An exceptional product

I am not a coffee snob but I am pretty picky when it comes to a good cup of joe, it has to come across at the right strength not bitter and with a good aroma. I have suffered through the years with mediocre coffee brewed through the likes of many a Mr. Coffee, GE, Norelco and Proctor Silex drip machines always seeking that coffee nirvana only to be disappointed. I've tried different roasts and brands of coffee both whole bean and pre ground, and while the whole bean ground fresh each morning was better still no cigar. In July of 2008 my coffee machine started to leak so off I was to buy a new coffeemaker again looking for the answer to good coffee. After making the rounds to the discount department stores (Walmart Target etc.) I found myself in a Big Lots store looking at a refurbished Cuisinart DGB-300 grind and brew coffeemaker. This is a automatic coffeemaker with a built in grinder for whole beans and the package promised an excellent fresh cup of coffee (ha), so I bit and being on somewhat of a budget I bought one. After arriving back at home and unpacking my new coffeemaker and reading the instructions I found the coffeemaker to have these features;

built in whole bean grinder
grinder on/off switch
digital clock
adjustable heat and timer for carafe warming plate
programmable timer for delayed brewing
brewing complete alarm
warming plate off alarm
cleaning monitor
self cleaning program
1-4 cup brewing program
brew strength selector
a drip less carafe

So now I needed to find out how good is this machine, will it live up to its claim of excellent coffee. I plugged it in and began to do the set up, most of the settings I left at the factory default but I did set the clock just to get started. I lifted the lid on the top of the machine to expose the inner parts which there are 4, the cover for the grinding chamber the brew selector the permanent gold tone filter and the grinding chamber/filter holder, also this is were you access the water reservoir.

 After washing and drying the internal parts and after reassembly I put in 8 level coffee scoops of whole bean coffee into the grinding chamber and replaced the cover. On the brew selector cover you will notice a few things, on the top is a red knob that correlates to cups of coffee, I set mine to 8, for a stronger cup of coffee you would set it to a lower number like 6, for a milder cup 10. This actually controls the amount of water which is in contact with the coffee grounds 6 more water 10 less water. On the underside you will notice a shower head and a ground coffee shoot, this is were the coffee enters the filter basket. One note the filter basket handle needs to be pointed away from the coffee shoot. I then added the water into the water reservoir to make 8 cups of coffee. Another note is that the markings on the carafe do not correlate to the water markings on the resivoir, meaning that if you use the markings on the carafe for 8 cups it will read just below 8 cups on the reservoir and after brewing will yield less than 8 cups, but if you fill the reservoir to the 8 cup line after brewing the carafe will be filled to the 8 cup line. After filling I closed the lid and latched it into place, this latching system is possibly the only weak spot of this coffeemaker design it looks some what weak and may be prone to breakage but we will see. I pressed the on button and the grinder came to life and while it does make noise it is no louder than a stand alone grinder.

The grinder grinds the beans and through aerodynamics pushes the grounds through a perforated like screen that is supposed to be preset to a medium grind. After about 20 seconds the grinder stops and the brewing phase starts with the normal sounds that a drip coffeemaker makes. In about 8 minutes I was hearing an audible beep letting me know that brewing was complete.

 Now for the real test, I poured myself a cup of coffee and I was quite surprised a really good cup of coffee on the first try! The recipe I used was right out of the instruction manual 1 coffee scoop whole bean coffee per cup (5oz) of filtered water. I have since tweaked the amount of coffee beans to suit my own taste 1 1/8 ounce whole bean or pre ground coffee, but I can honestly say that I have finally found that coffee nirvana.

Now to the clean up. This machine does require a bit more cleanup time than your normal drip coffeemaker especially if you want to make back to back pots of coffee. All of the internal parts (4) as mentioned earlier must be removed and cleaned of all the sludge that is part of the grinding process. This takes about 3-4 minutes to clean and dry but is by far overshadowed by the rewards.

As far as I can tell this coffeemaker has been on the market since 1999 and to find a product that is still in manufacture 10 years later is a testament to its quality and design. As of 1/31/2009 this coffeemaker is available new at Sears ( $109.), Lowes ($76.) and Cuisinart web store ($80.) with an excellent 3 year warranty and also available refurbished at Big Lots ($40.) with a 90 day warranty. I have used this coffeemaker daily for the past 8 months making 2-3 pots of coffee per day and so far it has exceeded my expectations. Only time will tell how durable this machine is. I would highly recommend it to any one.