Cup-One

>The only moccamaster I would use to make less than .6 liters is the one cup. The full size brewers flow way too fast to get decent extraction with such a small amount of water. Would you say this about the MMs that have the select switch on the brew basket that controls the water flow?

Yeah that makes sense. My standpoint is that I have a hard time justifying buying a $300 coffee maker that only makes single serve. But if the carafe brewers can make pretty good small batches then that's an added bonus. In my experience the smaller batches of the carafes brewers are good, but I'm also no coffee expert.

Neither. Get the KBTS. It's the smallest model with a thermal carafe. It makes up to 1 L (32 oz) which is perfect for 4 people to share (if you ever host your family or some friends). Because it's the thermal model, you can take the carafe out and put a travel mug or thermos or mug underneath and brew directly into that like the Cup One can. This model also does not have the auto-shutoff valve, and so you don't need to modify the brew basket to accommodate other vessels to brew in. It has the select brew basket, so you can make great half pots. Moccamaster recommends you make at least a half pot, but I make 8 oz cups with it all the time and the only downside is they are a bit less consistent. I've never had a bad cup though when making single cups. But 8 oz is not a lot for coffee. If you drink 1 big mug a day you probably drink closer to 14 oz, which is practically a half-pot anyway. It's objectively the best model and I will die on this hill.

Yep. There is a sliding switch on the side of the brew basket. It has three settings: Full pot, half pot, and closed. On the full pot setting, the brew basket permits the maximum amount of flow of water out of the brew basket. On the half pot setting, the brew basket slows the flow of water. Moccamaster says this improves the taste when making half pots. The closed setting closes the valve and immediately stops all water from flowing (including drips). This is a purely mechanical switch and it does not affect the brewer itself or its electronics. [This haphazard and awkward video](https://youtu.be/6Cj-STkFNOo) might help show you how it works. Edit: so for your situation, you would just brew a half pot and select the half pot setting on the brew basket switch. You could brew this directly into a travel container or mug or into the carafe. Whatever you want.

I just got a moccamaster. The moccamaster is really expensive for what it is, I totally agree. It also is designed not for luxury, but functionality. Those black plastic pieces do feel cheap and do look like black plastic, but they excel at insulating the brewing area. But the moccamaster is expensive for a different reason. In a time when most products and especially appliances are built as cheaply as possible and with planned obsolescence in mind, the moccamaster is not. You know how your Gramma still has that hand mixer that she's owned for the last 40 years? But somehow the ones you buy don't last nearly as long? Well the moccamaster is basically a company that sells a brand new coffee machine that was built like they were 40 years ago. You're given a 5 year warranty and excellent customer service after that. If anything breaks outside of warranty, you ship your machine back to moccamaster with a $60 cheque and they'll fix it and clean it and send it back to you. If you don't want them to fix it, you can contact them and order the parts yourself. It's designed just like something out of the 60s, so it's easy to get inside and fix anything you need to. It's built completely in a wealthy, first world country with some of the best labour laws on the planet. But for moccamaster to stay competitive in this space while also allowing for repairability and a lifetime of use and ethical manufacturing, they have to charge a premium. That's what you buy a moccamaster for. Not because it's luxurious or because it's got all the bells and whistles. You buy it because it makes great coffee and you'll be able to give it to your kids in your friggin will!

That's kind of personal to you. It makes great coffee, and is repairable with a long warranty. It's built in the Netherlands and is built to last. However, in North America, parts are not available or supplied by MM, and so the functional DIY repairability goes down a lot. It's also very expensive in North America, whereas it is much more budget friendly in Europe.

>Or you could buy a mochamaster where everything can be replaced and last you a lifetime This is not free. It costs about $100 to send it in to moccamaster to have it fixed.

Replacement parts are not available worldwide. I'm in North America and you can't get most of the parts here if I recall. You can buy a replacement basket or carafe from the MM website. But you can't get the switch, or copper burner element, or any of the other internals to my understanding.

