Cuisinart 12 Cup Programmable Coffee Maker

Lots of people like to start their day with a good cup of coffee, and I’m one of them. Now, I’m not what you’d call a coffee snob, but I do know the difference between good coffee and the stuff that tastes like cigarette ashes.

I recently picked up a new Cuisinart programmable coffee maker for the house. I’d been using a Mr. Coffee machine for several years, but I couldn’t take the disappointment any longer. So, if you’re shopping for a new coffee maker and are interested in the Cuisinart, keep reading!

Let’s start with why I had to get a new coffee maker in the first place. As I mentioned earlier, I have been using several Mr. Coffee machines for the past few years. It got the job done and even made what I thought was respectable coffee when I started using “better” coffee like Newman’s Own and Dunkin’ Donuts. However, one morning I noticed a toxic, plastic taste in the coffee. I cleaned the coffee maker, ran a few cycles of water, and still had the plastic taste. Thinking that I had just worn out the coffee maker, I called Mr. Coffee customer support

To my delight, Mr. Coffee actually had pretty good support. All they did was ask for the serial number, apologize, and ship me a new coffee maker. Unfortunately, the unit that came directly from Mr. Coffee had the same plastic-tasting problem right out of the box. I even ran several cycles of water before I brewed any coffee!

Cuisinart Makes the Best Coffee I’ve Had at Home

That brings us up to date with me and my new Cuisinart machine. So far I’m very impressed with pretty much everything about it. Here are some of features that I like best:

• Looks great – First of all, this coffee maker looks sharp sitting on the kitchen counter. It has a brushed metal exterior that looks great and will complement any stainless steal appliances that you may already have in the kitchen. It’s not too large like many of the “top of the line” makers, which allows it to fit beneath my cabinets.
• Included Charcoal Water Filter – This model includes a charcoal water filter that will help eliminate chlorine, calcium, and other bad tastes and odors from your water. If your water doesn’t taste good, chances are your coffee won’t taste good either!
• Programmable – This unit allows you to program a preset brew time so that your coffee maker will begin the brewing process automatically whenever you’d like. This is must-have feature for me, as I’m accustomed to waking up to the smell of coffee and simply walking to the kitchen and pouring a cup.
• 1-4 Cup Setting – I don’t always want to brew a large pot, but other coffee makers struggle with small brews because it doesn’t allow enough time to heat up the water sufficiently. The Cuisinart solves this problem with a 1-4 Cup Setting, which doubles the water heat and delivers fresh, hot coffee with even the smallest brew amounts.
• Adjustable Heater Plate – This is deal maker or breaker for me when it comes to coffee makers. I’ve had inexpensive coffee makers that doesn’t allow the warmer plate to be adjusted. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, if the warmer plate is too hot, it will give your coffee a burnt taste, especially when there’s just a cup or two of coffee in the carafe.
• No Drip Carafe – This is actually one of my favorite features. Every other coffee maker I’ve owned had a carafe with a lid that flips up. Often times, the lid would flip up on its own while I was pouring coffee and would either 1) get in the way or 2) allow a cloud of steam to burn my hand. The Cuisinart’s carafe has a lid that snaps on and remains stationary. It doesn’t leak at all and it makes pouring coffee and filling the coffee maker’s water tank a breeze.