Moccamaster KBT 741

I kind of had my doubts about Moccamaster, but with the generally glowing reviews I pulled the trigger during a decent sale.

I'm no coffee snob, but I love good coffee, and wondered if a unit that met the "golden cup standard" would make even better tasting coffee than my old maker (which is supposed to meet the standard, but actually falls short temperature-wise).

The Moccamaster brews much faster than my old unit and has no bloom phase (I didn't know about this prior to ordering - I assumed it would have a bloom phase). The coffee taste profile is also somewhat different (more acidic), and I prefer the taste of the coffee brewed from my old unit.

Also to consider is that none of the covers are hinged, so it's much less user friendly than a standard coffee maker; you have to physically lift off both the filter cover and the reservoir cover, to load the filter and fill with water. It tends to get water droplets wherever I temporarily set the covers, which is annoying for cleanup. The covers and filter housing are also very light plastic and feel cheap. Pouring water into the reservoir is also more difficult, since the water outlet arm blocks of part of the reservoir, unlike other more standard coffee makers; if you hit the arm with the flow, it'll cause water to fly all over, and will also direct cold water to run into the filter housing area.

There’s one other annoying aspect I didn’t consider prior to ordering the unit. If you want to brew directly into a travel mug rather than the carafe, you have to find a way to depress the little white button at the front of the unit so the coffee will brew. Again, it’s just another quirk of the coffee maker that you can’t disable, and have to work around.

As an engineer and very practical hands-on person, it's a real head-scratcher to me why this unit is so highly rated - it's not a user-friendly design at all, and in my opinion the coffee is makes is subpar. From other reviews, I don't doubt that the unit will function well for years, but we've moved beyond this kind of outdated design.

Overall, I'm not impressed considering the cost of the unit, even on a decent sale.

I have used Moccamaster for over 10 years, after seeing it used by relatives in Finland. I just replaced a well-worn Moccamaster that had an old-style thermal carafe. The new carafe with the glass vacuum chamber is a solid improvement, both in flavour and in ease of use. The coffee is now even better; I didn't think it could be done.

This is the machine I was hoping for. The perfect cup every time. The design allows for ideal conditions for pour over every time. Also able to stir the grinds during process. There is a reason this design has not changed in so many years. Highly recommend!