Braun – MultiServe Drip Coffee – Black/Stainless Steel

This Braun coffee maker does not disappoint. It is not cheap, but it also does not feel like a…

This Braun coffee maker does not disappoint. It is not cheap, but it also does not feel like a compromise in any way. If you want reliable drip coffee, in a variety of sizes, with convenient auto features, a self-contained water reservoir, and a water filter, this is an excellent machine. Looks and footprint: The Braun Multi-serve is a sleek looking unit. It’s not small, but it doesn’t waste space. It has real stainless-steel accents and not fake plastic chrome. The details are all nicely thought out, and the unit is compact and while offering a full raft of features. If you want a small, one cup coffee pot, don’t buy this. It is a little tall, and because of the orientation of the machine, I have to slide it from the back of the counter to the front to open the lid and add coffee. If the coffee basket simply pulled out horizontally, I wouldn’t have to do that, but because the lid pops up, it hits the cabinets above the machine if it is against the back wall. If you don’t have the coffee pot under cabinets, this will not be an issue. Even so, I am definitely willing to move the unit around a little in return for a nice cup or carafe of coffee. Features: This is a loaded machine, and that does make me a little worried that eventually electronic parts may fail. My previous (not Braun) coffeemaker had several bad flaws in the design that led to partial failures in less than three months. In that unit, the electronics (the clock/timer and brew settings) were all located at the base of the machine, under the coffee pot. Nearly immediately, liquid damage to the electronics caused the timer to fail, the “strong” brew setting, and even something with the way the machine measures water—so my old machine will make coffee, but exactly how much at any given time, or when, is a little iffy. With the Braun, the electronics are separated and to the side, and I think there is a much lower chance of water damage destroying the machine. It also just seems to have a stouter set of electronics, with a number of settings to choose from controlled by independent buttons. You can: set a timer for auto coffee, set the brew style (“light,” “gold,” or “bold”), set the temperature of the water, set the unit to brew “over ice,” set the water hardness level, and set the altitude (in case you live at high altitude). There is also a “clean” setting for descaling the unit. In addition to these options, there are also several options for the size. A dial selector offers choices from a 5 oz cup to full, 10-cup carafe, with several increments in between to accommodate larger cups, travel cups, and half carafe sizes (5 oz, 8 oz, 12 oz, 16 oz, 20 oz, half carafe (5 cups), full carafe (10 cups)). Because the unit measures the water based on your setting, you fill the reservoir, set the size, and it does the rest. You can’t brew “6 cups” by pouring in that much water like you would with a very basic coffee pot. So, you have to accept the sizes offered, but it’s a lot less messy. However, with this range, I think it’s easy to have any whim accommodated. There is a little shelf that folds out to hold a cup for the smaller sizes. No pods required to make those sizes, either. The unit includes the glass carafe, a gold permanent filter (awesome!), and a carbon water filter for the water reservoir. I’m not sure how much the replacement filters cost. Probably worth the investment if they also help prevent damage to the machine filtering out some of the minerals, in addition to tastier coffee. As well, they give a dual sided measuring spoon for grounds, and a key in the operating manual for measuring correctly for given sizes. Finally, there is a little lever right at the drip outlet. This lever is used for “drip stop” if you need to pause the brew (do not just remove the carafe—there is no brewing auto-stop button). The lever also is used to set for “hot water.” The hot water setting allows sending hot water from a separate tap directly into your cup for tea or broth or what have you. It’s a nice little feature if you don’t want to make a whole pot of tea. Operation: So far, my experience with the unit has been great. I’ve used the included permanent filter and the directions for measuring according to the Braun measuring spoon and operating booklet. For every size I’ve tried the results have been very consistent (the same ground will result in the same tasting cup regardless of size). A single cup, a travel mug, a half carafe, or a full pot all taste uniformly good and brew correctly. Once set, the brewer has not over or under shot the water measurement; has not stopped brewing prematurely and has made consistently good coffee with all the suggested measurements. I had previously weighed my coffee grounds before brewing, but I have not tried that with this unit. When the brew cycle is complete, the brewer beeps loudly enough to let you know to come get your coffee. Because it auto measures the water, just fill the reservoir all the way; no need to be precise before you make coffee as long as there is enough water to cover your total amount. Using the auto-on feature also worked perfectly as it should. It is nice to wake up to the coffee brewing itself (As long as you set it up right the night before! Forgetting to put the carafe under the coffee would be a real mess with this unit because there is no auto-pause feature.) With the “travel cup” feature, I was not sure that the sizing would be correct, but so far I’ve not had a problem matching a cup to a pre-set. It’s also really nice to be able to brew right into the mug with the right amount and go. No pouring, no extra too small amounts of coffee left over; just the right cup in a timely fashion. So far, all the mugs have fit under the spigot. A couple are a little tight; very tall mugs might not fit. Glass carafe: the glass carafe has a nice shape and pours easily. Possibly too easily! It’s also easy to clean. It is not a standard carafe; if I break it, it may be a little aggravating to replace. But—I’ll try not to break it. There is a warmer under the carafe, and it stays on for about two hours and then turns itself off. I’ve had basic brewers without this feature, and I like having it. I don’t want to worry about it when I’m 5 or 500 miles down the road. The machine is also smart. When the dial selector is on the “cup” or the “travel mug” settings, the burner does not come on. That would obviously be bad news with a plastic mug or even a stainless-steel one. The hot water unit also works well and delivers water appropriate for tea or instant coffee. Probably it could be used for instant soup as well, but that would depend on being able to select the right size. There isn’t just an “on demand” button for this feature; you still have to use the selector dial, so are limited to 5 oz, 8 oz, 12 oz, etc. “Over Ice” feature: I was really skeptical about this one. The unit brags that you can just fill whatever vessel you’re using with ice, setup the brewer as usual for the size of that unit and brew up some iced coffee. Amazingly, it actually worked. I filled a mug with ice—to the top—set the size, let it brew, and the first sip provided cold, passable iced coffee. I’d say it’s a little bitter, but iced coffee *is* a little bitter. I’m not sure I’d do this all the time, but it’s superior to any cold brew I’ve managed to make at home. Granted, I do not have any special cold brew equipment, so if you’re a connoisseur of the cold stuff, this feature may not impress you. Cons: I have a few very minor issues with the machine. One is that it drips a lot after it’s finished brewing. When you remove your cup or the carafe, there will be some extra drips that make a little puddle on the burner. Not a huge deal, but a dishcloth and quick wipe are needed. The clean cycle: I accidently turned on the clean cycle, and this was a pain because it cannot be stopped once it’s started. So, I had to wait 20+ minutes to get my coffee pot back to normal because I pressed a button by accident. Be careful! The manual is needed. Everything works and most of it is pretty intuitive, but you do have to read the directions. This was particularly true for the timer/auto-on setting. However, once you learn the kinks, it’s no big deal. Glass carafes or nice because you can keep them on the warmer burner; a thermal stainless steel pot would be better. Harder to break and probably wouldn’t need the warmer at all. But, I can always put the coffee in a vacuum carafe turn off the warmer.

