sweeper's Full Review: Cuisinart DGB-300 10-Cup Coffee Maker
Somewhere in a box at home there's a cartoon drawn by my sister depicting me standing butt naked in my front yard while my house burns clasping my coffee maker in a manner that just covers my "area". The word bubble over my head reads, "Someone save the children!" The obvious question to anyone seeing this drawing is: Does it make as many cups as it seems?
Anyone who knows me for more than a few minutes understands my passion for coffee. And this doesn't mean that murky water that starts in a blue or red two pound can at the grocery store. I'm talking oven roasted, freshly ground, newly brewed, French roast Nirvana from a trusted source. Oh sure, there's the stuff from the machine at work which I call the "utility blend". If I make it two pre-measured bags at a time, I can abide. If you are wincing at this or you actually like your coffee at work, please go away now. I suggest to a five-star Budweiser review.
For years, my weekend morning ritual was to grind the beans and brew a fresh pot. This happened at 4 a.m. if I was headed to the slopes or 11 a.m. if I had a "night before". But it always happened. Just as the Japanese word for food and rice is the same, if they ever start a language based on my idioms, morning and coffee would be the same word. Some of you already speak it I'm sure.
When my wife won a gift certificate of significant value to Macys as a prize in her office Christmas party, she agreed to "split" it with me. After all just two weeks earlier I had conceded on a major jewelry purchase in an amount that could have really been put to good use in some night vision goggles that I've had my eyes on for quite some time. Not being too familiar with Macys other than with the sofa in which I normally doze while my wife trolls the shoe department, we went shopping. Not seeing much that interested me in women's shoes other than some black high-heel patent leather boots that come up to thigh level and end with cuffs, I found myself among the kitchen products. What the heck, I thought, I could always use more barbecue tools being a guy and all. In my search to find the guy cooking section, I spied it. Seraphim and cherubim floated above while herald angels sang "hallelujah" to heavenly fanfare. In the blinding god beams there it was - a coffee maker with a built-in grinder. Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit about the angels and the music but it was Christmas and this was Macys so maybe I'm not exaggerating.
I picked up the Cuisinart "Grind and Brew" with "coffee bar" control and found that it serves so much more than a quick "cover up" when guests arrive and my shorts are still in the dryer. This model is so automatic that I can dump coffee beans into a hopper, pour a measure of water into its reservoir, set the timer in the evening, and in the morning have the coffee waiting for me to pour. It actually grinds and transfers the grounds to the filter cone where brewing happens immediately. It is almost as good as when my wife and I were dating and she would make coffee for me my way. And it's much better than any power tool you can imagine including but not limited to a Makita compound miter saw with infinite cutting angles.
I don't know what the "coffee bar" control really does but leave it set at "strong" just in case. When new guests are over, they always remark at the sound the machine makes when grinding beans. While some may describe the sound as "pronounced", I always find it amusing the way they dive for cover believing a jetliner is about to make an emergency landing in the family room. Let's just say I don't have to set my alarm in the morning anymore.
The quality of coffee is highly consistent and not at all sensitive to measure. I normally eyeball the bean hopper when I fill it so that it either is really full or overflows. Then I fill the reservoir with enough water so that it spills slightly out the back. MMmm, just right.
The unit is supplied with a "gold" reusable filter which after one use was tossed in favor of tried and true paper filters the way God had intended man to brew java. A cost of this convenience is the number of parts that need cleaning between brewing cycles. Compared to the number of parts in a 1961 Buick Special single barrel carburetor, however, this thing is a cinch. And is so much more enjoyable to work with.
Typically a hot water rinse and wipe down is all that's needed. This rids the parts of residual oils that can give future brews a bitter taste and, by using no detergent, you don't risk imparting a soapy taste.
When your morning means coffee and right now, you can't do much better than a coffee maker with built-in grinder. Cuisinart has done this well. I can't wait until they come out with a pizza machine.
One machine that grinds and brews coffee. Includes a timer, cleaning function, warmer, 1-4 cup setting. Permanent filter never needs replacing.More at eCOST.com
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