Bonavita - BV1800TH (Thermal 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.

I’m currently using the Moccamaster + Baratza Virtuoso, but used the much cheaper, but comparably excellent Bonavita 8 cup coffee maker for 10+ years with zero maintenance.  If I wasnt a fool and instead descaled it every 100 or so uses, it would still be going strong.  It was a superb option but I see it has climbed up in price now. Just get the moccamaster on sale. 

Modern coffee makers die because the guts are cheap, no matter how pretty the front panel looks. At the end of the day it's just a controlled water heater, and most companies cut corners where you can't see them. Look for a metal‑lined heating tank. The plastic boilers scale up and crack, then your machine is landfill. You want a simple bimetal thermostat. The electronic thermistor setups drift, or the board cooks itself after a few years of heat and steam. A mechanical pump or a gravity setup with real silicone tubing will outlive the PVC tubing that hardens and starts leaking. If you really need a timer, stick to old‑school membrane buttons. They’re about the only electronics that don’t give up early. Bonavita’s 8 cup with the older controls or the Behmor Brazen Plus get you decent internals without the Monolith‑from‑1982 look of the MM. Skip the touchscreens and the “smart” phone junk. That’s always the first thing to die, and none of it makes the coffee better.

Bonavita for under $200. Chuckling at all these people recommending non under $200 machines. To really save money buy a Clever dripper. I can make excellent coffee with it.

Which is why my first recommendation was a Bonavita. Did you even read my post? Jeez.

You won’t go wrong with a Bonavita. Priced fairly. Ratio 6 is not good. Moccamaster doesn’t have a shower head so you get dry spots and need to stir.

Technivorm Moccamaster is good but it has dry spots so you need to stir with a spoon during extraction. AFTER PAYING $250 for it. Bonavita has shower head so this problem doesn’t occur. Ratio Six has too shallow a bowl and coffee grounds can float up over the side unless you use a coarse ground. So you’ve paid $350 for a drip machine where you can’t fine tune a grind for best flavor. Using higher wall Bunn paper filters helps a little bit. Love the Clever. Lobe the Bonavita with thermal carafe. Love Chemex. Love Technivorm with thermal carafe. Sowden Soft Brew works kinda like a French Press but makes a smoother coffee.

Sorry to rain on your parade but this was one of the worst coffee brewers for the price. We got one in the office and it absolutely was not worth the money. Anytime you got more than 50g of coffee, it makes a hole in the grounds because the sprout is so narrow. The rubber feet are also lost easily so it’s wobbly all the time. Plus, glass carafe with a heating element is awful and burns the coffee. On top of everything, the coffee it brewed was just mediocre. I got a SCAA certified Bonavita 8-cup stainless steel that is leagues better than this, and costs less. Bonavita also sent me a new one when I complained the plastic water reservoir, which still worked, was cracking. Top notch appliance, top notch service.

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

I am 5 years in on a BV One Touch and it's still making solid coffee with the pre-infusion mode. I would buy it again today.

Bonavita is my personal favorite drip coffee maker. Italian machine that comes with a thermal carafe, coffee pot so that it can keep your coffee warm without a heater. Not sure what the technology is like now but mine has a couple of drip style options when it comes to how the water falls onto your coffee grinds. Can find them for less than 200 for a 8 cup coffee pot, or less than 100 for a 5 cup coffee pot.

I had a Bonavita, traded up to a Moccamaster, and a few months later, went back to the Bonavita. Don't believe the hype.

Bonavita w/ thermal carafe

I have one of these and it's still going strong after a decade of use. The thermal carafe is nice. Keeps coffee hot for a long time and doesn't burn it because there's no heating element. It has one button on it, so operation couldn't be easier.

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