It's a cool looking machine that gets the job done right, when it comes to relatively inexpensive auto-drip coffee makers.
Positive Product Points
Brews coffee good and hot in about 8 minutes. Thermal carafe. Built in water filter. Stylish look.
Negative Product Points
Measured fill tube gets air bubbles in it. Kind of loud when brewing. Spillage when brewing full 10 cup capacity. Rubber feet on bottom of machine come off easily.
Detailed Commentary
I purchased this machine after several hours of comparisons with other coffee makers. Needless to say, this website helped me extensively. I had recently remodeled my kitchen and was replacing all of my older kitchen items with brushed stainless (its all the rage around here). I am new to this website and new to the complexities of coffee. In the past I usually just bought from the super market, desperately trying to find arabica coffees since I heard they were the best. Well, they must put sawdust in the arabica's I found at the markets around here....but that's another story.
As for the machine, I like my coffee nice and hot and this one seems to get the job done, and in my humble opinion, the coffee it makes tastes great. But then again, I just started buying several of the delicious coffees mentioned on this site. The thermal carafe keeps coffee nice and hot for about an hour or so, but I would suggest using a thermos if you plan on keeping it around longer than that.
As for the "annoying beeps" mentioned by others, I really don't find it that annoying. I drink coffee mainly in the morning (that might be changing) and after I go through the process of grinding my beans and getting the machine going I usually lie down while waiting for the coffee to brew. Most of the time I fall asleep again. Well, its hard to continue to sleep through those "annoying beeps". Besides, you can always turn it off.
Now for the bad parts. The first time I used this coffee maker I did as the manufacturer suggests and ran it through one cycle with water only (a full 10 cups). After it was done I lifted the carafe out of its resting place only to be scalded by hot water! The carafe had over-flowed onto my hand...ouch! After that I've decided to brew a maximum of 9 cup batches. The fill tube now regularly gets air bubbles in it so I have to shake the machine or tip it to the side to bleed out the air. But with some experimenting, it seems that if I fill the water resevoir quickly with the full amount I intend to brew, the air bubbles become much less a problem.
The rubber feet (2 of them on the bottom of the machine near the back) do fall out all the time. I just decided to remove them since they don't seem to matter at all.
One wierd thing. Why does every coffee maker manufacturer seem to have different ideas as to what a cup is? That makes it difficult to figure out how much coffee to add. As for this machine, a cup is approx. 4.6oz. Glad my daughter is taking algebra.
Well thats about it. I like this machine alot and I think it was worth the money. It has really gotten me into sampling all the great coffees out there I had been missing. I recently bought a Bodum french press which makes awesome coffee, but I use the Krups for regular daily brewing.
Buying Experience
Very good. The customer service is excellent at the store I went to. Great return policy.
Three Month Followup
The Krups is working great. I really have no complaints with it. But to followup on a couple of the negative points I made...1) I don't pay attention to the fill tube since it's just plain inaccurate. I simply add the water with a measuring cup. 2) It's not as loud as I thought when brewing. Maybe it's broken in now? I would definetly buy this machine again. Happy brewing!
