KB Series

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.

Yeah I bought us one about a year ago. Got a great deal so I'm happy with it. But if I paid full price I would feel let down on the quality/sturdyness of the whole thing.

It's an old (1970) and proven design, but the coffee isn't that great to be honest. I returned mine, couldn't get a decent cup of coffee out of it. I'm used to Aeropress, pour over and espresso.

KGBT - same experience (outside of the plate/carafe) a couple years ago but i keep it around hoping one day something. There was one YT review where a couple did a blind comparison of brewers - MM did not do well - and they were surprised and went back to do a second MM brew again and all the sudden it was tops. Thats suspicious and perhaps could be a dial in issue … for all the other brewers that didn’t perform as well too. I think it all comes down to profile tastes and expectations. I really like the breville precision but also wouldnt mind trying an aiden, ratio or xbloom.

I thought i understood this brewer to do well with beans on the darker side. But i too was underwhelmed with the moccamaster kgbt. The definitely semi-automatic for me. The grind needs to be fine enough to allow the bed to be saturated evenly but drain timely. Schrödinger’s lidded quantum brewer basket. Is the bed even or fully wet? Dont look. Just cover & enjoy.

Got mine yesterday (same model, just flat black color) and had my first cup this AM. It was so good. I really didn't know what I was missing over the years.

We tried the Moccamaster and the amount of coffee recommended was nuts. From there went to Ratio. Really nice coffee but the thing has been repaired twice and now it is not functioning again. The backup for the Ratio is a Fellows. If it were up to me, I would do either a pour over or French press and not spend $$$ on an expensive coffee maker. Do buy freshly roasted beans, grind in a burr grinder and store beans in a vacuum canister.

The only negative is the plastic drip diffuser (wish that was stainless steel) and I wish the water tank was removable. But yes built really well and very simple design.