Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My husband is the coffee expert in our family and he says this Braun KF7150BK is five stars all the way. Edit 7/7/17: Because of a question asked I had my husband brew a pot of coffee this morning while I watched this pot work its magic. You can read the entire experiment in the comment section. Short answer, the decorative top is made with dimples, not holes. There is steam which escapes all along the lid back seam. The product description states that all condensation stays inside the pot. Well, that's correct because the DROPS of condensation never leave the pot -- STEAM does. I have not changed the original review so you can see where I made the incorrect statement. Resume original review. The manual is easy to read and actually helpful. (This isn't always the case with some brands.) LED control panel is actually easy to read. There is an honest to goodness on/off switch. (I know, isn't that just crazy??) There is a setting for brewing a small pot, between 1-4 cups. You can set the coffee strength between regular and bold. The warming plate has three temperatures. Yes, count them, low, medium, or high and they work. There is a 60-second built in back-up for saving your settings if you have a power glitch like we have a lot. The lid comes off the glass carafe so you can put both pieces in the dishwasher. You can indicate the hardness of your water and get a reminder of when you need to descale the unit. Plus.......this thing is just plain gorgeous sitting on the kitchen counter. Interestingly enough, as well as all the things previously listed, the coffee maker also makes a darn good cup of coffee. It is just a little bit loud to me, not to my husband. It brews quickly, less than five minutes for the "short pot" which is the size we usually make. You can take a quick cup before the brew cycle finishes. The temperature of the finished first cup is hot (just right for hubby who likes it practically scalding). An interesting little tidbit from the manual is that the coffee will have better flavor balance if you stir the coffee after it has finished the brew cycle. According to the manual, the strongest coffee results from the first water through the grounds so stirring will even out the strength in the finished pot. The automatic timer and clock are easy to set and also easy to read because the numerals are a good size. You can use either the permanent "gold" filter included with the machine or use paper filters. Now, the only aspect you might want to consider before you purchase this unit: the top of the machine is perforated and while this looks very attractive, it results in a lot of hot steam coming out of the top and the back of this unit. Be careful that you have enough room around the coffee maker so that steam has someplace to go and not just into the finish of your kitchen cabinet. I like for this unit to have plenty of air circulation around it when we are using it. We just pull it forward out from under the shelf above it and then push it back (on those very nice non-skid feet) out of the way when it is not in use.