Description
This machine combines the three things that actually change how drip coffee tastes over a morning: a thermal carafe instead of a hot plate, a 24 hour timer so the pot is ready without anyone being awake, and a charcoal filter that treats the water before it is brewed. It also publishes a voltage figure of one volt, which is impossible, and that is worth clearing up early.
What it is and where it fits
A programmable drip maker listed at 7.97 inches deep by 8.13 inches wide by 14.25 inches high, weighing 8 pounds, in a black thermal finish with a 10 cup capacity. It is narrow for a carafe machine, which is unusual and useful, and the height needs checking against wall cabinets since the reservoir opens at the top.
This suits a household that drinks its coffee across a couple of hours rather than in one go, which is the entire argument for a thermal carafe. A household that empties the pot in twenty minutes gains nothing from insulation and could buy a glass carafe machine for far less.
Living with it day to day
The thermal carafe is the daily difference. There is no warming plate, so coffee stops being heated the moment brewing ends and the pot at nine in the morning tastes close to the pot at seven. Every glass carafe machine in this catalog fails at that, including capable ones such as the 14 cup Cuisinart, because a hot plate keeps cooking whatever is on it.
The trades are the ones every thermal carafe brings. Stainless cannot be seen through, so the level is a guess until the pot is lifted. An insulated body with a narrow neck is harder to clean thoroughly than a glass pot, and coffee left in it overnight is a genuinely unpleasant job. The carafe lid also has to be seated properly for the machine to brew into it, which is a small daily step that glass carafes do not require.
Brew Pause stops the flow while the carafe is lifted, so a cup can be poured mid brew. On a machine that takes several minutes for ten cups that is a feature people use every day.
The 24 hour programmability is the other one. Grounds and water go in the night before and the pot is finished before anyone reaches the kitchen. Noise is not published, and with no grinder and no pump beyond the boiler the machine is dominated by a brief heating sound.
Controls and connected features
A control panel with a clock, a program function and buttons. There is no app, no Wi Fi, no Bluetooth and no account anywhere on this listing, so nothing depends on a phone and no software change can alter the machine’s behavior. Every setting is held in the machine.
The cost of a clock is that it needs resetting after a power cut, which in an area with an unreliable supply means occasionally arriving at a kitchen where the timer did not fire. A switch operated machine such as the Mr. Coffee SK13-RB has nothing to forget, and that is the honest trade for programmability.
Running cost and upkeep
The voltage field on this listing reads 1 Volts AC. That is not a real specification for any mains appliance and it should be ignored entirely. This is a corded countertop machine for a standard North American outlet, and the rating plate on the base is the only reliable source. Wattage and amperage are not published either. There is no water line, no drain, no gas and no venting.
The consumables here are worth separating carefully, because the listing runs two different filters together. The charcoal filter is a water filter that sits in the reservoir path and reduces chlorine and impurities before brewing. It is a cartridge and it is replaced on a schedule, so it is a genuine recurring cost. The coffee filter is separate, and the filter type field says reusable, which means paper coffee filters are optional rather than required.
Descaling is the other recurring job, and a water filter slows scale without preventing it. No interval is published for either. The thermal carafe seal is the wear part most likely to need attention over the years, and a carafe that stops sealing stops insulating, which removes the reason the machine was bought. Confirming replacement carafe availability is worth doing on any thermal machine.
The listing gives a first availability date of June 3, 2021, and the UPC field carries two different numbers.
Highlights
- Thermal carafe with no warming plate, so coffee is held rather than cooked.
- 24 hour programmable start, so the pot is ready before anyone is awake.
- Charcoal water filter included, which treats the water before brewing rather than after.
- Brew Pause for pouring a cup mid brew.
- Narrow at just over eight inches wide for a machine with a full carafe.
- No app, no account and nothing that can lose software support.
Things To Consider
- The voltage field reads 1 volt, which is impossible. Read the rating plate.
- The charcoal water filter is a recurring cartridge cost, separate from the coffee filter.
- An opaque thermal carafe hides the level and is harder to clean than glass.
- The carafe lid has to be seated correctly for the machine to brew into it.
- A clock needs resetting after a power cut.
- Carafe seals wear, and a carafe that stops sealing stops insulating.
Who it is not for
Anyone who empties the pot within half an hour is paying for insulation they do not need. Anyone brewing for a large group will find ten cups tight and should look at a 14 cup machine. Anyone who wants pods, iced modes or milk drinks should look at the multi format machines in the coffee machines category or the single serve brewers range. And anyone who wants a thermal carafe with brew temperature and flow rate control should compare this against the Breville Precision Brewer or the Moccamaster KBT, both of which cost more and control more.
