Caf Specialty Grind and Brew Coffee Maker Single-Serve to 10-Cup Thermal Carafe with Built-In Bean Grinder Removable 75oz

The media could not be loaded. 2 Months In: I finally experienced the leaking issue immediately after replacing the carbon filter. The closure was screwed in tight but not but turns out no quit tight enough. A little extra effort and the closure turned about a 1/8 of an inch. NO MORE LEAKING! Next filter change I plan to apply a thin layer of mineral oil (used for my cutting board) to the lower section of the threads of the closure and gasket. This will aid closure and improve the seal. 10 Days In: I wrote this not to dispute the reviews it runs counter to but for those that love the looks of this machine and appreciate its ability to brew the SCA Gold Cup. First I've had NO leaking from this machine whatsoever in the past 7 days since it arrived. I have, however, made a conscious choice NOT remove the water reservoir from the base for filing and instead just fill it with a pitcher. Even if I wanted to remove it it's too large to fit in the filtered water dispensers of most refrigerators. I've had no ground coffee ground mess from the machine in and around where it sits. Everything is contained in the brew basket. I've included a picture of the brew basket to show the only the only "mess" you will encounter which is normal and easily rinsed off when you replace the filter. I've also I closed a video representing how you must make sure the brew basket is firmly in place before brewing. It requires a small amount of effort. I use paper filters to ease cleanup and I could not be more pleased with the Gold Cup brew in the carafe and most surprisingly when using the single serve bean to cup feature. When brewing a single cup I do recommend you place something under short cups to minimize splash back on the machine. However if you use a travel tumbler you're all set for a clean brew. I'm very impressed with the speed of the brewing cycle and how easy the controls are to use. I've not tried the phone app but I'll update this review once I do. I recommend the machine and I recommend that you apply a very light layer of mineral oil on the "O-ring" gasket which by the way mine came with extra. I hope my review helps if you love how this machine looks but concerned about the leaking reported in other reviews. Read more

I could tell you about the positives of the machine (it's attractive, coffee brewed on the "gold" setting is delicious, et.). However there is a design flaw that leads to leaking, and this is a fatal flaw in that you're most likely not going to want to keep this coffee maker. Let me explain. As other reviewers have noted, the screw-on water filter housing is very finnicky. It's an acrylic piece that screws onto the bottom of the acrylic water reservoir. You can't just screw it on and call it good. It has to be screwed on PERFECTLY, or it will leak. The only way to tell if it's on right is to either fill it with water and leave it sit for a few hours to see if there's a leak, or to look very closely at the black rubber gasket through the clear acrylic. This gasket needs to be perfectly seated, and if the piece isn't screwed on right, you can often see it by looking at the gasket very carefully--you'll see one side of the gasket is popped out of the recess where it's supposed to sit. Even if it looks right, I'd still recommend filling the reservoir with water and leaving it to sit on a towel on the counter for a few hours to make sure it doesn't leak. The problem is that even once you get the reservoir put together perfectly to where it doesn't leak sitting on the counter, it WILL leak once you put it in the machine. The reason for this is very simple, and it's due to a glaring design flaw you can see for yourself with careful study. The housing for the water filter has a small spring-loaded piece in the bottom center with a rubber gasket. When you put the water reservoir into its holder on the machine, this piece rests on the water intake, which pushes the spring-loaded stopper up, so water can flow/trickle out of the reservoir and be pulled into the machine. The deign flaw is that where these two pieces connect--the bottom of the water reservoir filter and the top of the water intake--is just two pieces of hard plastic resting together. There is no seal or gasket here, so no matter what you do, it's going to leak, because there's no water-tight seal to prevent it. This is why, when you take the water reservoir out, there is often water pooled in the holder on the machine. It's also why, if you fill the reservoir with water the night before, to brew in the morning with a timer, or via the app, you'll get a low water warning and find a puddle of water on your counter around the coffee maker. The more you fill the reservoir, the more and faster it leaks (e.g. it will leak more with 10 cups of water than with 4). I suspect the reason why there are good reviews for this coffee maker is people don't realize it's leaking. The leak is very slow, so you may only notice it if you use the timer function, or fill the water reservoir ahead of time. If you fill the water right before you make the coffee, you may not see or notice the leak, though you may still notice standing water in the reservoir holder on the machine. So if you do buy this machine (which you really shouldn't), I highly recommend that you fill the water reservoir and leave it on the counter for a few hours to make sure you've got the filer housing screwed on right. Then, if there's no leaking, fill it and leave it on the machine overnight and see if you're greeted by a puddle on your counter in the morning. It's possible that some units do have some kind of seal there, and I and others with this problem got units that are lacking this seal for some reason. Or (more likely, I think) they all have this flaw and some people are just not noticing. The worst thing about this, I think, is you may have the unit for a while before you do a timed brew, and so you don't find out about the leaking until the return window is closed. Packing this all up and sending it back for a refund was a hassle. There is either a design flaw in all these machines, or their quality control is so bad that some of the machines are lacking a crucial seal. Either way, your money can be better spent on a better brand. I ended up getting a separate coffee maker and grinder, both by Breville, and the build quality on those is much higher with no problems and no leaking. Read more