Mr. Coffee carafe engineered by fools
Written: Nov 21 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Thermal Carafe, drip stop, exterior water fill level view
Cons: lousy carafe that doesn't pour properly; bad tasting coffee
The Bottom Line: Worse designed carafe ever that spills; brews horrible coffee; avoid it and buy something with a cone filter and easy-pour thermal carafe
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| efud's Full Review: Mr. Coffee TC80 8-Cup Coffee Maker |
I bought this coffee maker for my office. I wanted a thermal carafe (a must) that had the drip-stop feature (so you can interupt brewing to grab a cup), but I didn't want to spend much money on it. I have a Capresso at home that makes fabulous coffee (brews super hot into a cone shaped filter), has a thermal carafe, has drip stop, and, has even has a brita like filter in the water reservoir (which again makes for great coffee), but it cost a lot more than I was willing to spend. This Mr. Coffee was on sale for $35, and had the 2 features I had to have (thermal drip-stop). I bought it at Walmart, and, they also had a Philps one that had these 2 features PLUS a water filter cartridge built into the coffee maker, but, its capacity was definitely smaller than the Mr. Coffee, so I bought Mr. Coffee.
I regret it.
My biggest pet peeve is the carafe. It is very squat, and yet has a narrow neck, so, it is almost impossible to pour out the last cup. It spills all over. Even if you unscrew the top and take the lid off completely, it still can't pour out the coffee it contains inside unless you turn the carafe upside-down, and, then it pours out all over.
Worse still is the coffee it produces. It is just bad. The flat bottom filter sucks. I have never owned one, I have always flown Melitta, so I didn't know any different when I went to go buy this. What a difference that makes. Cones makes good coffee. The flat basket just can't no matter what. I have tried to compensate by grinding my beans (in a conical grinder) courser and putting more grinds in, but no matter, it just makes lousy coffee. Stay away!! I know I will NEVER ever buy anything but a cone filter coffee maker again. What can I say - I didn't know - how could I, I never owned a flat-foot before. Live and learn.
Another pet peeve: so, I go to the office water cooler with the carafe to get water, then I come back to the coffee maker to pour the water into the back of the coffee maker, it is a narrow opening at some points, and, water inevitably spills, especially as I am wielding an unruly carafe that just doesn't pour well as per my paragraph above. And yet, I must get out all the water, as I don't want it sitting in the carafe when the coffee starts to brew into it. What a pain.
With my Capresso, the lid screws in nicely and it has no whole in the middle of it. With Mr. coffee, it has a whole that (a) can leak when being tipped upside down to get out the coffee from the stupid carafe, and, (b) lets heat escape and so detracts from the thermal carafe's purpose in the first place.
On the plus side I have owned it now for 2 years and it has yet to break. (Which is actually unfortunate as I would like an excuse to go and get myself a better coffee maker so that I could enjoy a good cup of joe at the office).
For the curious, here are it's features as per its box:
Pause 'n Serve feature (aka drip-stop)
Auto shutoff (it is thermal model so it has no hot-plate)
24-hour programmable clock
Thermal carafe with double-wall insulation
Brews eight 5-ounce cups of coffee (a bit small - but thermal carafes tend to be smaller)
Wide-mouth water reservoir (I don't think so)
Exterior water-level gauge with large markings (true)
Swing-out, removable filter basket
"On" indicator light (green is programmed on; red if turned on)
Convenient cord storage.
Color: Black.
1-yr. limited manufacturer's warranty.
14Hx9Wx8D"
Don't buy this or any Mr. Coffee makers. There are better choices.
(I bought this coffee maker with the programmable feature - they make the same model with or without this feature)
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
efud
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Reviews written: 22
Trusted by: 7 members
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