-Bonavita 8 Cup Coffee Maker, One-Touch Pour Over Brewing with Thermal Carafe, SCA Certified, Stainless Steel (BV1900TS)

Made in China
This is my 6/7/2020 updated review. My earlier reviews are set forth below. I have a Chinese friend who was born to Chinese parents in China in 1968. In America in 2003, she told me that her father who still lives in China refuses to buy prescription drugs; he relies on herbs. I asked why. She said her father doesn’t trust the authenticity or purity of prescription drugs or any health-related product in China. The world now knows about the coronavirus pandemic. I no longer buy any food, vitamin, food storage product, or cooking utensil made in China. I discarded my Bonavita and replaced it with a Technivorm. I find it less easy to use and more finicky, but here’s the thing. Once I mastered the Technivorm (which was not easy, and did result in a couple of spills at the beginning), the spills and difficulty ended, and II found the coffee is even better-tasting and hotter than from Bonavita. And, most importantly, I’m not concerned about any health risk.This is my 3/25/2017 updated review. My original review is set forth below.My Capresso coffee bean grinder broke a couple of days ago. I replaced it with a De’Longhi Dedica Burr Grinder. I cannot emphasize strongly enough how much better the De’Longhi is in every possible way. Its burrs look much sturdier and much sharper. It sounds and feels much more solid. It produces grinds that are much more consistent. It offers much more control over the choice of grind output. It outputs the grinds into a well-sealed container (or portafilter), without any messiness; my Capresso required daily cleanup. My coffee tastes better. It’s much more expensive than my Capresso, but to me it’s well worth it – especially if it lasts a long time before breaking. There really is a very big difference between the two.My original review is set forth below.This is one of those rare products that is a game changer. It doesn’t just make excellent coffee. It also enhances your life. (By comparison, you can see my review of the Technivorm Moccamaster KBGT 10-cup Coffee Brewer with Thermal Carafe that I bought from Amazon.)My wife and I enjoyed the $100.00 12-cup Cuisinart coffee maker with glass carafe for years. It still works fine. We bought the Moccamaster to try to find something even better. We disliked it very much, and returned it. We bought this 8-cup Bonavita, based on its reviews on the CNET website, the Amazon website, and other websites. We love it.We initially chose the Moccamaster over the Bonita, because it says it is 10-cups and Bonavita says its coffee maker is only 8 cups. We since have learned that both coffee makers are 40-ounce machines. The difference is that Moccamaster calls a cup 4 ounces, and Bonita calls a cup 5 ounces. There’s no difference between the amounts of coffee they make.We very much prefer the Bonavita metal carafe to the Cuisinart glass carafe. The coffee in the Bonavita carafe never burns. The Bonavita carafe is excellent at keeping the coffee very hot throughout breakfast and long after. This means we can begin the brew process at any time, instead of waiting until just before we begin to eat. The brew process is very fast (about 5 minutes), and the brew light turns off to signal when it’s finished. When the brew process is finished, the coffee maker shuts itself off. (I always have trouble hearing the “beep” that the Cuisinart coffee maker makes to signal the end of the brew process.) We bring the carafe to the table, and when we want a refill, we don’t have to get up from the table and go back to the glass carafe on the coffee maker’s hot plate to get another cup of coffee. The bottom of the metal carafe is smooth and cool to the touch, so we can put in on our wood-top kitchen table without a trivet. The metal carafe is dishwasher-safe. The Moccamaster carafe is not as cool to the touch, is not entirely stainless steel (it has a plastic bottom attached), and is not dishwasher-safe.The Bonavita is extremely simple and easy to use. I cannot imagine a more simple or easy design. There are no parts to fidget with, adjust, or move. All it requires is filling the easy-to-fill water reservoir (clearly marked, and non-removable), putting the sturdy plastic basket on top of the metal carafe (with zero difficulty), putting a filter into the basket, adding coffee grounds, and placing the carafe (with the basket on top of it) beneath the brew spout (with zero difficulty). There are no moving parts, and no removable