After my last Mr. Coffee coffeemaker died, I figured it was time to look elsewhere. After reading a number of reviews across a number of websites (not just Amazon), I settled on the Capresso 5 cup Mini Drip Coffee Maker, and I'm glad to say I'm please with my purchase (of about a month ago). This coffee maker does exactly what it says it does. It brews a hot cup of coffee quickly and efficiently, with little effort on the part of the user. Open the lip, place the ground up coffee beans in the basket, add the appropriate amount of water, close the lid, and press start. Within a few minutes you're rewarded with a nice cup of hot coffee. Pretty darned simple. Can I say I can taste a difference from my old Mr. Coffee? Nope. Now, change the coffee that goes into the basket and I might just tell a difference. A few reviewers noted a "plastic smell"; after removing the coffee maker from its box, I ran 2 full pots of water thru the machine first to negate any unwanted manufacturing particles or smells, not that I noticed any. This was not an issue for me. Is the coffee hot? Yes, and oh so ready to be consumed. I can't tell you the temperature as there are other things I'd rather do first thing with my coffee rather than drop a thermometer into my freshly brewed coffee. The coffee is delivered nice and hot, but not hot enough to scold you should you be a klutz and spill it into our lap. Is it noisy? No more so than any other coffee maker I've used. One person complained that the clock is on top of the base, thus hard to see, and is unlit. Well, yes, that's true, but it's all a part of the timer, should you care to use that feature. Chances are there is another clock within reach of the coffeemaker (maybe the stove, the microwave, an alarm clock, a wrist watch, or a wall clock) - for me (and maybe not you), this is a non-issue. This is a basic drip coffee pot. It performs its sole task very well and the unit costs relatively little. I'm very happy with this coffeemaker and I trust you will be too, should you care to push that ADD TO CART button above. Go ahead, do it. Read more
The Capresso 5 cup minidrip (model 426) is the perfect size for me and works flawlessly so far (it arrived two days ago, 7 Dec 2018). The molded text on the bottom of the maker says "model 426" and has the number 4245 as well (without a label). A detail where the physical device and its manual disagree is: the manual says that the removable filter holder snaps into the maker. It doesn't. Instead, it has loop handles on top and closing the lid forces the basket down. That presses the spring-mounted plunger (which is mounted through the bottom of the filter holder) against the top of the carafe. When the spring is collapsed by the carafe, the plunger is raised so water can flow out the bottom of the filter holder. (The plunger seals the hole at the bottom of the filter holder when the carafe is absent.) The manual calls that plunger the "drip stop". You can interrupt brewing by pressing the on/off button twice, then restart it by pressing the button once. Independently of that, you can remove the carafe during brewing for a few seconds to pour a cup of coffee. (The manual says you get 30 seconds. I’m guessing that’s based on the water flow rate and the risk of overflowing the filter.) The spring-mounted plunger seals the filter holder once the carafe isn’t there to push it up. The carafe has to be tilted slightly to get under the spring easily when putting the carafe back on the hot plate. The gold mesh filter that comes with it has a solid plastic bottom and some water pools there without draining into the carafe. Most water goes out the sides of the filter as designed, but even without coffee grounds in the basket, water pools on the flat bottom of the filter basket. A filter that has gold mesh on the bottom would be a better design, I think, to ensure as much water as possible gets through the grounds into the carafe. I’ll be switching to paper filters to get more water through (tho’ the paper will absorb some), and for increased ease of handling, especially since the gold filter seems a little fragile. The manual says to use medium coarse ground coffee in the gold mesh filter. It seems to be ok with Folgers 100% Colombian with only a tiny bit of sediment allowed through. A smaller mesh hole size would allow finer grounds to be used. But maybe that would impede the flow-through rate, so maybe the filter would overflow, given the machine’s water flow rate? The manual says to not exceed 8 tablespoons of coffee grounds in the filter. The level in the water reservoir is indicated by a white stair-step piece of plastic. The overflow hole is slightly above the height of the "5" step. To fill the reservoir to its maximum you have to add a little more water while watching the overflow hole. I'd prefer the overflow hole be on one of the sides, rather than the back of the unit. This really only affects you if you use a separate pitcher to fill the reservoir. The carafe has water levels marked, so you can fill the carafe and pour the measured water into the reservoir. So I’ll probably learn to fill it with the carafe. My instant read thermometer says the water is 175 degrees F immediately after brewing. After an hour on the hot plate, it’s 172 degrees. The lid latch is stiff, so it can be hard to open; it lifts the entire unit! However, it’s plastic and slightly flexible. I’ve found that twisting the small handle slightly serves to disengage the latch more easily than just trying to lift the top straight up. Opening it that way is even easier after brewing since the plastic has been warmed by the steam (so is more flexible). By twisting, I mean as tho’ turning a knob on a horizontal axis. The carafe is marked with input (water) amounts and output (coffee) amounts for 2 through 5 “cups”, with the difference between input and output reflecting mostly (I assume) the water retained by the grounds. The carafe holds 27 ounces when filled to the input level for 5 cups, and about 1 ounce less for output. So it’s close to the industry’s standard, which is 5 ounce cups. Read more
Have had this little coffee pot for almost a year and really like it. I purchased because no filters were needed, perfect size for one person, auto shutoff, and timer to have coffee ready in the morning….much better than the black and decker I had that was this size. However, after 9 months I could no longer adjust the timer. I can still use it, but it’s forever set to brew 6:30am. If not for that I would give 5 stars. I use it daily. Read more
I found the best coffee maker for one person. Brews quickly, drip method, with very hot water. Holds 5 cups of water. Highly recommend. No more k cups. Love every delicious drip. Although good coffee starts with quality beans also Read more
