OXO Brew 9 Cup Stainless Steel Coffee Maker,Silver, Black

I have owned two Capresso machines for a total of six years and I have owned two Bonavita machines for another six years. I find this machine to be better than either. At their best I would say that all three coffee makers are capable of making very good coffee, and I would be hard pressed to support the claim that the coffee made in this machine is consistently better than the best coffee from either of the previous brands. That said, it is very good. At Starbucks or at good restaurants I rarely find coffee that I enjoy so much. I don't seek out coffee esoterica and I don't consider myself a coffee snob; but I do buy good beans and I grind them for each use. If the coffee made in this machine is not measureably better, why would one spring for the extra money for the OXO machine instead of the Bonavita or the Capresso? Before we answer that question, we must explain why the thermal caraffe. The answer is that burners that keep uninsulated caraffes warm invariably burn coffee and they do not keep out air. The combination of oxygen and excess heat too quickly turn the tasty brew from beverage to burnt battery acid. Keep excess heat and air from fresh-brewed coffee and it can taste good for hours. Need it to be warmer? Pop your mug of coffee in the microwave for half a minute or so. A good thermal caraffe can keep coffee tasting fresh-brewed for four hours or more. And the caraffe on the OXO is that good. WHAT MAKES OXO BETTER? -- 1) The caraffe on this machine works better. It keeps coffee tasting fresh from the time it is made at 5:00 AM until lunchtime, around noon. None of the previous machines did this - although all were ten or fifty times better than open pots, there was always a bit of oxidation bitterness, even if the lid was kept on the thermal caraffe. A constant irritation with the Bonavita was that the pour spout was so poorly designed that (it seemed like) fully 10 percent of the coffee ran down the side of the caraffe onto the counter. Of course, pouring slowly could sometimes help a bit, but I never could do this. The people who will benefit most from this difference are absentminded guys whose wives hate cleaning up their reckless coffee spills. In such a case, this difference alone could help save a marriage. 2) The OXO machine's fit and finish are better. I cannot tell why, but this machine just looks better sitting on my black granite countertops. Perhaps it is the shiny black plastic. Or the sculptural curves. In any case, it has the presence of a work of art, FWIW. This machine is, however, taller by about two inches. It has a greater kitchen presence. This extra size may sometimes be a tiny drawback - especially in a tiny galley kitchen. 3) The brew-stop feature really works. Remove the caraffe and two things happen: 1) a spring loaded plunger closes to stop coffee flow. 2) the machine senses the absence of the pot and pauses the brewing cycle. With the Bonavita, I always scalded my hand if I wanted coffee before the cycle finished; both features are missing from it. 4) Number 4 coffee filters actually fit. With the Bonavita, one must fold the paper filters over at the bottom and side joints, then hope that sliding the pot into position does not nudge the top of the filter closed - the consequence of which is a plugged machine with scalding hot water and coffee grounds flowing across the kitchen counter and floor. This little accident has happened probably two dozen times in the six years I've operated Bonavita machines. Diligence and determination reduced the frequency of occurrance, but it was always a hazard. With the OXO, the bin that holds the filter is deep enough that this kind of problem is much less likely. No folding, no sliding, no scalding coffee floes. 5) The clear water reservoir helps one see how far the brewing cycle has gotten. The Bonavita and the Capresso coffee makers had smoke tinted plastic reservoirs which allowed one to observe the water level from nearby; but not from acrosss the room. With the OXO I can observe the progress from across the kitchen. 6) Of course, once the novelty of it wears off I'm sure that this won't count for much, but I happen to think it's mildly amusing watch the water bubble up through the central heating tube. So does my wife. Who buys a coffee maker as a source of entertainment? I admit it's not much, but we take our amusement where we can find it. 7) "The caraffe is not in place." Fortunately, this coffee maker does not scold you for being neglectful as some cars did in the 1980's with spoken phrases like "your door is a jar;" but it does turn on a red light when it senses that the pot is not in place. Absentminded people might find this of some help when they have started the machine by pushing the start button, but nothing has started happening ... because the caraffe is in another room! 8) The microprocessor counts how many times you have brewed coffee since descaling. When it gets to 90 it tells you to descale the machine. Since I have lost 4 machines to scale, I like the idea that this might extend the life of this machine to the point that it actually has a lower cost of ownership than my previous machines. I know that it is saving me on electricity already because in my old Bonavita it now takes two cups of water to make one cup of coffee -- it's evaporating half of the water. That's very energy intensive. It did not do this when