I totally agree which is why I bought it. My parents just bought a Keurig and it showed up to their house and had a problem with it. They spent hours on calls with customer service and finally they just told him to throw in the garbage and sent them a new one. No thanks.

>Yes, it is expensive, but it isn’t made from cheap plastic parts that will break on you in a year. Except it kinda is. Lots of people seem to have problems with their carafes which are not under warranty. I see issues with hot plates breaking and switches breaking too. The core unit itself, your right, is very durable. All of which can be fixed either under warranty or for a fee.

You should buy the Moccamaster if you want the following: 1. A coffee maker that makes really good coffee 2. A coffee maker which, if it breaks, you can send in to be fixed for ~100 $. If neither of those things appeal to you, especially considering the price, I'd suggest you keep looking. No ninja or Keurig is ever going to make coffee as good as a brewer that meets [the SCA Home Brewer Certification. ](https://sca.coffee/certified-home-brewer)

Nothing lol. It's a pleasant coffee maker to use, sure, but it's not a fucking roller coaster. In North America, moccamasters are frankly overpriced and undersupported. For $450 you get a machine that makes coffee just as good as another $200 machine, but that has a 5 year warranty over half the machine, and no warranty over the other half. Parts are unavailable if you want to do the repairs yourself.

We got a Moccamaster Cup One and love it.

Moccamaster makes a single serve coffee maker that brews a cup in about 4 minutes. It’s called the Cup One and we replaced our Keurig with it. It’s been great and the coffee is so much better than the keurig. If you get the larger moccamasters it’s pretty simple to make a half pot.

I agree with this. I look forward to plain drip coffee from home. I mean I put a splash of sweet cream in it…but I look forward to it. The grind, the brew, the ritual. I have the Cup-One. It tastes SO MUCH BETTER than a k-cup.

It sounds like the majority of your use is a cup, or maybe a couple. Rarely a pot.  If this is true I’d suggest the cup one and you could get a cheaper coffee maker if you want for the pot. IMO the moccasters brew better when they brew full or nearly full pots, so a liter or 1.25 liters. Trying to get them to brew just a cup I’ve never had luck and seen similar struggles here with people trying to do even half pots. It can be done, but the cup one would be better.  Maybe down the road get a bonbons 8 or 10 cup brewer on a Black Friday type sale or refurbished, or even just a cheap brewer from Walmart when you have guests.  As for grinder I don’t know if you’d consider the baratza encore cheap or not but it is suggested a lot and I use to have one and liked it just fine.  Edit: or you know, do a liter of coffee and drink three mugs worth of coffee a day. That is actually what I do most days. 

Ah yes, sorry about that. Bonavita, not bonbons. I'm on mobile and autocorrect and trying to type fast got me. I used to have a small Bonavita and it worked well, and many of their makers are also on the SCAA list. Large French press would be fun/nice too.

I think the Moccamaster was one of the first brewers to provide the correct water temp / flow, at least that became popular. The reputation from this plus they do tend to last a long, long time (I have one that is still going strong after 20 years) make them worth it imo. As for taste two things. One, imo any brewer that is on the SCAA list will make good coffee and all be wishing the same league as each other. I don’t know if your Ninja is on that list but I’ve had the Bonavita from that list and while it lasted it made good coffee, it just didn’t last. So a coffee maker that makes good or great coffee at the top isn’t going to be bested heads and shoulders by another, there is diminishing returns at the top and of course subjective taste buds. But the Moccamaster (and other SCAA brewers) make good coffee, then the Moccamaster has the advantage of lasting a very long time, at least in my experience although I understand you think it feels cheap. Second, could it maybe be a dialing in thing with how you are brewing? You mentioned using the same grind for each of the methods you tested but that is not being fair to any of the three. Different brewers and brew methods require different grind sizes. If one is cupping to taste test different beans or compare grinders then that evenness of the same grind would be good to do, but not in comparing coffee makers. Dialing in each grind size for each method would be best. If others have your model of grinder they may help you get started but you could also pick a ratio and dedicate a bag of your typical beans and start out grinding several stops too fine to see what bitter is like, then several stops too coarse to see what sour is like, then work your way back towards bitter until you can just start to taste bitterness, then back off a stop. Just a suggestion.

