Breville Coffee Maker The Precision Brewer Thermal

For some reason this suddenly went down to $199 (perhaps briefly), so I grabbed it. Now that I’ve tried it, I’m with other reviewers who’ve said “Adios forever, K-cups, and good riddance.” It makes deliciously tasty coffee right outta the gate. The controls are pleasantly intuitive; I gave it a shot right out of the box without reading the manual’s control operations, just to see how easy it is to set, and it was a total breeze. It makes the hottest coffee of any machine I’ve ever had, by far. If I’m making a full pot I usually use the 208 temp to keep it steaming hot for hours; smaller pots, I go with 205 or less. Not that there’s a lot of difference. But the highest temp does make it so hot that I have to wait a few minutes before sipping. I use the customizable “My Brew” setting most often, on ‘slow brew’, because it seems to me that the faster flow rates are too fast for best extraction. I use a bloom time of 30-60 secs, depending on the coffee; it does make a stronger brew. Sometimes I skip it or just use the Gold setting, which has a shorter bloom time. “Strong” is also a setting I use frequently; it includes bloom time. Don’t forget to go into “settings” and change the filter setting to “cone” or “basket” depending on which you’re using; the unit brews slightly differently for each. In case you’re wondering, yes, I’ve made a few bad pots with this. Too much or too little coffee, or ground too coarse or fine. Or sometimes it’s just bad coffee period; cheap stuff from the supermarket that even this great machine can’t make tasty. Lot of experimentation involved with a highly customizable unit like this, and I’ve failed sometimes, but most of the time, I start my day with steaming hot, delicious coffee thanks to it.Only a few relatively minor quibbles: 1) $300 is too much. I refused to pay that; that’s significantly overpriced, but it is definitely worth $200 – $225. 2) They should’ve included the pour-over attachment. VERY cheesy move to charge $35 for that separately. As if to rub salt in the wound, there’s a coupon in the box for a free one, which expired long ago. The web page where you go to claim it isn’t even alive anymore. 3) Adding a cone filter attachment without providing a permanent filter (or even paper) for it was also a slap in the face. For this price you’d expect to get everything you need to instantly take advantage of all the brewing variations it offers, but they leave you hanging with a couple things to open up your wallet for AGAIN.Though I docked a star for those annoyances, none of them ruin the purchase for me. I love the thing. The loudness of it is exaggerated in reviews. It’s not that loud, though could cause a problem if you put the coffee maker on your bed pillow and brew a pot at 4 am next to the ear of your sleeping mate. And a small bit of water remaining in the tank after a brew: who cares? It’s a non-issue. If you’re using the thing all or most days of the week, that little bit of water isn’t gonna go stagnant or become tainted in some way with the lid on. I’ve read reviews on here where people actually returned it for that reason alone, which is utterly ludicrous. “If you travel a lot, or don’t use the machine regularly, it could be a problem.” Oh, shaddap & siddown. 1) If you travel a lot, then simply empty it out before you go. Takes 2 seconds. Then your OCD will be satisfied and you can have a pleasant trip without worrying about a few ounces of water in your coffee maker. 2) If you’re buying a machine this expensive but not using it, then a little bit of water left over in the tank may not be your biggest problem in life. My gosh, find something else to worry about that has some significance.As for the thermal carafe, it’s excellent: 3-4 hours of good flavor & heat. Coffee is gonna lose a lot of its flavor in that time anyway. (It’s better than leaving a glass carafe on a warming plate for that length of time and ending up with burned coffee on the bottom that you have to scour out.) Time is always your enemy when it comes to coffee flavor. But being a little lazy and a slow sipper rather than a gulper, I’ll sometimes let it sit in the carafe all day, literally. After 4-5 hours it is no longer steaming, but still reasonably tasty, because that lid is TIGHT. Best thing about the carafe: not one drop spills while pouring. That alone is worth money to me after all the leaky carafes I’ve endured in my lifetime!It’s a solidly made machine, extremely versatile, intuitively easy to program & use, and bottom line, makes sophisticatedly tasty coffee.UPDATE: I bought a #4 Medelco permanent gold filter for the cone attachment, and it’s a perfect fit. I prefer to brew 8.5 cups or under with the cone filter, but I do have to say, the mesh basket filter that comes with this machine is the best I’ve seen; sturdy & well-made. I only use that for 9-12 cups. All grounds so far using either filter have been thoroughly soaked, no dry spots (no matter what the OCD reviewers say, who apparently use a magnifying glass to scrutinize the grounds for that one granule that didn’t get wet. Nothing is perfect.) The shower head on this unit has adequate dispersal (could be a wider spray though, I concede) and I really like that you can easily remove it for cleaning. I don’t use paper filters because they weaken the coffee somewhat and “round off the edges” as I put it, meaning it results in blander & less distinctive coffee. Permanent filters give you full flavor & strength, no question. (Granted, I drink my coffee soulfully black & like it very strong.) Yes, there will always be a bit of sludge in the bottom of your cup, but there is a very simple solution for that: don’t drink the last gulp.