it was new. Sadly, my experience with Bonavita machines is that once I notice that they need descaling, it is too late. So a friendly reminder might help me extend the life of my machine and keep brewing costs down. My impression of OXO kitchen tools has always been that they are very carefully and thoughtfully designed. And that they are well executed. This coffee machine extends those brand values to coffee makers. At the point it completes the cycle, the coffee made by this machine is certainly as good as, if not perceptibly better than that of the Bonavita or Capresso; but the coffee keeps better in the caraffe, it pours into the cup better, and it is much less susceptible to filter handling errors that result in rivers of hot coffee running across the counters, down the cabinets, and onto the floor. It looks better, and I have reason to hope it will ultimately have a lower cost of ownership thanks to its descaling reminders. I've had it for a week and I am very pleased with it.

We reviewed all of the custom coffee alternatives like Moccamaster, Breville Luxe, and Fellow Aiden, but given our standard 8-10 "cups" of coffee, we don't have time for the experimentation. We are so far very pleased with the very simple Oxo Brew 9-cup. What are the positives? - Simple set-up and use - Great, clean cups of coffee, top to bottom - The thermal carafe is shockingly great; I kid you not, it keeps coffee hot for more than 3-4 hours - Quite pleasant to view the boiling water filter bottom to top The negatives: - The base, or platform, is quite plastic-y and flimsy; without the fill of water or coffee, it tends not to reliably rest flat on the counter - The filter basket is also a little flimsy, leaving the carafe placement ever-so-slightly unreliable But overall, the Oxo deserves 5 stars, ideal for people whose preference and priority are great coffee rather than tinkering and experimentation. So, if you've infatuated about an Aiden or Breville or Moccamaster and concerned that they may be overkill, then this Oxo is ideal for you (while saving ~$150).

After years of making pour overs, I decided to take a risk and allow a machine to make coffee for me. The costs wasn't a concern, as long as it made a strong cup of coffee. With it's high ratings, and SCA certification, I determined this would be the one for me. I had also tried a Breville Grind Control, for twice as much, and it was a disappointment for several reasons. I love the OXO brand though, so I proceeded forward with the purchase. Coming from a background of pour-overs, it's extremely tough to beat the flavor I'm accustomed to. But, with the benefit being some major time-savings, I figured it's worth it. Now the big question; how did it do? PROS: - It's a very nice looking machine, and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The brew process itself can be fun as you get to see the action in live time. - The controls are a cinch, using a single turn-dial only, truly showing the power of design simplicity. - It is extremely quiet, and very fast. It brewed a large 9-cup pot for me in around 5 minutes, and even less when doing a single cup. - Other components exist, such as it's showerhead, and bloom function, that do likely contribute to a better tasting cup. CONS: - Some may find it to be a bit big, but this doesn't bother me personally - There are a significant number of plastic or rubber parts, including the basket that holds the grounds. - It does not contain a grinder component. As beans should only be ground right before the brew, this eliminates the ability to use the timer function UNLESS of course you're okay with a significantly worse cup of coffee. - The water tank contains a large cylinder directly in the middle, of which has caused quite the mess several times when refilling. - The plastic / manufacturing process creates a rather deep-seeded taste that took work to remove. I received this machine a week ago, and ran 3 full flushes of water through. I then began making coffee, of which the first few cups were atrocious. I've now ran about 10-15 cups through and it's finally beginning to taste like coffee, and not plastic. THE COFFEE (Conclusion): The coffee it's produced is Average. It's still in line with coffee-maker coffee, and therefore a sacrifice in taste over a pour over. It's strength is also not there, which means I'm using more beans per cup, just to get a stronger taste. You'll also need to grind your own beans, and you'll have to grind them the night before if you want to wake up to a "fresh" pot. The SCA certification and advertisements made me believe this would make a pour-over equivalence, and it does not. I'm sure however that it likely does better than say the $20 Mr. Coffee machine. With that said, it's just a tough market. You can buy an expensive auto-pour machine, or waste your money on other high-end machines like the $400 Breville Grind Control. If you want a machine that is likely better than most for under $300, this is a strong contender. The taste has been improving as it' works out the strong chemical taste, and I do appreciate the few things it does that likely makes a marginally better cup. If you're an average coffee drinker, you'll likely be impressed by this machine. Just note it may be overkill if your just running Folgers/Starbucks through it. On the other end of the spectrum, if you drink specialty coffee, it's simply not going to hit like a manual brew process.

