BDC450BSS Precision Brewer Drip Coffee Maker, Thermal Carafe, 60 oz, Brushed Stainless Steel

This will be my initial product review based on unboxing it and having tried it out once. I will update in 6 months and then a year. Let's get the major concern some may have with this machine, the sticker shock. Yes, it is pricey. Yes, the juice is worth the squeeze on first impressions. I have owned a number of coffee makers over the years (Cuisinart, KitchenAid, most recent was a Keurig Duo Plus) so this review is in comparison to those. I decided to replace the Keurig as it was no longer making a full pot no matter how often I descale it and I am diligent on doing that. It was also leaking water, from where I could not determine, but that might explain why it would not brew a full pot despite the water tank still having plenty in it. This coffee maker is solidly built. The thermal carafe is heavy, so it is properly insulated. The water tank is big with a big opening and clearly marked and legible water level indicators. The basket filter basket is big and easy to insert and it does not have to go in any specific way. It will click in place if you insert it straight on, sideways, maybe just not upside down. Much more solid feeling than the Keurig. It fits perfectly under my cabinets as well and despite it's size and heft, takes up less real estate than the Keruig or any of the others I have had. Set-up is easy, just read through the manual first, which has clear and concise instructions. Measuring your water hardness is easy as well. The dial on the front to set the time, water hardness, brew style, filter basket style, etc is easy to read and navigate. Setting up the auto-start function is also a breeze (yes, heretical as it may seem to java purists, I use this setting during the week to have my coffee ready by the time I am out of the shower and ready for my first cup while I log in to work). The Keurig was pretty much easy to use to brew coffee but set-up was not. The method to set the time was not the easiest. Setting the auto-start time was very convoluted to say the least. Brewing coffee - I used the Gold setting as that is the express purpose of this machine and other top-tier machines, brewing coffee according to SCA standards. We use Farmers Brothers coffee as that is what most restaurants in our area use and we like the taste of that particular coffee (again, java purists will be mortified, but like with wine or beer, drink what you like). While the coffee in our previous makers was good, it never achieved that restaurant flavor (most restaurants use the Bunn coffee brewers and while I have not seen them indicate they brew to SCA standards, the quality of their brew is pretty dang good). With the Breville, the taste matched what I taste from this brand of coffee at restaurants. It was delicious! And it was hot! With the Keurig, I would have to microwave my creamer to warm it up, otherwise the coffee would cool down too much. Not with the Breville. Furthermore, I drink a cup at home and on the days I have to go to the office, I pack a cup to go in a Contigo cup. With the Keurig, when I got too work, about a 20 min ride, the coffee would be warm but not hot. Today, I arrived at the office and the coffee was still hot. And still as tasty as the first cup I had at home. First impressions are important and the Breville has made a good, strong first impression. Time will tell if it can maintain the lofty standard it set but I will update review. If you are on the fence. buy it. The juice is worth the squeeze.

EDIT down to one star: cannot recommend due to leaking top that developed after a couple of months. A tablespoon of coffee drips down the side of the carafe with each use and pools under the carafe. Will try to attempt service. Original review: Here are my first impressions after a week. TLDR I recommend it if you’re looking at the sub-$300 market. Pros: - Great tasting coffee - No toxic plastic smell or taste like from cheap coffee makers - Cone filter insert designed well, this is my day to day 4-5 cup amount - Carafe is solid and keeps coffee hot - I was suspicious about the design of where the filter basket perches on the platform (appears janky) but I think it’s actually solid Cons: - Carafe pours reallllly slowly - Noisy (but I knew this from Breville espresso machine) - Side-by-side design isn’t my favorite but obvs I knew this going in - Worried that plastic reservoir will look dirty/discolor over time - The initial “flush” or clean function didn’t use all the water which made me really stress out haha. I’m putting this here in case anyone else runs into that problem (all subsequent brews have used all but a tiny bit of water, which makes sense given they aim to keep the internal parts wet) I will likely keep this machine. So far it’s very worth the two hundie sale price. The biggest negative surprise and the reason for the 4 stars is the carafe pouring speed. You really have to take the top off to pour unless you want to trickle your coffee in (see video). I’m sure there are all kinds of engineering tradeoffs that went into that choice but IMO they arrived at the wrong choice. That said I looooove how they have a simple system where you can switch between basket and cone brewing. I much prefer cone but will use the basket for larger brews and entertaining. Like I said above, I was a little hesitant about the “fit” of the brew basket on its little perch above the carafe but the whole platform is solid. I was expecting the basket to snap in precisely but it doesn’t. It remains a little jiggly — but there’s nothing cheap feeling about the structure. Overall I recommend it highly except for the pouring speed. :-)

great quality, great coffee

Es perfecta tanto para una taza como para toda una jarra. Me encantó, tiene el tamaño justo y luce genial en la cocina

Si pudiera, la devolvería de inmediato. Estaba entre esta y la Moccamaster. Compré esta máquina al ver los reviews en youtube y acá. Por favor, vayan por una moccamaster, por algo las cafeterías de especialidad de TODO EL MUNDO las ocupan. Gran error cometí al comprar esta Breville... La presión del agua/vapor que genera la configuración "gold" es tan fuerte que dobla el filtro de papel sobre la cama de café en AL MENOS 8 de 10 veces. Tengo que tener un limpia pipa de metal y una linterna al lado de una máquina de 8000 pesos para hacer café, para cuando el vapor doble el filtro y yo lo pueda corregir. Eso implica que si no estoy poniendo atención, en varias ocasiones queda un café "a medias" muy aguado... eso implica café $$$ y filtros $ que se van directo a la basura.

Love the HOT coffee