Braun AromaDeluxe KF 580 10-Cups Coffee Maker

Note: This review was originally submitted on 02/04/2003. Oddly, it was moved to an incorrect category. This re-submission is merely for the purpose of displaying it in the appropriate category.

A man on a mission! That's the way I approach buying stuff, and the quest for a new coffee maker was no different. When the 6-year-old Krups went belly up, necessitating a 5:30 a.m. dash to the corner food mart for a caffeine fix, I wasted no time researching brands / models. Had to be one of three - Krups, Cuisinart or Braun - the mediocre lineup at WalMart just doesn't do it for me anymore. Plus, I tend to shun stores whose customers exhibit recent Neanderthal ancestry.

Make no mistake, the bistro styling of the Krups machines makes them the best looking coffee makers on the market IMO. But I found their construction of low quality, their materials flimsy, and their prices indefensibly high. The Cuisinarts were better on all three counts, but most models had odd features and quirks that left me cold. Example: their model DGB-600 closely resembles R2D2, and its operational design is frustratingly complex and sloppily executed. Braun clearly surpassed Cuisinart in all respects. My experience with an earlier Braun coffeemaker, and Braun's consistently higher user ratings, eliminated Krups and Cuisinart early on.

I settled on the newest of the Braun offerings, the KF580. Though its lines are softer and less symmetrical than Krups, it nicely compliments the roundness of its countertop companion, our Kitchenaid mixer. It isn't as tall or wide as many other 10-cup units, but it is deeper front-to-back. When planted in a corner, though, the elongated footprint isn't at all intrusive.

Ours is black, to match our other kitchen equipment, with a pewter or graphite gray basket enclosure, carafe handle, and timer display trim. Somewhat odd are the aquamarine blue water-level indicator and filter-change reminder dial. They are reminiscent of the pretentious and shoddy Michael Graves stuff at Target, but not overly objectionable.

Filter? Yes, it comes with its own Brita charcoal water filter, good for about 70 brews. We already have softened water that is also filtered in our kitchen. But when it comes to making good coffee and reducing calcification, redundancy can't hurt. Replacement filters are readily available (unlike Krups filters), and 2-packs can be found for about $10. Although the filter is located in the bottom of the tank, changing it is simple. Just reach in and pull it out by the attached plastic ring, then insert a new one. The coffee maker can be operated without the filter, but Braun cautions to use the supplied "space compensator" in its place. It's essentially a plug to fill the void where the filter goes.

The tall, tapered carafe has the ONLY open style handle I found available. It is incredibly easy to grasp, and, with its soft-touch coating, just as easy to hold onto. Even better, the carafe doesn't drip! After 40 years of dribbles, coffee carafe designers finally got it right! So simple, yet so ingenious, are the fill-level markings on BOTH sides of the carafe. All of a sudden, you don't have to be right-handed to put the proper amount of water into the thing. Also, the unit's water compartment opening is large enough to enable even the most ham-fisted to fill it without pouring water all over the counter.

The swing-out filter basket has a cool top-mounted button release. Other manufacturers incorporate a similar feature, but it's only a release - the basket still must be manually opened for removal. Braun's basket is softly sprung, so it opens completely when the button is pressed. The whole thing comes out for cleaning, and no part that coffee touches remains inside. Both the basket and the carafe are dishwasher-safe. Good thing, 'cause the smaller opening on the carafe makes it difficult to wash by hand. Braun includes the obligatory gold filter in the package, but based on experience, I will likely continue to use the #4 cone style paper filters.

The unit has a lighted, programmable digital timer that controls the functions for auto-start (any time of day) and auto-off (up to 3 hrs 59 mins). That was a must-have feature. I want coffee as soon as my feet hit the floor, but I have grown to dislike clawing through the mental haze that time of day just to set the java wheels in motion. With the timer, that labor is history. The timer has a 15 second retained memory, so brief power glitches don't require re-programming. There's also a manual start / stop button that will override the automatic settings without canceling them.

The brew cycle is pretty speedy - Braun says 60 seconds per cup. In my unverified opinion, however, it seems to be about twice that fast. That perception could be biased, though, because despite numerous cleanings, the Krups couldn't do better than 10 cups in 15 minutes. Naturally, there is a pause feature that permits pouring a quick cup before the brew cycle is complete.

So, what about the coffee?? In my subjective judgment, it equals the smooth, bright flavor of my previous Braun - not nearly as muddy tasting as the recently trashed Krups. However, like the older Braun, it requires about 25% more of my fresh-ground beans than the Krups in order to satisfy my near-espresso preference. This coffee also comes out hotter than what the Krups produced, and I like it that way. The burner plate keeps it that hot, but at the expense of the coffee becoming bitter sooner than with the Krups. I'll just have to drink faster!

Braun's warranty is one year, certainly not as good as Cuisinart's three-year protection. But at $64 (after a 20% off store coupon), the KF580 is pretty much a throwaway if a problem does develop during the warranty period.