<p>I know this was a thread a year or two ago but things change. I have a coffee maker that is grind and brew with a thermal carafe. It is getting temperamental. Who has one they love? Or Hate? I want to grind beans and I want a thermal carafe and no warming plate to change/burn the flavor. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I liked my Cuisinart best out of about 3 different brands I have had. I find that all the ones I have had only last 1-2 years. Now that I am the only coffee drinker at home, I’ve resorted to a Keurig system which is less hassle and more flexible. It’s taking me a while to figure out that you have to use at leas a medium/bold coffee with that system.</p>
<p>This is for a small office and the cups are too expensive for multiple drinkers and not exactly green. </p>
<p>I am on my second Cuisinart. I love it but it is too problematic. The factory replaced it once already. The “chute” where the grinds get sent to the basket clogs up. It gets moist. I can’t figure out how but it does, then it gets packed with grinds, they don’t fall into the basket, and the coffee is weak. We clean it out and dry it and put back in the bean holder and beans. It used to do it monthly so we just cleaned it biweekly. Now we can clean it out (no small task) one day and it clogs up the next. It is a design flaw. While the carafe is pretty air tight until pouring, and keeps the coffee hot for a long time, somehow I think steam comes out just enough to rise up and wet the chute.</p>
<p>At home I use pods. But pods and cups are more expensive and cumbersome at work. And I pay for nice coffee beans that are roasted just before shipping. So I don’t scrimp on the beans. But I want to try to avoid the cups.</p>
<p>I like the Hamilton Beach Brew Station Coffee Maker.</p>
<p>I had two Cuisinart machines similar to sunny, and when the last one stopped grinding I decided to shop for another brand. I cleaned the chute every time I made coffee - it was always full of wet grinds, and sunny is correct that the grinder chute design is very poor. I also did not like that the filter door does not snap shut. Every once in a while, when it wasn’t completely closed, I turned around to find water and grinds streaming onto the floor. Lovely sight at 6 am.</p>
<p>I came to terms with the fact that there is not a good grinder/maker on the market. I have a dedicated grinder that I occasionally use, and most of the time I buy freshly ground coffee at a shop and keep it in the fridge - I go through a pound a week, and honestly, I cannot tell if the coffee was ground the day before or a few minutes before brewing. Anyway, I bought a Bunn coffeemaker with a thermal stainless carafe and a non-heating surface. The machine is super simple - not unlike the commercial Bunn machines at Dunkin Donuts and elsewhere. It has a water reservoir, so the water is somewhat preheated all the time - it makes a large pot of coffee in a few minutes. The coffee is the hottest I’ve ever encountered with a home machine.</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> BUNN BTX-B ThermoFresh 10-Cup Thermal-Carafe Home Coffee Brewer, Black: Home & Garden](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/BTX-B-ThermoFresh-10-Cup-Thermal-Carafe-Coffee/dp/B000FFRYYK/ref=sr_1_7?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1316720576&sr=1-7]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/BTX-B-ThermoFresh-10-Cup-Thermal-Carafe-Coffee/dp/B000FFRYYK/ref=sr_1_7?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1316720576&sr=1-7)</p>
<p>Thanks!! Unfortunately, I don’t want a unit that keeps the water hot in between uses. Just like the cups, not green enough for me. I am quirky about certain things. I am leaning toward not getting a grind and brew. But I love the smell and taste of fresh ground beans. But I don’t want the hassle of a separate grinder… I know, i am asking for a lot.</p>
<p>Why is a separate grinder a hassle? It only takes 20 seconds to grind the beans, you dump them in the machine, and turn it on!</p>
<p>I stopped using the grinder because I woke everyone up in the morning! I’m the only coffee drinker, so it seemed a bit self indulgent.</p>
<p>Yes, they are noisy!</p>
<p>The cat is always so happy to see me downstairs first thing in the morning, and the sound of the grinder scared him to death - I felt like such a heel. It does smell nice, though.</p>
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<p>The coffee maker I have has a built-in grinder. It heats the water and then grinds the coffee and presses it. It makes one cup at a time. It has an attachment so that you can make a latte or cappuccino. From the perspective of not making more coffee than one needs, it’s quite good. If you’re serving coffee to a large group, it’s not so good because you have to go through the cycle for each cup of coffee. The coffee tastes quite good–it’s like espresso. I use regular beans from Peets in it, but you can also use espresso beans. The other downside is that machine is pricey. Right now, I have a DeLonghi machine, which Crate and Barrel sells. My husband has a small office (12 people) and they have a similar machine that’s made by Jurra Capresso. They’ve had the same machine for 9 years and it still going strong.</p>
<p>Researching Capresso’s. </p>
<p>Martharap, this is for a small office. My experience is that the separate grinder creates a separate mess. We have a small kitchen/break room. What works best is a grind and brew all-in-one. I grind at home. But at work, was looking for SIMPLE.</p>
<p>I work in a high-end kitchen store and when people insist on a coffee machine that also grinds beans I do sell the Cuisinart grind & brew but in all honesty, I don’t think it’s possible to design a machine that will do this well and last a long time. You simply can’t have a grinder in close proximity (sometimes less than an inch!) to steaming hot water and expect it to not get damp. If someone ever did manage to do it, it would probably be unacceptably large and extremely expensive.</p>
<p>I know you are asking about coffee machines and not espresso but we have so many customers who fall in love with the Nespresso espresso machines once they try them, they never look back. True they use Nespresso pods but the quality of the coffee is sublime and not comparable to the lowly K-cups. You can use the setting for a larger cup than the standard espresso and come very close to regular coffee (Cafe Americano). You order the pods online and the price per pod runs about 58 to 64 cents. We’ve had many people purchase them for their offices as well as their homes and they take up very little counter space.</p>
<p>Bought a Capresso Team TS. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. It is designed completely differently from the Cuisinart. The grinder is a burr grander and positioned totally differently. The grind chute is sealed off from the rest of the system and NO MOISTURE gets in. The beans stay dry, the grounds stay dry. Access to the water tank is also totally separate and you can’t pour water into anything other than the water tank. The coffee is hotter immediately after brewing, and STAY HOTTER than the Cuisinart. And the pot pours faster and easier. MY STAFF LOVES ME. I will update in a few months and let you know if this keeps up.</p>