Great machine
I heard about this coffee maker from a Japanese coworker and decided to give it a try. I'm totally happy with the purchase despite the import premium. I looked around and couldn't find anything else like it. I didn't do the most extensive research, but I looked for a few days and couldn't find another similar one that looked as nice to me and had the same features. I broke down and decided to order this one and I haven't regretted it. I do have a lot of comments and advice about it. I find the maintenance to be a bit higher than my previous drip coffee maker, but it balances out when I consider the manual grinding step I was doing. I never felt it necessary to wipe down my other coffee maker like this one. I think this might be why it's not available in America, because it seems like drying the inside dome part would maybe be too much to maintain for most people, but it's not a big deal and for some reason I really like it. The other potential issue I saw another review point out and the manual clearly states in Japanese: there is a loud sudden noise when the grinding starts, so now I immediately turn my head away after hitting the button now, similarly to how I would act with my regular grinder. Once I figured out how to get the water to coffee amounts right I found it to be a really nice, clean coffee experience. I removed the carbon activated filter since I'm using bottled water. The only thing I wish it had was a programmable timer. The overall experience is so much nicer than any other coffee maker I've had or used. The Japanese on the buttons is really not hard to get used to, and I only know a few words and phrases in the language. It's just Rich | Mild | Decaf Beans, and Beans | Ground, or powder as they call it. When you've poured the whole pot you can push the big button to turn off the 'keep warm' heating element if it hasn't been 2 hours already. I haven't had a bad cup of coffee from it yet, although some came out way stronger than I expected, and it feels like I've never experienced the full flavor of the beans I've been using until I got this coffee maker. I think the boiling and steam part must make it a stronger extraction or something. I seriously feel like I discovered something truly unique here. Read more