The OXO On Barista does make a fantastic cup of coffee; however, the physical product itself leaves something to be desired. My wife and I love our coffee. We're not snobbish about it, but we will go out of our way for a good cup. That said, this machine does a great job of making great tasting coffee. The product itself though started falling apart within the first month. The top of the carafe's lid, which pushes up on the coffee release button found on the grounds basket is just barely hanging on. I can't tell if it's merely glued in place, or if the plastic is so thin that it has snapped almost all the way around. I don't want to bend it back to find out for fear that it will come the rest of the way off. Second, the spring which closes the coffee release button on the bottom of the grounds basket isn't strong enough to fully close when the carafe is removed from the brewer. Both my wife and I have been burned by coffee draining from the ground basket after removing the carafe. I found this to be the most disturbing thing since OXO touts how the carafe can be removed before the brew cycle has completed. We've contacted OXO Customer Service regarding the faulty grounds basket. Their customer rep was very accommodating, apologetic, and told us she would be sending a new basket that day and that we would receive it within 10 to 12 business days; we only had to return the original basket once the new one arrived so they could review it. That was 20 business days ago. When we contacted them again, we were told our shipment must have been lost, and that they were now out of the grounds baskets. The customer rep was also now acting as though this was somehow our fault. So this is a tough review: Their product seems to be shoddily made, and their customer service is unattentive and ineffective. However, this darned thing DOES make some really good coffee. If not for that, I would give it 1 star. Updated, July 4, 2018: Now the maker won't brew. Despite having water in the maker, coffee grounds in a filter inside the brew basket, and the carafe in place, the brewer flashes red lights. This is supposed to be an indication that something is not in its correct location (be it no water, no basket, or no carafe). I've made certain everything is seated properly. I've also unplugged the maker and plugged it back in, hoping that would reset some faulty sensor. Nothing. We'll be contacting OXO once again to demand a refund.

This is the second OXO Brew 9 Cup Coffee Maker I've purchased. The first and original version of this coffee maker lasted over 9 years of almost daily use without a single issue until the day the heating element would not shut off and was constantly trying to heat water even when the reservoir was empty. This coffee maker is the most durable, consistent, and easiest to use at this price point. Aside from lasting years, my favorite aspect of this coffee maker is how consistently it brews at/near the same temperature every time, and how warm the carafe keeps the coffee for several hours. It's a no hassle, dependable coffee maker. Tips: Only use filtered water, run the descaling cycle at least once per month, and give the removable parts a deep clean a couple times per year if you make coffee daily.

