Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Ok so i read all the negative and positive reviews trying to figure out what was the deal with this coffee maker. Here is the thing i have found, people who really hate this coffee maker just don't understand what it is or how to use it right. This is a fine buy, perhaps the only buy if you want a Thermal Coffee maker that really works. ok so first we need to understand this is a THERMAL coffee maker. Why does that matter? 1) You won't burn down you house because you forgot to turn it off. 2) you will never have burnt thick muddy coffee. 3) it saves a ton of money on energy. 4) you can take your coffee pot with you to your table, desk, or backyard, and it will stay hot right beside you just as if it was still being heated. It is key to understand that the whole point of this coffee maker is that it is thermal which means when it is made it is dumped into a coffee pot that is really a big thermos and that is how it stays hot. This means it stays hot really long without heating, burning, and thickening. It also means your first cup of coffee will be blistering hot and each on after a little less. But big deal, i made a pot of coffee this morning when i got up at 7am it is now 12:39pm and i am drinking my last cup and it is still hot (just not blistering hot). Common Complaints: Does it leak? Sure it does when you don't follow directions, or clean it right. Is it poorly designed? - Well there are things i would have done different but that is the case about anything. It works and works very well. It brews incredibly fast (a full pot in 5 minutes or under) and it brews blistering hot (the first cup is too hot for me often). Does it pour slowly? Well duh? of course it does, it is in an air tight thermos that is designed not to let cold air is to cool your coffee pot! Hello? What don't people get about that? Ironically, the same people who complain about temperature are the same people who say it pours to slowly. Sigh. Hey i don't care how big your mug is we are still talking seconds or pouring time not minutes, you won't die waiting, and your coffee will not be burnt or cold! Real issues: It is true the fist 5 to 6 pots of coffee have a weird taste. There are a couple reasons for that and ways to fix it. One the pot needs to be washed after manufacturing. I advise you to save yourself the stress and go ahead and run 5-7 cycles of plain water though it before you brew coffee to make sure there is no strange first brew taste. And other reason the taste and even coffee strength can be off is it filters your water. And the filter indeed leaves a slight taste, and slows down the brew (thus the strength). If your not use to filtered water you will taste it more. I recommend you presoak your filter, to get the filter taste out (yes that will slightly decrease the strength of the filter but give you a better coffee). Or if you already use filtered water (as i do) or just don't care if it is filtered, just pull the filter out, you will get a better cup of coffee. While i i have experimented i am still using mine with the presoak. it is more of a personal issue. Also to prevent leaking wash with water and a mild dish soap and don't be overly rough with filling tank. Lastly, i have done the research this is the best and only real choice for a thermal home coffee machine without getting into huge dollars. There are others, but they perform worse. This is a good coffee machine, you just have to understand it is not an old burner system (which for some of us is a good thing). It is cutting edge in this price range, but you need to sync with it and seek to learn what gets you the best coffee from it. Buy. Enjoy. Have fun.