The Technivorm KBT 741 is a well-built and designed coffee machine. Positive points:
Smart design and looks good.
Brews quickly.
Easy to use.
Carafe works well to keep coffee warm.
No problem with burnt coffee from a heat plate.
Makes very good coffee.
Negative Product Points
Pouring from the carafe could be better. Make sure to put the screw top back into the carafe before pouring or you will probably spill the coffee. There are little grooves in the stopper that help channel the coffee stream. The directions do not tell you that.
Detailed Commentary
The unit was easy to set up. The pad for the carafe seems a little rinky-dink for an expensive coffee machine but works. The carafe will keep coffee warm for about 5 hours - after that you will need to nuke it. The machine brews very fast and is very quiet especially compared to the old Mr. Coffee.
Everything is easy to clean. It is really a no fuss, no hassle coffee machine. My wife loves the machine and comments about every other day how happy she is with the machine and the coffee it produces.
Buying Experience
Intelligentsia Coffee shipped the unit out very fast and communicated well. There was an email verifying the purchase and another one when it shipped with a tracking link. Also, they provided a free pound of coffee and a box of filters. Their coffee is excellent and we got hooked on it. Even though the shipping cost makes it quite expensive coffee lb-wise, on a per cup basis my wife and I think it is worth it. We're on our second pound of coffee and I bought their espresso beans for my Anita and they are excellent also.
Three Month Followup
The Moccamaster is still working like a champ 3 months later. The machine has taken our coffee experience to the next level and we would not go back. No issues with reliability. It is easy to clean and set-up. It works without complaint. Coffee tastes great. I have continued to price compare with other coffee machines and companies and have not found any other machine or place to buy that made me reconsider buying this unit, so no buyers remorse.
One Year Followup
After 1 year we finally descaled the KBT 741 with Cafiza when my wife said the brew cycle seemed to have gotten a little long. Since we live in Mount Shasta and the water out of our tap is the same as the bottled water most of the rest of you drink, we have little issue with scale. All seems well now and the quality of our coffee is still excellent.
Our current favorite coffee is the Barefoot Coffee Roasters Ethiopian Harrar. The flavors that the KBT 741 extract from the coffee are very complex and though we used to laugh at what we thought were the silly attributes listed like citrus, blossoming flowers, berries, etc, we now find ourselves actually being able to discern these flavors. Our home brew coffee is the standard we compare all other coffees against in a taste test.
The KBT 741 is used 5 - 6 days per week so it has seen steady use and has had no reliability issues. We have not played around with the brewing like other reviewers have, for example, stopping the brew and stirring the coffee grounds around and restarting, because the coffee flavor is so excellent we have not felt the need. Certainly the KBT 741 is configured that if you want to tweak your coffee brewing there are alternatives. Another little tweak is the filter basket has three settings: full drip, half drip, off. That allows you to let it fill up with water and then open the flow, or, reduce the flow half-way, or the normal full open. That gives you ways to control the extraction of your coffee based on the beans and personal preference.
We still believe this is the best $200.00 coffee brewer out in the market and have no intention of getting anything else.
