Bonavita - Enthusiast 8-Cup Drip Coffee Brewer with Thermal Carafe

Bonavita and a scale to measure coffee and water

Bonavita. Secondhand it is much cheaper than a used moccamaster

Bonavita is junk. It will break sooner or later. Probably sooner. Spend the extra money on a Moccamaster the first time.

I've had a Bonavita for 7 or 8 yrs. Still great! 

I bought the Bonavita enthusiast and I’ve been very impressed. It’s my first coffee maker. started with French press 19 years ago in HS, switched to pour over about 5/6 years ago. Now I feel a little dumb waiting so long 🤣🤣🤣

Not sure what qualifies as "crazy expensive", so with that disclaimer...I've been absolutely happiest with my Breville Bambino Plus (for about 4 years now, going strong, I take good care of it) and Breville Smart Grinder Pro. I chose not to get a combo deal because I could see one component breaking or going back before the other and then you're stuck with half a machine or replacing something that still works. Bonavita for drip coffee - had the fairly standard 5 cup model for years before it struggled and now have the Enthusiast, which has been great.

I've got an Aiden, which makes delicious coffee. I only use the medium roast built-in profile. I find the day-to-day usage somewhat glitchy. It sometimes thinks it needs water, when it already has plenty - I do not know if you would be able to detect the 'add water' alert without being able to see the screen notification. It uses a dial to do all of the selection and scrolling, and like an Instapot I had - it was annoyingly sensitive to rotation - trying to select a setting which it would almost always over or under shoot - like trying to nail jello to a wall!!!! I just recently had an issue where I ask Aiden to brew 750 ml and it only uses 500-ish ml of water. All that said, I've also got a Moccamaster KBGV, and the Aiden makes a tastier cup. I am planning to send in the Aiden for warranty repair, but in the interim I bought a Bonavita Enthusiast, and am liking the flavor it provides - very sweet with a nice creamy mouth-feel. (My Moccamaster is on indefinite loan to my neighbor, it's flavor prilfe is more to the bright, high-acid side of things, which is not my preference anyway) The Bonavita has a power button, a brew button, a bloom button (which is bloom then brew; the brew button is no-bloom brew). There's also a descale button. No app. Flavor-wise, I'd take the Bonavita, for longevity and repairability, the Moccamaster. I also have a current version Behmor Brazen on order, which has more control, and physical buttons. I can report back when it arrives if you want - you can message me as well....

back again! I ended up returning the Bonavita. It is a nice machine, but the whole sur la table buying experience was, for me, not good. If i were to reorder one, it would be from another vendor..... I have been loving the Brazen. I found the settings for the Fellow Aiden's preset that I had been using. 30 second bloom, 205F brew temp, and am using those settings on the Brazen now. I get the flavor notes and the nice mouthfeel - so a total winner. Loving the machine now. I think if someone helps you get the settings done, then it would be pretty easy to use. Add water, add grounds and filter, hit button on lower right twice. wait.... coffee!

2nd vote for the enthusiast. I toyed with something more expensive but decided to go with the Bonavita and its been a great choice so far. No frills, removable tank, and simply makes a good cup meeting the sca certification.

I have a Bonavita that I like but it may be bit over your price range. It's the Bonavita Enthusiast 8 Cup Drip Coffee Brewer. I paid around $150 USD for it. It doesn't have any fancy features like a timer to automatically brew in the morning, for example, but it does make a pretty tasty pot of coffee. However I use the Bonavita only when we have company and need something simple that people understand how to use. If it's just for me, I'll use a V60, Clever Driper or Hario Switch. I find these almost as easy to use (cleanup included) and I enjoy the result more. As far as features, I would look for temperature stability and the ability of the machine to fully saturate the coffee bed. Some machines, even more expensive ones, don't do this well and the result is a weak brew and wasted coffee. James Hoffman has done several reviews of machines at various price ranges, no machine is without issue but some of them are ok.

Just went through this same process and landed on a Moccamaster on sale during prime day. I think it was the right decision at the time, but I don’t love it. The coffee itself is fine. The plasticky bits are annoying. If you can find one in great shape on Marketplace, that might be a good way to go I’d stay away from Aiden. Expensive, too many problems reported. The Bonavita Enthusiast is a decent option and now widely in stock. If money is no object, the Ratio 8 looks like it ticks a lot of boxes, especially no heated plastic.

I’m pretty happy with my Bonavita. You want to get the Enthusiast model with the insulated carafe and filter holder that slides in to the brewer.