BV1800 (Glass Carafe)

They are no longer special, but used to be. About 15 ish years ago, the only game in town was Bonavita BV1800 or Moccamaster. I went with the Bonavita, and with almost zero maintenance it lasted me a ten years or so. I would keep it going but they intentionally made it hard to repair and find parts for. I could have picked another machine from the bunch that is available now, and probably been happy, but went with the MM KBGV instead. It is a known quantity at this point, and I have some semblance of what to expect in the machine's future. The brews are consistent everyday, the design and quality has been proven for 60 years, I don't have to think too much. It gets the job done. If you got it on sale on Amazon, those prices are in line with what other brands cost. Yes, the plastic basket feels cheap. And I hate that glass carafe with a passion. (I've posted lists of what I hate about it here before.) There was an article describing this phenomenon that I'm trying to find but can't. The summary was that products that have continued to be around for a really long time will continue to be around for a really long time. (Bathtub curve). Anyway, yeah. it's nothing special now, but it's consistent. You can brew every day knowing what to expect.

This is one question that doesn't seem to go away... Reddit has a serious hard on for the Technivorm Moccamaster, but I'm going to give you another recommendation - Bonavita. I own both, and both are SCA-certified and brew excellent coffee. However, the Bonavita wins for me for the following reasons: * It's physically smaller and shorter, and can fit in more people's kitchen well. * It's easier to clean * It extracts better and brews coffee a couple degrees hotter * Better grounds saturation from better shower-head design vs linear bar design * It's a simpler design * Bonavita carafes are excellent (glass or thermal), Moccamaster carafes are not (their thermal carafes are known to leak from the bottom because of a loose glass liner seal, and both their thermal and glass carafes are known to spill when pouring at a reasonable speed) * Bonavita uses a copper heating element just like Moccamaster, but is a significantly less expensive machine, and therefore much better value. Best of luck whatever you decide. Any SCA-certified machine will brew decent coffee, so enjoy. And both will likely last. I've had my Bonavita for over 15 years, IIRC, and although my Moccamaster is not that old, I have friends with machines for that long without issues. Also, I just want to mention that there are plenty of drip coffee makers whose manufacturers have never paid for SCA certification, but nevertheless brew excellent coffee. So while it's true to say SCA-certified brewers will make good coffee, it's certainly not true to say that non-SCA-certified brewers will not. One of my favorite drip coffee makers is a small 4-cup I picked up at a thrift store decades ago that has no manufacturer markings on it of any kind (so it was likely stolen from a hotel or something similar). It brews truly excellent coffee and cost me $4.99.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, though I definitely don't agree. Pour over is great when I want a single cup and I'm the one doing the pour over (plenty of "baristas" do not do pour overs properly), but I'm usually brewing full pots and the best drip brewers are essentially just automated pour overs anyway. Plus I like not having to babysit my coffee and being free to do other things (like make bacon :) ). For quality, consistency, speed and automation, I much prefer a good drip brewer. As for the others, they all have issues I don't feel like dealing with. Percolators are great as long as you are right there to stop them, otherwise the overextraction tastes like crap (again, just my opinion). Moka pots often have the same issue, though I do love how durable and cheap they are (though the aluminum ones make everything taste metallic to me). French press I generally can't stand as they are a pain to clean, you again have to baby sit to avoid overextraction, they never seem hot enough once done, and I prefer a generally brighter cup with less sediment. Regarding the lid on your Bonavita - I'm having trouble picturing what you've described. What model did you have? As I mentioned, mine is around 15 yo, used every single day, and still brews like day one. I'd like to think your issue isn't systemic, and would be interested to know more. How did your lid fail twice? Regarding the lid having to be separate, I'm not sure what you mean - are you talking about the inability to put the lid on the carafe once the Mellita filter basket is on top of the carafe when storing it? Most people I know would just drop the lid inside the filter basket (on a BV1800, which is what I have) if they were going to store the brewer.

Glad you like it, but even in its category I wouldn't call it the best. Bonavita machines are also SCA certified, easier to clean, less expensive, less tall (allowing them to fit under cabinets Moccamaster cannot), also last forever and also brew excellent coffee. I definitely prefer them.

Same though I have the glass carafe. I know that people love the thermal version but I've read that the glass is easier to clean, and I drink my coffee fresh so I don't need the carafe to keep it warm.

I’m on my second Bonavita drip machine, and both have been glass carafe versions with the hot plate. I find it kind of annoying that the hot plate turns off as quickly as it does (feels like less than an hour) but it is nice that it doesn’t just stay on indefinitely. Eventually I do want to get a Moccamaster.

I've got a Bonavita drip coffee maker (glass carafe) that's we've been using daily for the past ... 11 years. Last year I dropped the glass carafe in the sink and broke it 😞 and we looked into getting a Moccamaster, but my husband didn't like it and thought it was flimsy haha. We bought a replacement carafe meant for pour over and have kept on trucking with the Bonavita.

Bonavita. One button drip coffee, generally very good quality. 

Bonavita 8 cup drip is what I settled on. It has an on button.