If you are as fanatical about your coffee as I am, you probably already know that the best way to get the true flavour of the coffee is to use a French press, have the water at the right temperature, have the right quantity of coarsely ground coffee per cup and to steep the coffee for exactly four minutes. This is great when you have a leisurely weekend or day off, where you can enjoy every, delicious drop. However, when you have to get up for work at five in the morning and rush about making school lunches and breakfasts, the whole steeping for four minutes becomes quite cumbersome.
I have been researching drip coffee machines with programming for at least a couple of years. I was having great difficulty firstly, with finding a suitable coffee machine and secondly, a proper review of a product from someone who knew what they were talking about. I must have looked at literally hundreds of machines. You see, the problem with drip coffee machines is that they rarely heat the water to the proper temperature for coffee extraction which is 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything below 200 degrees will not effectively extract the coffee flavour and also, by the time the coffee hits the pot, it has dropped a few more degrees; making the coffee warm, not hot. Who wants to put their mug of coffee in the microwave to heat up? Talk about destroying valuable coffee. I looked at hundreds of specs on these machines and tried to read competent reviews.
Now, here is the reason for this review, when I wanted to know someone’s opinion, the only people I got were those who were using crappy coffee like Dunkin Donuts, Folgers or any other supermarket brand. I am sorry, but that’s not coffee (and I probably offended a million bad coffee drinkers.) So basically, I couldn’t take these people’s word; they didn’t even drink proper coffee! So, I am writing this review for this coffee maker to help other coffee enthusiasts. I hope it will help someone out there looking for a valid review from someone who drinks proper coffee.
I ended up purchasing this Capresso CoffeeTEAM GS. In my research I mainly just concentrated on companies that make superior, specialty coffeemakers like Capresso Jura, Saeco, Krups, Technovorm and Keurig. I was also looking for a machine with a built in Burr grinder. I already own a grinder but my husband has huge issues with it! Main issue being that he makes a great big mess! I wanted to eliminate this hassle for him. After reading a couple of reviews of the Capresso, I decided to order it, fully intending to return it because I was quite sure it would not do my coffee beans justice.
I have been pleasantly surprised! It makes great coffee and my coffee is hot. Now, the model I ordered is the glass carafe model. They also have a thermal carafe version. I can hear the coffee snobs now, “Glass carafe? Every good coffee drinker knows that thermal is better.”
Here is my reason for ordering the glass version: one of the main reasons we even wanted a machine was for the programmability. Unfortunately, when you have a thermal carafe, the coffee automatically brews into a cold carafe. By the time you are ready to enjoy your cup, it’s lukewarm. Thermal carafes are only effective if they are warmed first using some hot water. My husband and I don’t make a huge vat of coffee and let it sit on the burner. We like to make small batches and drink them right away and so, with that thinking, I ordered the glass carafe version and it has worked out brilliantly for us.
Here are some specifics:
Price : List: $200-250
Built in conical Burr grinder, auto program, glass carafe, ten cup capacity, heats the water to required 200 deg F, stylish machine.
For more in depth specifics, check out Capresso’s website here.
Pros:
I love the built in grinder. It’s very convenient to have the coffee grind automatically and drop into the filter to brew.
The machine comes with a gold tone filter which is a better filter choice than the paper ones.
You have the ability to adjust the strength of your coffee and also the grind (fine or coarse, which will depend on what beans you choose)
The machine automatically grinds the correct amount of coffee for the desired cups you have entered.
The coffee is hot when it pours into the carafe.
The coffee doesn’t “cook” on the hot plate like some machines.
Sometimes, our coffee has sat on the plate for an hour before we got to drink it and it always tastes fresh and not “cooked.”
Love the program feature. Very easy to use and program.
The water tank is easy to fill also.
The filter station just pops open at the press of a button and you can empty out the spent grounds with ease.
The machine has the ability to by pass the grinder function and brew pre-ground coffee if need be. This is great if you have a full grinder and don’t want to empty it to make a different flavour coffee or perhaps a pot of decaf.
Cons;
Very few cons.
The grinder seems a bit loud and goes on forever! But if you think about how conical Burr grinders work, you will realise that to preserve the quality of your expensive coffee beans, the grinder must grind slowly and without heating up.
I can live with a loud grinder.
The grinder is a bit small in capacity. I have to fill mine every other day.
It’s not really a big deal but can be for some.
The carafe or the tank, is small too. We make two huge cups in the morning and that takes us to six cups. It is a ten cup capacity. Once again, it’s not a major flaw, but if we have guests we do have to run two pots usually.
Unfortunately, the glass carafe can break if dropped (especially into a porcelain sink!). Of course, you can order replacement carafes quite easily.
I hope this has been useful to somebody out there! I have to say honestly, that if you are not a coffee fanatic, then this is an expensive investment. If you are interested in learning more about good coffee than this machine can be a good start or start with an inexpensive French press and a grinder. However, the Capresso is a great machine to have as a starter into good coffee because it does all the work for you.
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| Front Panel |
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| Filter Panel |
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| Bean Hopper |
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