parts. The carafe sits on a base plate, which does not have a heating element and only serves to unify the beautiful simplicity of operation and design of the Bonavita. The Bonavita is low enough to fit beneath our kitchen cabinets, even with the reservoir’s top open (which allows it to air-dry easily. The only operator control is the on-off switch (the only exception being that, if you want pre-infusion for freshly-roasted-and-ground coffee beans, you have to hold the on-off switch for a short while when you begin the brew process). Cleaning is exceptionally easily; you only have to rinse the carafe and the coffee basket (made of sturdy plastic, with no moving parts). When I say “no moving parts”, I am being literal; there are no switches or levers to stop the brew process when you remove the carafe during the brewing process There is no need to ever remove the carafe during the brewing process, because it lasts only about 5 minutes. The lid for the carafe is solidly made, very easy to use, and keeps the coffee very hot. The base plate is integrated in the construction, and does not require any fidgeting or adjustment; it is not removable. The Bonavita does not provide 2 carafe lids, it’s lid is perfect and seals well, and the carafe pours easily and neatly. The Moccamaster provides 2 lids, one to use during brewing, and one to keep the coffee hot longer.The Bonavita sprays the heated water over the coffee grounds through a large round stationary spray-head with a dozen holes. The Moccamaster spray-head covers a much smaller area rectangular in shape, and has fewer than half as many holes for the hot water to drip out onto the coffee grounds; it also rotates, is removable, and sits on a soft plastic gasket that may or may not last very long.The Bonavita’s power cord can be positioned to exit the bottom of the coffee maker from the front, side, or rear. The Moccamaster’s cord exits only from one location. We are happy about the Bonavita’s choices, because it allows us to avoid having the power cord be a nuisance and a distraction.The entire design of the Bonavita makes life easier, prevents having a pot-full of coffee spill all over our kitchen countertop, and allow us to sit and chat together at breakfast – enjoying our coffee maker rather than being controlled by it.At the end of all this, however, is the question of how the coffee tastes. This question is critical. The answer is that it tastes excellent. It is very robust, very tasty, and extremely hot. Taste is “a matter of taste”, but for us it’s everything we had hoped for. However, I would like to note one thing. Bonavita’s instructions are to use 2 tablespoons of coffee grounds for every cup. We prefer much less. We’ve used the Bonavita twice so far. The first time, we made 6 cups and used 4-1/2 tablespoons of coffee grounds; we liked that. The second time, we made 6 cups and used 5-1/4 tablespoons of coffee grounds; we like that too, but not as much. We’ll continue to experiment, but the point is this — with a slight adjustment in the amount of coffee grounds we use, we are able to easily and noticeably change the flavor and intensity of the coffee. In both instances, we used Peet’s coffee (Sumatra blend — we used ground coffee, but soon will try coffee beans that we grind) and the brewed coffee tasted very smooth.Other than increasing the Bonavita’s size from 8 cups to 10 or 12 cups, there is one issue for which I’d suggest improvement. The stainless steel carafe is tipped by a plastic rim (with integrated plastic handle). The plastic is smooth and sturdy, but inside the carafe it has a “lip”. The result is that the carafe does not entirely “drip dry” after sitting in a dish drainer. It’s not a big problem; it only means that I have to dry the inside of the “lip” with a kitchen towel. However, it would be nice if it had no “lip” and totally dripped dry.Updated Review (August 22, 2015):My wife and I bought the Capresso 565.05 Infinity Conical Burr Grinder (Stainless Steel), and are using Allegro coffee beans from Whole Foods (we are trying different beans, to see what we like best). We never considered ourselves coffee snobs, but the combination of Bonavita, Capresso, and whole beans yields better coffee than we imagined possible. The most significant feature is that our coffee is absolutely free of bitterness and acidity. We also bought Planetary Design Airspace chrome containers to hold our coffee beans, and we bought Espresso Grinder Brush (Heavy Wood Handle with natural bristles) to clean our grinder — we like them both very much.

