I came to really enjoy the coffee from the Krups Moka Brew. This was especially true after I stopped trying to categorize the coffee. It’s not drip. It’s not moka either. It’s somewhere in between and once I left it there, I found the coffee much more enjoyable.

I do admit that every time I did a brew in the Krups, I found myself wishing and wanting the head of creamy froth to remain – I wondered what would the brew taste like if I stopped it early, so that the latter stages of the brew didn’t dissipate the froth. So I tried it once. The process was a bit of a cludge: I turned the power off on the machine, but it took some time for the pressure to drop down – figure about 1 full minute, and I could see the froth dissipating on its own. I only had about 3.5 cups out of the 8 brewed, and the coffee was definitely sweeter,but far too “dense” – the early stages of a brew. It also tasted a bit flat, which is something that doesn’t quite jive with sweet most of the time, but there you have it.

I pretty much hit the mark on the grind the first brew, so I didn’t do much experimentation with it. One word of warning – don’t use a grind coarser than normal drip grind – you’ll end up with an excessively bitter and weak coffee. Go for something slightly finer than drip and you’ll be good to go.

I absolutely despise the entire concept of leaving a pot of brewed coffee on a burner or heater – in a way, the reservoir below the carafe is a “burner” – the coils are heating the air and remaining droplets of water inside the chamber, which in turn heats the carafe. This is a sure way to kill coffee within 10 minutes. I used (and I recommend) a Thermos Nissan carafe – the TGS1000, which is the perfect size for the Krups. Simply pour the pot of brewed coffee into it once the brewing is complete. This achieves two goals – first, the act of pouring will “stir up” the finished brew and you keep your coffee hot for several hours. I also found that a thermal carafe helps the coffee from dying so quick – it still dies quicker than auto drip, but it will die even quicker if you leave it in the glass carafe.

Cleaning the machine is very easy. It’s a paper filter, so you just drop the entire spent coffee into your garbage or compost. A quick rinse under hot water, a quick scrub (no soap) of the lid’s dispersion screen, and you’re done that part. The carafe is dishwasher safe but giving it a quick scrub with soap and a sponge is easy and will prolong the life of the carafe. Once every five or ten brews, under the screw nut holding the dispersion screen in place in the lid to give it a better cleaning – use soap if you want, but rinse exceedingly well.

I would say the Krups Moka Brew is easier to clean than a typical auto drip coffee maker. Less parts (and smaller surface areas) to deal with.

Within a week, I was really enjoying the coffee from this brewer. It has an intensity and completeness you don’t get from drip. In fact, it really is almost a perfect marriage of the tastes you get from a moka pot and a quality auto drip. I had a hard time imagining this taste before but now I know what it is.

Bottom line – the coffee tastes great (as long as your other variables – eg, good water, good beans, fresh beans, good grind – are met), but it also dies fairly quick. If you use a thermal carafe, I would recommend drinking it all (either yourself or sharing) within 30 to 40 minutes. If you are only using the glass carafe, don’t expect much from the taste after 10 or 15 minutes.

I tried brewing a few half-pots with the brewer. It does a capable job, but in the end, it works like other brewing methods – the best pot of coffee you’ll get is from a full brew – what the machines were designed for.

There’s also one other important note – I found that delicate coffees (like a Kona) or very bright coffees (like a Guat Antigua or similar) don’t fare well in this brewer. Really deep coffees like the excellent Fair Trade Brazil Cerado were super stars on the other hand. If you only taste a delicate coffee in this machine, you may come away disappointed. I’d almost use a blend in this machine as the defacto bean type.