$300 is too much for a badly-designed unit that doesn't make very good coffee.
Positive Product Points
Looks great; first cup tastes great; very useful auxiliary warmer
Negative Product Points
Steam condensation drips onto countertop or down onto warmer and boils off
Detailed Commentary
It's a terrific unit, with really bad engineering.
Steam starts rising from the pour spout of the caraffe as soon as the first drops of coffee fall in the pot ... the steam rises onto the 'back wall' and the 'roof' of the unit -- it condenses immediately and starts dripping down onto the counter ...
By the time 12 cups have brewed, the puddle of condensation on the countertop is about 2 Tbsp of water ... if the caraffe spout is pointed to one side (instead of 'straight in') the steam hits the coffee basket and condenses, then drips down the side of the caraffe, onto the warming plate, and hisses and spits as it boils off.
KitchenAide knows about the problem, and is designing a new caraffe to solve the problem. The new caraffe will be available NEXT AUGUST ...
Cup 1 of pot 1 is very good coffee ... but by the time the caraffe has been on the warmer (even on LOW heat) for 15 minutes, the coffee starts to taste 'burned'.
Bottom line: KitchenAide is offering to buy back the unit, and we will accept the offer.
Buying Experience
Willkiams-Sonoma has an exclusive on this unit ... upsell for their $200 "matching grinder" wasn't very agressive.