For the most part imo then there wouldn’t be a wide tase difference between the brewers then if the Ninja would have been capable of being on the SCAA list had they certified it. So then it just goes to which other features you like in a brewer. I like the looks of the Moccamaster and the no frills (no LEDs, digital, timers, etc.) but others need the frills or like different looks. FWIW I can get a better brew with a chemex and a pour over as well, and also prefer Americanos out of an espresso machine I also have, but if my Moccamaster would actually die I’d get another. What I get from it is easy making coffee in a pot that I don’t have to think ab out for good, even brew every time. Other brewers can do this too though.

If you are using the glass carafe and lifting the lid when you pour….don’t. Seems a lot of people because of the thumb treads do this but it pours just fine if you don’t. If you aren’t and/or have the thermal….beats me what is happening as mine doesn’t dip.

Another vote for Moccamaster but a word of caution….people will say and have said in this thread how great of coffee it makes but while that may be true vs cheaper brewers most brewers on the SCAA list will make good coffee and the differences between the quality of the coffee they brew isn’t huge. Diminishing returns in the better the brewer you get. Not steering you away, my first one from the late 1990s is still going strong at my son’s house and my 2nd at our home is chugging along great. The Moccamaster is a no frills, BIFL coffee brewer.

Pretty much all the SCAA certified coffee brewers, or a coffee brewer that can deliver those specs such as water flow at a certain temperature, are going to brew good coffee. That's it. The moccamaster is great because it does that, is built well, is simple, and has replacement parts. If you are looking for a better tasting cup of coffee you will need to switch brewing process to see if you prefer any of those those (French press, espresso, etc.) just like baking is not frying is not microwaving in taste and texture. Other than that, you are not going to get a world of difference between similar styles of good coffee makers. So if your Ninja is still working and delivering the water flow at the temperature needed, just keep it imo.

You mention not wanting to stir and do pre-blooming .... if you read that about the MM it is not needed although some people like to try. The Luxe has a lot of settings to fuss around with like this as well, although also you don't have to touch. I'm not sure about the Precision. Note that drinking brewed coffee over your 4-5 hour time period it will change flavor from beginning to end if you have a discerning palette. While it'll happen faster on a warming plate, inside of an hour, coffee stewing in a thermos will do the same at a slower rate. It'll maintain temperature and still be coffee and likely tasty in a thermos, but flavor notes of freshly brewed coffee will be dulled. One reason the MM may not be for you is the desire to use pre-ground coffee. Every coffee brewer, no matter the model or method, has a preferred grind size where it makes the best coffee. The MM's is coarser than the grind size of pre-ground off the shelf coffee. Even Technivorm I think says it is on the coarser side of drip/pour over. If you have your local roaster grind to that size then fine, but off the shelf bags likely won't be as good. As far as the quality of the coffee, the MM and the Breville's both are on the SCAA certified list so the differences in the flavor and quality of the coffee they make are going to be similar....enough so that it'd be subjective to the person's tastebuds which produces the better cup. They both should produce equally good coffee. So pick the one with the aesthetics or bells and whistles that you want. The biggest pros of the MM are the simple design, use, and robustness. Breville is no slouch. One last thought, you mentioned you want simple and cups over hours and used to have a Keurig but sounds like they die a lot on you. Have you considered Nespresso Vertuo line which is for coffee (original line is better for espresso)? I've had some pretty good cups from those with the biggest downsides being price of the pods ($1 each or so?) and the coffee isn't as hot as freshly brewed, an issue (for me, not all of course) with the Keurig's as well.

