Technivorm Moccamaster 79112 KBT Coffee Brewer, 40 oz, Polished Silver

So easy and good!
I should start off by saying, we are not coffee snobs but really enjoy coffee. I cannot tell you anything about bean roasting, or grinding, or notes of some exotic fruit. I just like coffee, preferably with a little cream. I say this because, as much as I can appreciate the coffee snob reviews, the reality is that in the morning I just want a good hot cup without a bunch of worry that I missed some critical step in some elaborate brewing method. It needs to be easy. I almost didn’t buy this machine because so many reviews talked about fussing with the machine to get it to produce a good cup of coffee. And maybe they’re right. Maybe all that stuff makes the coffee excel. But this thing will still make a great cup of coffee without fuss. We use Fidalgo beans. My husband grinds them the night before (gasp) and sets the machine up so in the morning at 5 AM, he only has to flip the switch. The thermos carafe means that I get a hot cup of coffee at 8 AM since I don’t like coffee until later in my morning. This is HUGE. For years, I’ve been microwaving coffee during the week after it sat on a burner plate for 3 hours. I used to only get fresh coffee on the weekends when we used the Chemex. Now I get fresh hot coffee during the week too, and the flavor is soooo good. An added bonus is that this thing is so easy to clean, quiet, and brews super fast. After I’m done, I’m able to easily clean it up. Seriously, so happy we finally upgraded from our 12-year-old Cuisinart drip machine. That thing was nasty and so hard to clean. Next purchase will be a burr grinder. Maybe I am getting a little snobby?

Great cup of joe!
I’ve waited a couple months to write a review just to make sure I had a good feel of this machine.So, it really does make a great cup of coffee! There is a learning curve to it as you need to grind your own beans. You can’t just put in your regular ground coffee as it’s just not made for that. So I guess the hardest part to get down is leaning what grind setting you like the best to get the taste you want. That takes experimenting. We made some early batches that had us scratching our heads and wondering why we changed machines. We kept trying (not lots but several batches). We were new to conical grinders too so it was different all around.I settled on a Shardor conical grinder (of course I have to say Mordor to myself every time I see the name) and set to a 36 grind (pretty dang coarse) with a dark roast Pete’s coffee. That makes one heck of a cup of coffee!! Best we’ve ever had in fact. But it took some experimenting to get it there.I would have like to have tried the Moccamaster branded grinder but I couldn’t spend that kind of cash!Pros:a) Best cup of coffee we’ve ever made at home (after learning how). That was the promise and our goal so I’d say fulfilled. Everything else is fluff.b) The carafe is amazing. That glass lined thing works really well (mostly, see cons). Coffee comes out hot and stays hot a good while. Cleans like a dream (hardly needs more than a rinse as nothing sticks).c) Nice compact design (compared to some machines we’ve had). Very minimalistic as there’s just on or off.Cons: (none of these change the fact that it makes a great cup of coffee)a) Expensive!! And, what you see for that expense isn’t very confidence boosting. I assume the innards are what makes the machine as I’ve never seen anything heat up as fast as this thing does. But, the parts don’t feel or seem expensive.b) The carafe has about the worst pouring spout I’ve ever seen. Especially in such an expensive maker. It works but you’ll be excited when you can pour a cup without making somewhat of a mess. You either have to pour so slow you can’t stand it or you make a mess. Seems to be the only two options.Bottom line is a great cup of coffee, the fasted heating element known to man and a nice hot brew. We are both happy with this purchase.

There are certain elements of this coffee maker that have been very well thought out. I think the most critical part is the boiler, which is located in the stainless steel tower, which very rapidly brings the water to the precise right temperature for an ideal brew. The second element that really impressed me is the stainless carafe. It’s easy to fill and keeps the coffee hot for the duration of my wife’s and my long Sunday mornings over a pot of coffee. I’ve read several reviews saying that the pot lacks thermal qualities and that their coffee got cold too quickly. That was not at all my experience. Most of those reviews were from a few years ago, which makes me wonder if the design was improved since then. Other reviewers comment on the relatively large footprint of the KBT… it’s actually more compact and elegant looking than the Cuisinart model we replaced. It is; however, much taller, which could be an issue if placed under a cabinet (not our case). Overall, I really love the look of this machine. The plastic parts are meant to be replaceable over time, which is good to know such an expensive appliance will be supported over the long term. Some say the plastic is cheap. I’m pretty fussy and I think it’s okay. Not Red Dot design award great but certainly not an issue that detracts from the package as a whole. Now, the most important part: how’s the coffee? It’s definitely a lot better than our previous machine from Cuisinart. There’s some science behind getting the water temperature just right and using the right ratio of water to coffee. The Mochamaster comes with a guide that I feel waaaaay overstates the amount of coffee to use. I brew Kicking Horse Three Sisters and using the recommended 6.66 double scoops of coffee for 10 cups nearly sent me into cardiac arrest! It’s actually recommended to cut the strength with hot water rather than to reduce the brewing ratio but I have backed off the potency to my taste. The point being, this takes some trial and error to get just right for your brew. The one thing I noticed right away is how much smoother the coffee tastes and the absence of the bitterness I used to experience with my old machine. Part of it might be because this machine is new/clean but I suspect it’s just a lot better. As the adage goes, you get what you pay for. This machine isn’t cheap and value is a very personal measure. For my part,I’m very happy with my purchase. Five-stars to the people at Technivorm for being passionate about brewed coffee. Not everyone wants coffee from a puck! 🙂

Esta cafetera hace el mejor café. Si está muy cara pero la verdad es que vale la pena el gasto. Esta muy bien hecho y se ve que nos va durar muchos años.