In the last 4 years, I’ve purchased two Ninjas (never buy these leaking pieces of garbage) and a Technivorm (highly overpriced and overrated). This OXO is by far my favorite. It’s fairly simple and may not provide specialty brew settings but it does it’s job well, quickly, and brews a great tasting cup of coffee. I found little difference in the brew quality of this vs the Technivorm which people rave about but is significantly more expensive. There are two main settings that amounts are divided into on the digital display but you can still pour specific cup amounts with the water. I don’t use the autobrew setting but it’s there for those that like such things. Things to note: the basket needs to be pushed down complete to initiate the stop feature once the carafe is removed. Don’t and it will leak everywhere. The turn dial has a relatively cheap feel to it so hopefully it lasts. Lastly, this does not have a mesh basket so prepare to buy filters (no big deal) and the carafe quality is good but pours slowly. All of these are admittedly nitpicking and not deal breakers imo. I recommend this product. It has a great slim modern “footprint” for a counter and works very well. Update: I didn’t change my original review for comparison purposes but I dropped it from 4 down to 2 stars. With the “honeymoon phase” over, I feel a few things that once weren’t as bad or as noticeable would now basically keep me from buying this again. First, this doesn’t keep the coffee warm for long enough. There needs to be a setting to lengthen the time. Even though I appreciate the simplicity of this maker, there are some basic features it should have for this price point. Also, it takes a very long time to heat up. Second, once again I have another coffee maker that leaks. This drip leaks and it all comes down to a washer design. Sometimes it leaks and sometimes it doesn’t but it always leaves a mess. Too bad. This wasn’t cheap so I’ll hold onto it until I get fed up and toss it but I’m left disappointed once again.

UPDATE: 11 months later - After considering a return, I’m keeping this coffee maker. I’ve learned to live with the added steps and time to brew a more flavorful coffee. I do wish Oxo would provide a way to adjust the diameter of the water flow from reservoir to the grounds basket to prevent overflow when brewing full-bodied stronger taste. But my manual method works and it looks great on the kitchen counter. ORIGINAL REVIEW: There are things I like about this coffee maker. Other reviews mention those in detail (mostly glass / minimal plastic, great carafe though difficult to clean lid, consistency of brew - which for me was the biggest problem). I’ll focus on the biggest fault. I would not buy this again. I like a strong cup of coffee, and the Oxo brews fine tasting but weak and thin coffee. The Oxo has no rich or strong setting. I experimented with unconventional tweaks that are a bit cumbersome to finally get the satisfying rich coffee my much less expensive prior coffee maker could brew with a few chosen settings. The Oxo is a one-setting-only brewer (but you can have your weak watery coffee in 2-4 or 5-9 “cup” size). I was unhappy after anticipating an improvement when I ordered this - all the reviews had my hopes up. But what was not clear in the reviews was that this Oxo is designed to please only those who like a weak Americano (to me, watery tasting) coffee. With no adjustments for stronger, more concentrated brews which I prefer, I had to make a lot of tweaks to finally get this to work for me (see below for what I did to brew stronger, more concentrated brews). I note the “fast” brew time mentioned in some positive reviews - for me, it is too fast at expense of taste. The Oxo problem for people who like coffee rich, thick and full-bodied: the Oxo brews too fast, and there is no setting to alter it. Water rushes through the grounds, no time to absorb that rich full taste strong coffee lovers want. The instruction booklet even warns against too-tightly packed small grinds because the water will overflow the filter. And it does. I tried various tweaks that failed to improve the richness of the brew, and was going to return it, until I finally got it to work. Nonconventionally as follows. I’m enjoying a good cup of Stumptown Medium Roast coffee as I type: - I start with whole beans, ground using a circular blade grinder (Krups FWIW) at “low” setting, 9 seconds, then 4 short bursts of 2 seconds - Then I tightly pack the medium-fine ground coffee into un-dyed paper filter (using the bottom round end of a soup spoon to pack it in) - Use filtered water that I slightly warm above room temperature (because using cooler water in the reservoir resulted in about 30-60 seconds of initial brew time with water at about 140-160 Fahrenheit before reaching sufficient heat - about 190 or so - to brew well) - And this is key: slow the stream of hot water by reducing intake tube diameter. I did this by cutting a rectangular piece of filter paper, with a small hole cut in the middle, and place it between the flexible rubber tube connection with the intake that leads from the reservoir side to the “shower head” part. This slows the flow of water to allow hot water to linger with the grounds longer, without overflowing. - Brew 9 “cups” but use the 2-4 cup setting, as this seems to slightly extend the water flow- though not enough by itself to strengthen the brew. (Unfortunately the Oxo will shut off when it thinks 4 cups of water was brewed - half way through - so need to start it up again for the remaining 5 “cups” of remaining reservoir water to complete for 9 “cups”). Whew My old machine, I just packed the grounds as above and selected “Bold” setting. Much simpler. So, maybe I’ll keep the Oxo awhile, until the above gets tiresome. I think I’ll try a Ninja or similar brewer next time with more flexible brew settings for different coffee tastes.

