have zero complaints about the B77 brewing system. It gives me a fast cup of coffee or tea, iced or hot. I love it and recommend it highly. My only complaint is the k-cups are a little expensive but you get what you pay for IMO.

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Good brewing for a year, then problems after that

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By Ken Hendrickson

This coffee maker worked very well for about the first year we had it. Then we started having problems where it didn’t always brew when you turned it on, or you would turn it on and an hour or so later it would start brewing. I have been researching this problem and have found it to be quite a common occurence with this Cuisinart. If the unit is under warranty they may ship you a refurbished machine for $10.00 plus you need to pay the return shipping on the defective unit. If the unit is out of warranty, you are out of luck. I would not recommend the Cuisinart DCC-2000 coffee maker to anyone who expects to have it much longer than a year as that seems to be the average it lasts before having problems.

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Simple grinder, fast to use!

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By D Morrey

I have owned the Krups Fast Touch coffee grinder for several years now. The first time I decided to buy coffee beans and then grind them up I really knew nothing about the process, but I had heard how much better the brew tasted when using fresh grounds. This was my driving force behind trying the Krups grinder out. It looked simple to use and was inexpensive. I can say that I’m not disappointed.

I find myself brewing at least 2 pots of coffee each day so I put a beating on this grinder. It has become discolored a bit but still works great. The motor still goes strong and the blades power through the grounds like nothing. It is also very simple to use. You just put the beans in and figure out how long to grind them (depends on how strong you like your coffee). It took me a little bit of experimenting to get this right but now I have it down. The safety feature is another thing I like as it won’t let you grind without the lid being seated properly. This has saved me more than once.

Spilling the coffee is not a problem with this Krups either. All I do is rap the sides a little to loosen the coffee from the lid and sides, then remove the lid and dump the grounds into your filter. Again, with a little practice this becomes second nature. One thing I will mention is there are not many bells and whistles on this model but in my opinion that is a good thing (less stuff to break). You really don’t need many options when all you want to do is grind some great tasting coffee beans.

Overall I love the Krups Fast Touch and would highly recommend it. It’s inexpensive and lasts a long time, and believe me I use it often. If you want a no frills coffee grinder that won’t cost you much then look no further than this machine.

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Quiet operation, brews great coffee

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By Dave Paltney

The Bosch Benvenuto B30 is truly a great coffee machine. We previously had a fully automatic Saeco model but it started leaking and and wasn’t brewing very well anymore so we needed a new coffeemaker. Now, before buying the Bosch B30 we did a lot of research on several machines. We really liked the look of this one even though it had a high price.

Since we had experience with espresso type machines for many years we knew what we needed from it. Basically we wanted a height adjustable spout, a quiet brewing operation, the ability to use either beans or grounds, and other modern options to really make it as simple to use as possible. Sounds like we are asking a lot but at this price that is what you should expect. Overall, the B30 does all of this and then some. It is also quite modern looking and is built very well.

This coffee maker does not take very long to get up to the best temperature either. The electronic display will let you know when it is ready and the strength of the coffee has several adjustments. You can also put in different amounts of water depending on what you are brewing from espresso to cappuccino, or whatever else.

If these features weren’t enough for you, this machine has an automatic timer (programmable) which will turn itself on at any time you need. We like to wake to the aroma of freshly brewed coffee so this is a big plus for us.

The Bosch Benvenuto B30 is very simple to operate, fast brewing, and makes great tasting coffee in a variety of strengths and cup sizes. No complaints at all. If your budget can afford it you should definitely buy one.

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