Yes and no. I can’t speak to the EU grind size but I’d think Technivorm US would be smart enough to alter it in the US manuals if it was the difference of a more espresso grind size vs what the US has when considering store bought pre-ground bags. But even if they didn’t think of changing it they state medium to medium coarse like you say, and the bags I’ve had off store shelves are more medium to medium fine, almost like granulated sugar or beach sand. I don’ think they work especially well in the MM but then taste buds differ of course. Most guides I’ve seen have it on the coarser side of medium as well, resembling rough sand or sea salt. I’m sure plenty of people like it finer grind than I do, but do most is the question I guess.

IMO the MM does a great job at 1L or full pot brews. Yeah, some of them have half pot settings and people do do half pots, but the result isn't as good as I'd like. Doesn't the aeropress have an XL size that makes the range you are thinking? If I'm going to do a single cup or the range you have I have other options I use, I only use the MM for 1 liter brews.

Process: * Use another container besides the carafe to pour 300 or so ml water into the reservoir, I use a Pyrex beaker as it is graduated and I like the aesthetics. Unless you are deep cleaning our carafe each time the coffee oils are building up on it even if you can’t see them and you don’t wan them to get into the boiler * Run that water through the machine, rinsing the paper filter even if it is bleached, pre warming the carafe, pouring that water into your cup to pre warm it * Use your preferred ratio / grind and brew a great cup Tips * Don’t do all the fancy hold for bloom, stirring, etc. some like to do for what is at best (if at all) marginally better flavor. It is a simple machine meant to brew simply and has been doing so for decades. * Find your starting grind size by picking a ratio and sticking with it. While I used to use 62g to 1 L of water in a Bonavita with the MM I use closer to the SCAA golden ratio / what MM suggests (55g) by using 56.3g per liter as 56.3g divides nicely into a 12 oz bag of coffee. * First brews if you don’t know what biter is purposefully grind too fine, taste. Then grind too coarse, taste. Now keep making new brews getting finer from that sour until you hit your preferred taste or you taste bitter again, then back off a step. You now have your starting grinder setting, which for many is on the coarser end of pour over / dip for our grinder. * Descale when you run out of every 100 count box of filters * I also run the cleaning powder through every week or two as I only rinse and wipe the glass carafe during the week. * For my taste buds about day 4 or 5 on a bag of beans I go 1 step finer. I also sometimes go 1 step finer if the roast is very light or 1 step coarser if the roast is very dark * Full or near full pots (so 8 cup line of 1 liter, 10 cup line of 1.25 liter if I recall correctly (I jus use a 1 L beaker to pour in) work best, if trying to do 1/2 pots your ratio and/or grind size will change

I am glad I didn’t go the “one cup” route and got the KBGV. When people come over it’s nice to make a huge pots and got my daily 20oz cup it’s perfect.

If money is not a issue, get a moccamaster. 2 buttons. No fancy bells and whistles.its among the best machines and its considered a BFL machine. 5 year warranty and after moccamaster can repair for like 60. you mail it in.

If you go moccamaster it goes on sale a few times a year. Keep an eye on slick deals. Love my machine.

I agree with u/No-Beach-8401. A big rabbit hole! My case is single cup grind and drip brew daily. Moccamaster Cup One is what I choose 3 years ago and it is also built like a tank. The grinder is the most important step though. For that, I use the Niche Zero. Expensive? Yes, but totally worth it. Good luck!

RE: Moccamaster tanks. Let's put it this way, if you are consistent with the cleaning and descaling, it should last you decades. No joke.

I've had my Cup One for 3 years now and I love it. Built like a tank and just about all components can be replaced if necessary. It brews consistently well. If you keep up with regular maintenance, it will last you a lifetime. Just spend the extra $60 and buy one new. You won't regret it.

With regular maintenance, the Moccamaster will last ages but none of them are programmable.

I overfill my cup one to do 14oz every time and it works just fine.