I was looking back at this purchase because I wanted to recommend it to a friend as the unit I received has been amazing since I got it. I don't know if Oxo being bought out resulted in changes in materials and quality or not, I can only speak about my own experience. I roast my own beans (it really is easy and totally worth the effort, but that's not what this review is about) and I'd been doing pour-over for years but due to some physical issues I found myself needing to rely on someone else to brew my coffee for me. Much to my surprise, what I found to be dead simple, with consistently repeatable results, turned out to be too complicated for someone else. So, my wife wanted something that would be easier for her to use and I resisted, but inevitably caved (resistance is futile after-all). Knowing that a $30 Mr Coffee wasn't going to cut it for me I did a lot of research, originally thinking I'd need to get a Technivorm to get anywhere close to what I was used to getting with my pour-over. After some research (at the time, across the internwebs) I came across this unit on the SVA website. The reviews at the time were good and I figured that if I got it through Amazon I could simply send it back if any issues were to arise. I received it and followed the instructions and TBH I was disappointed, this wasn't anywhere close to what I was looking for. I'd tasted better coffee from a $30 Mr Coffee. But what was I doing wrong? How could others achieve the glowing results they were reporting? So, I started doing a bit more digging and discovered that they are talking about a "cup of coffee" (5.07oz or 149ml) and a standard 8 oz cup. When they say 15gr coffee per cup I believe they are referring to the standard 8oz cup but when they're measuring the ammount of coffee it makes they're very clearly using the 5.07 oz "cup of coffee". Then to make it even more confusing they use gr for weighting the coffee beans for an 8 oz cup. So, after a few adjustments (from my end) I started getting amazingly good cups. What follows below are the tips and tricks that I've used to achieve great coffee on a daily basis from a sub $400 (remember, 2020 prices) machine. Or commonly referred to... TLDNR Getting great coffee from an Oxo 9-cup 1) Use good water. Seriously, tap usually won't cut it for coffee. Personally, I have a reverse osmosis installed under my sink which I use human consumption (I.E. coffee). 2) Use the correct ratio of coffee to water. Simply put, 15g for each cup (8oz). Which brings me to my next point. 3) Use a scale to measure out your beans and grind JUST BEFORE you start the brewer. 60g is the magic number (for me, you will differ). They might advertise 9 "cups" BUT a "cup of coffee" is only 5.07 oz. in the caraffe. This gives me 9*5.07 oz for total water then devide that by 8 (standard cup) and you'll get 5.7 which I round up to 6 and multiply by the number of gr per cup for 60. I'm lazy but I love my coffee and this results in a fantastic cup (for me) 4) You can pour your cup once it's done but give it a few more min's before pouring the rest of the carafe into a good thermos to retain the heat. Even Oxo says their carafe is only good for about 1 hour (hence the count-down timer after it's finished brewing). And there you have it! Now for the "tips": 1) Keep your machine clean. Descale it whenever it asks. You can buy Urnex Dezcal on Amazon, it's a lot cheaper for the same thing. Follow the instructions, it's 100g of product for our tank. 2) If the filter basket is leaking it's mostly likely got something stuck in the gasket. Remove the basket and rinse it thoroughly in the sink. You can check to see if you "fixed" your problem while you've got it out of the machine. 3) Pay attention to written instructions. If something gives you measurements in metric then it's always g for weight and l for volume and so you need to keep that in mind if you switch to the Queens units (where oz is used for both but it's not the same thing). I still get this mixed up from time to time. Hopefully this helps someone get a great cup of coffee. In the end, would I recommend this machine? Absolutely! As long as nothing has been changed in manufacturing since I purchased mine... *Edited after I realized that I'd made a mistake on how much coffee to use. I also explained how I got to "60".