Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Update - I have now been using this coffee maker for over 18 months with no issues, and I'm still just as happy with the performance. I have made over 750 pots of coffee, and they are hot and tasty every time. I also have added some information in response to one of the comments left on this review, and a picture of the disassembled carafe lid which was cleaner than expected after 18 months of use. I have been using the OXO Barista Brain 9 cup coffee maker for about 10 days now, and overall I am very happy with this purchase. I have owned Cuisinart, Zojirushi, Mr. Coffee, Hamilton Beach, DeLonghi, and Capresso coffee makers over the past 15 years. I use a high quality burr grinder for my beans, and only use beans that were roasted within the past two weeks. Here are my comments and observations after 10 days. 1. Controls are very easy to use, but I have not used the programmable timer feature. Setting the clock and brewing 2-4 or 5-9 cups is very simple and straightforward. 2. Overall construction seems to be fairly sturdy. The plastic parts seem to be a little bit stronger and stiffer than what is found on some cheaper coffee makers. 3. I like the appearance a lot. It has clean modern look, and a no nonsense style that works well in our kitchen. 4. The brewing temperature matches the OXO claims, and is noticeable hotter than the previous coffee maker I was using. It does seem to bring out more flavor than other recent brewers I have used. 5. The cycle does run exactly as described. A small amount of hot water is dispensed to soak the grounds, then after a short pause it continues on with brewing. 6-7 minutes for a full pot. 6. The shower head does a good job covering all the grounds when using 65g of coffee for a full pot. I do not feel any need to lift the lid and mix the grounds as I have with other coffee makers. However, for the obsessive types that feel the need to check, you can take a peek during brewing without disrupting anything. 7. The water tank will hold about 48 ounces when filled to the Max line, which is also about what a full to the top carafe will hold. The tank also has markings that are easy to read, and a large target area that is easy to pour into. After brewing with a tank filled to Max, I end up with about 43 or 44 ounces of coffee. 8. Carafe is easy to pour with the lid on, but kind of slow. There are no buttons to push or lid to twist in order to pour, just a flapper that opens with gravity when you tilt the carafe. With the lid off you can pour faster, but then the coffee does not stay in the pouring channel in the top of the carafe and can splash a bit more. I would have appreciated a wider pouring channel on the carafe, or maybe a more gradual transition at the edges of the channel. 9. The removable shower head and water delivery tubes are great for cleaning. Sometimes the grounds will “bloom” high enough to cover the shower head, and I also can already see mineral deposits collecting in there. Removal makes it easy to get all of this cleaned, which to me seems like a critical component of making a long lasting coffee maker. 10. When I open the lid over the filter and grounds, water will run back out of the tube to the shower head and sometimes dribble onto the base or the counter. Putting a slight downhill angle on the water deliver tube would have prevented this, and also may have reduced the need for cleaning by leaving behind less water to dry out and leave deposits. 11. This coffee maker runs very quietly up until about the last cup of water, which is expected. Overall it is quieter than most, and does not have a loud annoying beep at the end of the cycle. 12. Watching the bubbles and hot water come up the center tube is kind of cool, and least for the first few days. 13. After 3 or 4 days I decided that the rubber “mixing” tube in the carafe kind of got in the way and so I stopped using it. There is no noticeable difference in the end result. If you are worried about the hottest coffee being stratified in a layer at the top, a quick slosh of the carafe should take care of that. 14. The scoop provided by Oxo holds about 10 grams per scoop, so if you follow their recommendations for quantity of scoops, you will end up with more coffee than they state in the manual. I have continued using my previous scoop, and use about 65 grams for a full 9 cup pot. I would say that Oxo not only made a coffee maker that brews like it is supposed to, but they did a good job reading all the reviews out there and addressing most of the seemingly simple but often overlooked little annoyances. It should be common sense that you don’t want water or coffee to dribble on your countertops, the coffee should be brewed hot and stay hot, all the grounds must be saturated, and that parts will get grubby and need to be cleaned. You don’t even need to have a Barista brain to figure this much out. If this coffee maker keeps making good coffee for me for the next 4 or 5 years, it will be the best money I have invested in a coffee maker so far, and worth the $200 price.