Personally, I enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning and if during the day I have the opportunity to have another cup, why not. Having a coffee maker that allows you to prepare coffee in a quick and practical way without so much hassle, makes the days start even better and I consider this coffee maker to be a great help. The coffee maker comes in a very simple but well protected package, in the box comes the coffee maker with a quick start guide, it also includes the corresponding user manual. The quick start guide shows the fundamental steps to follow before making coffee for the first time, once this is done, the coffee maker is ready to start using. The instructions in the guide are very clear and the coffee brewing options are perfectly illustrated on the coffee maker itself, which makes brewing coffee very intuitive. It is possible to brew from a single cup to a pot of coffee whether it is light, medium or dark coffee or just hot water maybe fot tea. Using the 2-sided coffee measuring scoop, making coffee is very simple as it is marked with the amount of scoops needed depending on the amount of coffee we wanting to prepare. The coffee maker has a lever to stop the drip or to get hot water, I find this very helpful because one of the things I dislike is that the warmer plate gets stained with coffee when I remove the carafe to serve myself coffee and canceling the drip allows this to not happen anymore, something that is very much appreciated. Also an important detail to mention is that it has a cup holder which is a great help when brewing just one cup of coffee, very useful indeed. It is possible to program the coffee maker to turn on and start brewing coffee at the desired time, in my case I program it to brew coffee while I take a shower in the morning. The water reservoir is large enough and can be removed from the coffemaker to fill it with water directly so you don’t have to use another container to pour water into it, this makes things even easier. Inside the basket is the permanent filter, this is the filter I use, it is possible to use cone type filters № 4 but if I wash the filter basket after using the machine, I have no problem washing the filter as well. In summary I can say that this product, like many of the Braun products, speaks for itself, quality and ease of use characterize this product, plus it has a great design that looks great. If you want a coffee maker that can brew coffee quickly and without complications, this is definitely the ideal coffee maker, it is very intuitive and can brew from a single cup to a whole carafe, I definitely recommend it.