Capresso 5-Cup Mini Drip Coffee Maker, Black and Stainless Steel

I have tried several 5-cup coffee maker brands over the years and all I can say is just save yourself the trouble and just buy this one. I bought one of these and have used it multiple times every day and it functions well in aspects and makes great coffee.

The Capresso 5 cup minidrip (model 426) is the perfect size for me and works flawlessly so far (it arrived two days ago, 7 Dec 2018). The molded text on the bottom of the maker says "model 426" and has the number 4245 as well (without a label).A detail where the physical device and its manual disagree is: the manual says that the removable filter holder snaps into the maker. It doesn't. Instead, it has loop handles on top and closing the lid forces the basket down. That presses the spring-mounted plunger (which is mounted through the bottom of the filter holder) against the top of the carafe. When the spring is collapsed by the carafe, the plunger is raised so water can flow out the bottom of the filter holder. (The plunger seals the hole at the bottom of the filter holder when the carafe is absent.) The manual calls that plunger the "drip stop".You can interrupt brewing by pressing the on/off button twice, then restart it by pressing the button once. Independently of that, you can remove the carafe during brewing for a few seconds to pour a cup of coffee. (The manual says you get 30 seconds. I’m guessing that’s based on the water flow rate and the risk of overflowing the filter.) The spring-mounted plunger seals the filter holder once the carafe isn’t there to push it up. The carafe has to be tilted slightly to get under the spring easily when putting the carafe back on the hot plate.The gold mesh filter that comes with it has a solid plastic bottom and some water pools there without draining into the carafe. Most water goes out the sides of the filter as designed, but even without coffee grounds in the basket, water pools on the flat bottom of the filter basket. A filter that has gold mesh on the bottom would be a better design, I think, to ensure as much water as possible gets through the grounds into the carafe. I’ll be switching to paper filters to get more water through (tho’ the paper will absorb some), and for increased ease of handling, especially since the gold filter seems a little fragile.The manual says to use medium coarse ground coffee in the gold mesh filter. It seems to be ok with Folgers 100% Colombian with only a tiny bit of sediment allowed through. A smaller mesh hole size would allow finer grounds to be used. But maybe that would impede the flow-through rate, so maybe the filter would overflow, given the machine’s water flow rate?The manual says to not exceed 8 tablespoons of coffee grounds in the filter.The level in the water reservoir is indicated by a white stair-step piece of plastic. The overflow hole is slightly above the height of the "5" step. To fill the reservoir to its maximum you have to add a little more water while watching the overflow hole. I'd prefer the overflow hole be on one of the sides, rather than the back of the unit. This really only affects you if you use a separate pitcher to fill the reservoir. The carafe has water levels marked, so you can fill the carafe and pour the measured water into the reservoir. So I’ll probably learn to fill it with the carafe.My instant read thermometer says the water is 175 degrees F immediately after brewing. After an hour on the hot plate, it’s 172 degrees.The lid latch is stiff, so it can be hard to open; it lifts the entire unit! However, it’s plastic and slightly flexible. I’ve found that twisting the small handle slightly serves to disengage the latch more easily than just trying to lift the top straight up. Opening it that way is even easier after brewing since the plastic has been warmed by the steam (so is more flexible). By twisting, I mean as tho’ turning a knob on a horizontal axis.The carafe is marked with input (water) amounts and output (coffee) amounts for 2 through 5 “cups”, with the difference between input and output reflecting mostly (I assume) the water retained by the grounds. The carafe holds 27 ounces when filled to the input level for 5 cups, and about 1 ounce less for output. So it’s close to the industry’s standard, which is 5 ounce cups.

I’ve been using this for about an year now, so far it has held up fine. I chose to buy this one because:1. I had been using an AdirChef single cup coffee-maker but wanted to make more coffee in one go (for morning and for taking to work). The 5-cup size of this coffeemaker was perfect for my needs. Note about the size: The “cup” of 5-cup is a European measure, and it’s also the standard for coffee-makers in the US. If you are going from 1-cup drip coffee-makers to this (like I did), don’t expect it to make 5 times the amount of coffee from your one-cup coffeemakers. Here, 1 cup = 5 oz. As I drink from a standard 12 oz mug, for me it makes enough for 2-servings of coffee.2. Capresso is a relatively known/specialized brand for coffee equipments. I don’t think they’re the best-ranked or anything, but it’s just that personally, I feel more comfortable buying a coffee-maker from a company whose main business is coffee-related items, and not a variety of stuff from toothbrushes to exercise machines.3. It has a hot plate and an auto-shutoff. The coffee stays hot for two hours, and after two hours the machine shuts off automatically. I keep the coffee machine plugged to the wall and so far it has been completely safe. I haven't measured the temperature of the coffee, but freshly brewed it's very hot (at least, hot enough for my taste). On the hot plate, it's a little less hot (not steaming), but still good enough to take out and drink comfortably any time within the 2-hr mark.Other details:Coffee-filter: It comes with a reusable gold-tone filter, but I don’t like cleaning it up everyday, so I use paper-filters (basket type, 4-6 cups). My taste-buds aren’t refined enough to sense a taste-difference between this and the 1-cup coffee maker I had, and anyway it isn’t a fair comparison because the sizes are different. The other coffee-maker I have is a moka-pot which makes much stronger coffee, again no way to compare tastes.The carafe: It’s glass, therefore easy to clean. I don’t have a dishwasher so I don’t know if it’s dishwasher-safe. But it’s easy enough to clean by hand. Except, the glass is very light so it feels flimsy and fragile in your hand. I don’t know how shock-resistant the glass is, and I have no intention of testing it. Other than that, I like the design of the carafe. It has volume markers, for both water and coffee. So you can use the carafe to fill your desired measure of water, knowing how much coffee it will produce (some water will be retained by the ground so the coffee will always be little less than the water). The lip of the carafe is well-designed and feels nice to pour from (doesn’t spill).The stepwise cup markings inside the water-reservoir: These are very helpful for me because I can pour water directly from the water-filter and know the measurements. In my previous coffeemaker, I used to fill the carafe/mug with filtered water and then pour it to the coffee-maker’s water reservoir, or just fill it to some random measure (which is very bad for making coffee). Having a measuring system inbuilt to the reservoir helps to bypass that step. I specifically like that it’s inside the reservoir and not to the side like many other coffee-makers, because I have very little space in my apartment so I don’t have to free the side of the coffee-maker to be able to see the markings.The 24-hour programmable timer: I like to grind my coffee just before brewing, so I haven’t tested this feature.Overall, I like this coffee maker. The one negative is that there is always some drops of coffee falling to the hot plate as you remove the carafe. It badly affects the smoothness of the ‘pause’ function. At first I was worried about the coffee droplets on the hot plate, but as I said in the beginning, so far it hasn’t caused any problem.

Been through numerous 5 cup coffee pots - mostly Mr. Coffee. Not so easy to find 5-cup. This one has lasted the longest thus far. I have to replace the glass carafe - my fault I broke it but that was easily done through Amazon. Seriously considered just getting a new one but times are tough. Can always use a spare carafe besides. Great value for the money, coffee brews hot as I like it - had issues with Mr. Coffee for that reason among others.