Bonavita 8 Cup Drip Coffee Maker Machine, One-Touch Pour Over, Auto Pause Brewing with Stainless Steel Double Wall Thermal Carafe, SCA Certified, Dishwasher Safe, BV1901TS

I am a pretty serious coffee snob - I have a lot of coffee making apparatus (pour over, chemex) and an elaborate espresso machine setup, as well as multiple grinders. I never thought I would actually own an automatic coffee machine but when it came time to buy one I asked my coffee geek friends and they consistently recommended the Bonavita as one of the top choices. It was also the most affordable among the choices they recommended (the others being the Technivorm Moccamaster, the Ratio Eight, Ratio Six, and various others). That said it costs more than many other mainstream brand coffee makers.But here's the thing - this machine works like a charm, and it does exactly what a good coffee maker should. It heats the water up to the right temperature, pre-infuses (if you turn that mode on which I do), and evenly distributes the water to saturate the coffee grounds, and extract a delicious pot of coffee. It's quick, easy, and makes consistently flavorful coffee.The thermal carafe keeps the coffee hot for a long time, I've had no issues with that at all - but as others have pointed out you do need to put the lid on right after the pot is done brewing because you cannot brew with the lid on, and obviously heat escapes quickly without the lid on. Others have complained about pouring with the lid off, and even some complain about pouring with the lid on. I haven't found either to be an issue, you just have to sort of get the hang of it.I've made dark and light roasts with different grinds (coarser and finer) and been quite happy with the results. A good burr grinder is a must obviously, but these days you can get a good one for relatively little (I am using a Breville and it works like a charm).I'd strongly recommend this to serious coffee drinkers - it's a bit of a no-frills design but it's the best automated version of pour over I've found and if you care more about the flavor of your coffee than bells and whistles, this is a great machine for you.

I used to have another coffee maker for years. I though thought it did what it was supposed to do and coffee was coffee. When I would go to measure out the coffee for the morning brew, I would just eyeball it and make coffee. Coffee was coffee, right?A few weeks ago the coffee maker I didn't think much about because it did its job decided to stop working. It could have been sabotaged by my girlfriend who "cleaned" it, but dead none the less. Like with any appliance or object that needs to be replaced, I over-analyzed it and started looking into different coffee makers. I wanted a good one because I drink coffee every day and to me, it's worth the investment to find something that makes great coffee and has received favorable reviews.In my research of a day or so, I discovered there was this organization called the Specialty Coffee Association. They have criteria on what it takes to make a great cup of coffee. Those criteria are then used to review coffee makers. Bonavita Connoisseur (BV1901TS) meets that criteria and it shows up in the quality of the coffee.It's a great simple coffee maker that makes great coffee. I followed the instructions and measured out my coffee of freshly ground coffee. Basically, it's 2 tbsp of coffee per cup. If you have 8 cups, you need 16 tbsp or 1 even cup of ground coffee. Also used filtered water because the coffee really is the sum of all the ingredients and you can't cut corners on water. I did hold down the button for the power to turn on Pre-Infusion. The results leave you with a really clean, flavorful cup of coffee where I immediately tasted a huge difference. There was no bitterness. Another thing I make sure of, that it wasn't heating the coffee after it was done and instead it put the contents into a thermal carafe. This makes a huge difference if you're coming back to the pot for more coffee. It keeps the coffee pretty warm for a long while and allows you to have the same quality coffee you did when you made it. I've had experiences with my other coffee maker where subsequent cups tasted horribly after being cooked on a burner. The thermal carafe was something I didn't know I needed until I tried it.So what's the purpose of the review? Are you apprehensive about buying a coffee maker at $150 bucks and not sure about that type of investment? I think you can rest assured that this is a solid purchase as it makes a cup of coffee at a high level if all your looking for is a simple coffee maker. It doesn't have all the extra bells and whistles another coffee maker could possibly have. For me, I didn't need my coffee maker on my Wi-Fi or be able to do multiple jobs to earn its place in my kitchen. I just needed it to do its job at a high level and it does that. If that is also your criteria for a coffee maker, rest assured. I will say the only downside I can think of is the amount of coffee it makes. It would have been nice if it was on the 10 cup side instead of just 8.I hope you find the cup of coffee you're looking for.