Hamilton Beach FlexBrew Trio 2-Way Coffee Maker Compatible with K-Cup Pods or Grounds Combo Single Serve Full 12c

I have to say I am impressed. Ruptured single packs are usually the brand or if using your own grounds from over-filling or the fineness of grind. It doesn’t have the “instant” gratification as my Keurig (of which model is discontinued); however, if the needle gets clogged the thing can come out for an easy thorough clean following manufacture direction. I haven’t had to do this. But, I did check and it on my machine and will be no ordeal. The single serve. What I put in is what I got. I heard the lovely sound of percolation then coffee running in my cup. I used the enclosed brewing cup and my own ground brand. There was a fine misty steam which I think I saw a review of “smoke” either here or another site. Nope, normal steam escape. No grounds in my cup, just normal fine residue you sometimes see from fresh ground. The carafe!! I set auto brew for 9am. I used the recommended reusable copper basket. I prefer those to paper as you get better taste and better pick from environmental standpoint. I fixed a 10 cup pot. At 9pm, I did not have to reheat my coffee and the last cup was as good as the first. I drink a lot of coffee. It’s my plasma. I hope this pot stands up to daily use better than the Keurigs that I have owned; however, with a better functionality and 1/3 the cost if I have to replace it 2 years down the road like my K, it’s worth it. My K model brewed a 3-4 cup carafe and the coffee never stayed hot. 12 hours in this pot spoke volumes. Cold coffee gags me. I didn’t have to nuke to heat, actually warmed up half a cup by topping it off from carafe. If any untoward problem crops up such as leaks develop (which I did find water on my counter—I dribbled some when filling single serve side) will update review. If manufacture instructions, tips, and trouble shooting guide is followed there should be no issues. I do have manufacture advice as to the guide. While I had no problems setting up the digital settings such as time and auto brew, you may want to include those directions for those who might. While electronics are as much a daily part of life now as oxygen, there are still things such as warnings for common sense things only an idiot would do!😄 UPDATE: I finally did it! I had coffee grind all over and down the side of my cup just like in the pictures. Quick investigation revealed an even quicker answer. I used the supplied one cup brew basket and had overfilled it. So of course it brewed over. I cleaned up my mess then ran 4 Oz water without the basket to flush the water needle of and grounds, which it did. I brewed a second cup watching that I didn’t overfill. Want a stronger cup of coffee there is a bold setting. It was perfect. My Keurig kept ruptured pods, clogged & near impossible to clear needles, a constant mess on the counter and used half the counter. So far I’m not disillusioned with this machine. I slide it forward to put water in it. Slide it back and it’s out of the way. There is never coffee or water under it, the machine is easy to maintain. Brews a cleaner cup of coffee. Coffee in carafe stays hotter for a much longer period of time (a big plus for me) still very happy. Read more

Great coffee maker. It is so hard to find a 12 cup coffee maker with a stainless steel carafe, optional k-cup and with a timer. Well... I found it! Easy to use, love the color, leaves no mess and is the perfect size! Takes coffee Grounds and k-cups Read more

UPDATE 03/31/2024: Since the date of the review written below we have gone through 4 of these units. All have failed in the same fashion, with the discharge hose on the pod heating block becoming disconnected. Each failure has been within a week of receipt of the product. There is a serious design flaw and a potential fire hazard as it also causes the heating coil to short or stop working when the house disconnects and steam poured from behind the pod lid for over a minute. Similar reviews call out the same issues. Recommendation = Do Not Buy. We finally gave up on this product and purchased a Keurig brand with a thermal carafe (Which is the key feature we sought.) To Hamilton Beach, I say fire your engineer who thought smooth output tubes on the heating blocks would hold up to repeated pressure cycles with clamps that can be compressed by finger strength alone. ORIGINAL POST: We purchased this machine, model 49920, and received it January 28th of 2024, to replace our Hamilton beach coffee maker, model 49976, that we'd had since November of 2017. Upfront, I wish we'd have gotten the same model. Our original model was used daily for years with nary an issue, until the reservoir for the large pot developed a leak. Enter the 49920, this model's review. Today is February 5th, 2024 and in the short week of having it, it's already broken. Not more than 6 pods of use on the single cup side and its leaking water all over the counter. I suspect that a hose inside the machine has melted at the heating chamber/vessel inside and now all the machine does is pump water into the internal compartment. This is for the pod side of the machine only. Also the needle clogged the second time we used it. We only use store bought pods and not the use your own grounds reusable basket. I suspect that the heating chamber stays hot constantly on the pod side, and the constant heat is what caused the transfer hose to fail. As I need to return the machine for the exchange process, I won't be able to dissect this machine and inspect to confirm the failure point. For the carafe side on the machine, brewing is as expected without issues. If you have your machine tucked under an overhead cabinet, you will likely need to pull the machine out to fill the carafe side reservoir. This machine sticks out farther than our previous model, so I have to pull it out all the way to the front edge of my counter for the lid to clear my upper cabinet. There is no heating element for the carafe, as it relies on its thermal insulation design to keep the coffee hot. This does prevent the coffee from becoming burnt, which I really do appreciate. The pour spout for the carafe needs some better engineering though, as others have noted in their reviews, as it tends to be messy. Whether this is a function of the air relief in the lid or pour fluid dynamics of the spout itself, I can't say. Overall, I will hold my final judgements on this machine in reserve for the time being, but will rate it two stars in comparison to my dearly departed model 49976. I want to like this machine, and perhaps I got a dud, but I feel as though the quality standards are not up to par with what it's replacing. I will update this review after I get my replacement and put it through further use. Read more

Coffee maker works good. As many others have complained the single cup hatch has a problem staying open sometimes. It also clicks sometimes when not being used but not sure why. Read more