My overall experience with the Hamilton Beach Brewstation was less than desired, I was hoping for a better brewing experience.
Positive Product Points
Sleek look, I like the stainless steal!
No pot
Different heating system, not supposed to scorch coffee.
Hamilton Beach is a trusted manufacture of appliances.
Dispenses into your cup. (Great idea!)
Negative Product Points
- Leaks water out the bottom and other undiscovered places. - The coffee dispenses erratically making it nearly impossible to get all the coffee into the cup. Some leaks into the machine. - If the power shuts off, you have to make a new pot instead of turning it back on. Or trick the sensor by adding more water to the tank. - Bad smell always coming from the coffee maker from coffee rotting inside the machine where I cannot clean. (Smells like poop) - Over priced for a machine that didn't do what it said it would do.
Detailed Commentary
My positive comments are purely aesthetic. When I saw this coffee maker at Christmas time I thought it would make a perfect addition to my newly renovated kitchen. Plus I am an avid coffee drinker and I wanted to have an awesome coffee maker. The whole concept looked great! I like the no pot look but as for functionality, that's a different story and this is where I begin on my negative points. I wish this worked out better than what it did because I still like the style of this coffee maker. It matches my kitchen.
The coffee maker has been nothing but problems from the start. My first pot of coffee resulted in a soaked counter with about half a cup of water all over the place. This coffee maker leaks at least half a cup every time I brew coffee. There is always a bad smell coming from the inside of the coffee maker, this is rotten coffee that leaked inside during dispensing. Because of this, I was taking the coffee maker apart 3 times per week. I'm talking nuts and bolts.
When I dispense a cup, the coffee spatters erratically, some ending up in my cup, the rest running into the mechanical part of the machine. Most of my average cups don't fit under the dispenser properly and this is the main cause I'm sure.
The coffee maker also does not allow you to turn the pot back on once it has turned off by itself, or if the power button was hit accidentally. This means that whatever coffee is left in the reservoir, goes cold unless you trick the sensor inside the machine into thinking there is water in the tank to brew coffee. If you don't do this, you will have to brew a new pot a throw out whatever you didn't drink. For most this wouldn't be a problem because most only drink their coffee fresh. Don't get me wrong, I love fresh brewed coffee, but I don't mind drinking coffee thats a few hours old.
Because I was under the impression that this was a flaw with this particular machine and not the whole line of this product. Meaning this could have been the 1 in 1000 that was flukie (thats just my luck lol) I went and purchased the 6 cup machine at the second hand store, thinking that I was not going to put out another $80 on junk. Good thing, because I got pretty much the same results. A leaky machine that hold less coffee.
This is by far the worst coffee maker I have ever used. I had more luck with an old fashioned percolator than this disaster piece.
Buying Experience
My buying experience was the same as most other times. I gave them money, they gave me the machine.
