Aroma Signature DeLuxe (1007-02)

So on further inspection - turns out I have the Aroma Signature Deluxe, rather than the One. They seem to be basically identical though, apart from a slight difference in the carafe. I have a couple of gripes with it: * The 'shower' part where the water flows onto the coffee is quite narrow. That's generally fine for my needs, but it doesn't seem like the coffee gets a good coverage of water when I have to make a large brew (like ~1 litre). Having said that, the Moccamaster seems to have a similar design. * After about a year, the red light telling me I need to descale the machine will not go away. I have descaled twice since the light came on. I do live in an area with quite hard water, but I do filter it. The descale indicator also stops the buzz the machine makes when the brew is done, which is kinda annoying. What I do like is that you can make a large brew (1.25 litres). I've never used a Moccamaster, so don't really have a good point of reference. Build quality of the Melitta seems ok, though I would prefer a steel carafe (and a removable water reservoir, but I'm realistic at this price point). There are a few stress cracks starting to show on the plastic reservoir close to where the 'shower' rests against it, but not sure what's caused it - I may have been heavy handed when re-attaching it after cleaning because I wanted to make sure it was attached properly. The cracks are too high up to allow for any leakage, and don't run all the way through the plastic, so I'm not too concerned. I would probably buy it again if I needed to and that was all my budget could handle. I would most likely go for the Moccamaster if budget allows.

What matters the most is the actual coffee that you purchase. I usually buy organic medium roast Peet’s. If you have a coffee grinder at home, that’s best. But a pound ( or 12oz. bag of ground) from Trader Joe’s is good too. I’ve been making my own coffee every morning for over 50 years so I’ve tried many different automatic coffee makers and I’ve also done the Melitta glass drip method also. YOU WILL SAVE HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS PER YEAR! Please DO NOT buy the kind of coffee maker where you use the little plastic pods. Bad for the environment and considered “ cheating” by me if you want to make coffee the right way.

I went from a 30+ year old Melita drip and French press to a Moccamaster. While the coffee is better, so are the coffee grounds due to a far superior grinder that I also purchased. The Moccamaster is a beautiful machine that my wife and I enjoy daily. Small price to pay.