I've had the XL "office" version (Technivorm CDT Grand) for a year and a half now and find it far, far superior to every machine I've owned. Great, reliable cup every morning... and throughout the day. Tried to get my friend interested in one, and while he said it offers the best bang for your buck in quality, the plastic is a turn-off. I can understand why. If MM does ever decide to upgrade this tried and true machine, I think that is where they should focus effort and money.
As an owner of not one but three Moccamaster CDT Grand brewers, I lean towards thermal carafes as well in terms of flavor and durability, but I understand the glass carafe versions ranking higher simply because they also deliver and look prettier.
Moccamaster is great. Mine is 5 years old and makes superior coffee every day. I have the insulated carafe.
The secret to better coffee is to temporarily remove the carafe and stir the grounds in the hot water a bit before replacing the carafe.
I also balked at the price for what is really a very basic drip machine, but
I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another one once this one finally wears out.
Glass carafe huh? I went for the thermal and am loving it so far. Worth taking a little extra time and doing a bloom on the weekends IMO. It vastly improves the taste for minimal effort. I wish it had an auto bloom setting.
I've had two diff Moccamasters over the last few years now and have loved them both(switched to the thermal carafe). I just received a Ratio Six for Christmas and so far it's pretty nice so you may want to add it to your list to investigate. Bigger machine than the Moccamaster but it does have better coverage on the grinds as well as a bloom stage. Maybe someday someone will smarten up and have a temp settings for light/medium/dark roasts as well as a fully metal/glass water delivery system but until then these are two great machines. I'm not sophisticated enough to tell the difference but both machines make an excellent cup.
If you’re going to experiment with different beans/roasts from different roasters then get a conical burr grinder (Baratza encore) and a Moccamaster. Take good care of them and they will last you a long time. If you’re just going to buy ground coffee from a typical grocery store then I wouldn’t bother w it and just get a Ninja. I’m not a snob about it (i still drink Dunkin every day) but the Moccamaster is easy to use and clean and it really does brew in such a way that it brings out the different notes in different coffees. It made me look forward to trying out different roasters because I knew I would get a correct brew w the machine and I look forward yo trying new roasts.
If you do get the Moccamaster get the thermal carafe if you plan on enjoying coffee over the course of a day. It keeps it warm a long time; I initially had the glass carafe and even though it had a heating plate it would shut off automatically and the coffee cooled down quickly.
Just a note, my favorite roaster (George Howell) recently said he preferred the Ratio Six over the Moccamaster because it distributes the water more evenly. I gave it a shot and while I think it makes an excellent cup equal to the Moccamaster I find that it’s just not as well designed overall and has more parts to clean and the way the filter slots in between the spout and carafe is annoying to me.
Best of luck whatever you do. There are so many great roasts out there waiting for you to try.
Top Drip Coffee Makers on Reddit
1
Moccamaster (Technivorm)
KB Series
83% positive of 807 users
Durable, repairable workhorse, but pricey with basic features.
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