I liked this unit so much I bought a second unit for our vacation condo. Thermal carafe units are usually expensive and this is no exception. It was a replacement for a Krug Costco unit which I cannot find anywhere now and a Cuisinart unit which was cheaper but very cheaply built. I liked its ease of use (really only an on/off switch, no complicated electronics), its sturdy construction, its attractive design, the very hot water and efficient heater, the speed that it makes coffee, and the clear container for water which makes it easy to control the quantity made. Contrary to some reviews, I found it easy to pour and empty. The design of the carafe top and the way it screws into the base (the pourer is in the top, not in the base( makes for a tight seal and thus the coffee stay hot and fresh for hours. I like this unit and am surprised that I have never seen it in a bricks and mortar store. Our units are two years old now and going strong. Worth every penny,

Es una cafetera muy simple para bien: Le pones café de preferencia recién molido, le pones agua, colocas la jarra y presionas el botón. Si tienes tiempo de esperar un poquito más puedes usar el modo pre-infusión, sujetando presionado el botón tres segundos hasta que pite dos veces y luego presionando otra vez para iniciar la cocción, la diferencia en sabor es leve pero suficiente, el café es delicioso en ambos modos, el segundo le da un poco más intensidad.PROs:- El tanque trae medidas de peso de café en los aforos de las tazas, por si se te olvida o quieres preparar una cantidad distinta a la habitual.- La cocción es relativamente rápida, el agua no tarda mucho en bajar y cae con la temperatura correcta para hacer un café delicioso.- El portafiltro es extraíble por lo que es más fácil de limpiar.- La jarra mantiene el café calientito como por tres horas, suficiente para tomar café toda la mañana o la noche.Contras:- El hecho de que la cocción sea abierta quiere decir que durante la cocción la cafetera avienta un montón de vapor para arriba, lo que no es conveniente si lo querías poner en un muele de madera como es mi caso, estás avisado.- La jarra sostiene un resto a la hora que la vacías, inclusive si la enjuagas se queda con agua, quien haya diseñado la jarra no quería que se quedara sin agua nunca.- 8 tazas no es tanto, suficiente para hasta cuatro personas, si necesitas servir a más gente o tomar más de una vez tienes que preparar otra vez o bien mejor comprar la que sigue que es más grande.

Pros:Easy to clean carafe and basketEasy to fill with water and check fill linesStainless carafe means that there is no warming plate to burn out over timeSpecialty Coffee Association approvedQuick and consistent brew time (see above point)No bull$&!+ features or buttons. You fill the basket with grounds, fill the reservoir with water and push the On/Off switch to On. No delay timers, no brew strength buttons, no cleaning buttons, no clocks. Just On/Off. It turns off on it’s own when it’s done brewing. I love things that are this simple.I think it looks good and it has a small footprint on my counterBoth pro and con:The carafe has a lid that needs to be unscrewed and completely removed in order to place the coffee basket for brewing. It’s annoying to have to store a lid somewhere else and attach every time after brewing. The positive side of this (which in my opinion far outweighs the negative) is that the seal on this lid is perfect and the lever activated pour spout gives a perfect pour every time. Press to pour, release to stop. No nonsense.Cons:So much plastic I worry about it long term. The bottom of the coffee basket was discoloured after 2 uses. Discoloured spot hasn’t grown or gotten whiter since but it is something I am monitoring.If I leave my coffee maker plugged in between brews at least a day apart I can’t start the second brew without needing to unplug from the wall and leave it for at least 2 minutes. If I don’t and I push the On/Off switch it makes a click noise and it turns itself off within 1 second. Maybe mine is defective. Maybe I didn’t read the instruction manual and it’s supposed to be unplugged all the time.