Coffee & Espresso Makers Tips

Capresso MT500 coffee maker Jura / Capresso MT500 10 Cup Coffee Maker My husband and I drink quite alot of coffee--and we like it very strong! We grind our own arabica beans--usuall...

Jura / Capresso MT500 10-Cup Coffee Maker Product Technical DetailsMT500 Key FeaturesTypeCoffee MakerBuilt-in Water FilterWi...

My original review followed by an update at the conclusion

I love coffee! Unfortunately, for most of my life,

I have been drinking brew from the likes of Mr. Coffee.

Their machines, and most others in their

price range, provide adequate flavored coffee that is

never delivered hot out of the machine.

The ULTIMATE Question

Is there a PERFECT coffee machine in the $100-$200

range and is such a machine possible?

My needs were simple. I needed a maker that brews

piping hot coffee, does it quickly and effectively,

and is easy to operate and clean.

Based on recommendations I received from coffee

drinkers on many Internet discussion forums, I

decided to spend about $170 for the Capresso MT500.

The machine is certainly beautiful, but not without

design flaws, mainly the way your carafe must sit

pinpointed beneath the filter cup to avoid overflow.

I am not also very keen on the placement of the water

level meter. I have to pull the machine out from its

resting place and turn it just to see how much water

I have poured in.

The included Gold-tone filter basket is coned shaped

rather than round, which suits me fine as its deepness

allows more coffee capacity with less of a chance of

grinds spilling into the brew.

You really not need to even read the instructions to

figure out how to use the Capresso MT500 within minutes

out of the box, though not doing so would mean it was

not primed properly.

Does this coffee maker produce piping hot coffee?

Well, that depends….

The first thing I was instructed to do after plugging

in the Capresso MT500 for the first time was to install

the charcoal filter and run 6 cups of water through

the machine to activate. The water that came out into

the carafe was piping hot!

The problem is, those of us that only make a few cups

of coffee in the morning (I use 3 cups of water), are

going to be disappointed. The temperature of my

cup of coffee was lukewarm. The instructions even

suggest that if you are going to make 3-4 cups of

coffee that you should rinse the carafe with hot

water first.

This is a major disappointment.

On the other hand, I must say that the Capresso MT500

produced the absolute best coffee I have ever had. I

could not believe the smoothness of the flavor. It’s

the same kind of coffee you would expect from a good restaurant.

I’m not quite sure if the secret to the Capresso’s

great tasting coffee is the way it brews or the fact

that it has a charcoal filter that removes the impurities

from the water. I suppose in the end it doesn’t matter. Coffee tastes damn good!

Though the Capresso MT500 comes with a single charcoal

filter, I would suggest stocking up on more. Amazon.com

sells Capresso 4440.90 3-pack Charcoal Water Filters for

about $10.

In Conclusion

I’m not exactly a happy camper over the Capresso MT500

for the simple fact that it can’t produce piping hot

coffee for anything under approx. 6 cups. I am going

to go out on a limb and say that perhaps because of the

shortened brewing time, there is probably no coffee maker

in existence that can produce piping hot brew for a few.

On the other hand, I am going to keep the Capresso MT500

for the simple fact that it produces outstanding,

flavorful, heavenly-smooth coffee that I have not been

able to bring to my home using something similar to Mr. Coffee.

UPDATE: I returned the Capresso MT500 to the retailer.

I just purchased a Technivorm KB-741 which is

identical in price to the Capresso, but rated at 125 watts

makes VERY HOT coffee in small amounts.

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