-Bonavita 8 Cup Coffee Maker, One-Touch Pour Over Brewing with Thermal Carafe, SCA Certified, Stainless Steel (BV1900TS)

Well, so far, my new Bonavita BV1900TS Coffee Brewer is brewing beyond my expectations. The coffee is great, and so is the carafe, unlike some reviewers' statements here. After running three cycles of tap water, here are my results of the third cycle – after about a half an hour cool down period. I never pre-heated the carafe, and it was about room temp before the third cycle. I used two different digital thermometers which I had previously tested as accurate with boiling water, and ice water. All readings are in Fahrenheit.1. Placing the thermometer in the steady stream from the spray head showed 204 degrees.2. Inside carafe after brewing stopped (no coffee or filter in basket) showed 190 degrees.All seemed very well, so I went straight to a coffee test. I used freshly ground Haitian Blue beans from Fresh Roasted Coffee (See here). My usual routine is two 20oz cups initially, with about 16oz poured each time. So, I filled the brewer up to the 6-cup line (approximately 30oz – 887 grams if interested) with bottled spring water. I ground 40gms of the beans, and poured them into one of the provided paper filters (see my side note near the end of this review). I placed the basket on top of the room temperature carafe and placed the assembly on the brew plate. I seldom drink strong coffee, so my water/coffee ratio was about 22 to 1 instead of the 15 to 1 that many “experts” often recommend. But, as with my previous Bunn MCU single-cup (See here), I used the pre-infusion option. I turned it on, and here are my timings:0:00 to 00:40 - Initial water heating0:40 - Gurgling began and drops of water for pre-infusion began dripping1:05 - Water drops mostly stopped and pre-infusion soaking continued1:30 - Regular coffee brewing began - more gurgling4:45 - Water in reservoir was depleted and louder gurgling started5:00 - Gurgling stopped but some dripping continued5:15 - Auto-shutoff ended the brewing process5:20 - Removed assembly, and still had some water in basket, and slight dripping from it6:00 - Removed basket when water was gone, and measured coffee temp in carafe – 179 degreesPut the lid on the carafe, poured my first 16oz cup, and measured the cupped coffee at 173 degrees. Then, I proceeded to enjoy a wonderful cup of coffee! I restrained myself, and waited an hour before getting my second cup.After the hour was up (actually 1 hour and 10 minutes), I measured the temp of the coffee – in the carafe. 158 degrees. Perfectly acceptable to me.A day later, and probably my third or fourth brewing, I was called away from home right after I poured my first cup. I got home four hours later, and I measured the temp of the second cup still in the carafe. 121 degrees with the room at 66 degrees. Drinkable for me without even nuking it, but probably not for most diehard coffee drinkers though. But, I was still impressed with the 55 degree differential after four hours!So, overall, I have to rate the Bonavita BV1900TS and the carafe with a hearty 5 stars. Both the brewer and the carafe met or exceeded my expectations with everything that mattered as far as coffee brewing and heat retention was concerned. The spray head seemed to work perfectly and appeared to flow evenly from all holes, although the drips seemed to switch among different holes at times – a plus, in my opinion, if anything.As a side note, my Capresso 560.01 Infinity Conical Burr Grinder (See here) does grind the beans quite finely even at the coarsest setting, so the water on top of the grounds at the end of the brewing cycle could be attributed to that fact. Capresso did kindly offer to adjust my grinder, but I declined since it would entail packing, shipping, waiting, etc. Someday, I plan to upgrade to a higher-end grinder, but it all seems doable for now. My only complaint is, as some have noted, getting the last of the coffee poured from the carafe is a bit awkward, but not enough of an issue to reduce my 5-star rating.I hope my details help you when checking out various coffee brewers. At the moment, I feel that I made the right decision. Should my opinion change after using this brewer over a longer time, I will provide an update.Just to note for this review, I did NOT receive a discount (except for the $8.62 Amazon's BIGTHANKS discount that could have been applied to any purchase) or any other compensation for my purchase or my review. Also, please note that I have no connection to Bonavita except for being a very satisfied customer at this time. All opinions stated here are completely my own. Heck, I don't even have an Amazon affiliate code for the links.

I will hopefully educate some of you into a good coffee maker, through my research and trials. I am just your average consumer looking for the best cup of coffee I can find, without having to go to a specialty store such as Starbucks. I usually don’t write to many reviews but this coffee maker tops them all. I have purchased and have used many coffee makers over time, but I think I found the one. I have used and owned various coffee makers. Here is the list of what I have personally used and tested. I use filtered water through a Pur Led 11 Cup Pitcher and a Capresso 560.04 Inifinity Conical Burr Grinder. With that out of the way, we are off to look at each coffee maker.Technivorm Moccamaster KBT 741Let’s start out with most expensive coffee maker I have purchased to date. While this is the most sturdy and well-built coffee make I have ever used, and will no doubt last the test of time, it lacked a few options I would like to see. Such as a pre soak feature to allow the fresh coffee grounds to bloom prior to finishing the brewing cycle. I found myself standing by the brewer, with the brew basket shut off, letting it fill with a cup or so of hot water then stirring the grounds to make sure they were all saturated. The shower arm has many holes, but water did not come out each hole consistently. Noticeably coming out just the end of the shower head. I would find myself moving around the basket way too much to get all the grounds wet. This will end up on Ebay.BUNN NHS Velocity BrewBUNN GRB Velocity BrewI loved these brewers! The rich full taste is hard to beat. The con’s on these two is I didn’t have the thermal carafe and the coffee started to lose its flavor quickly. I kept the GRB model for a backup coffee maker, just in case the Bonavita has any issuesKeurig B60 Special EditionThey got me on the convenience aspect, but the cost of the pods was killing stroke for me. Yes I did have the pods I could load with my own coffee, but they were too messy and time consuming. And I usually drink more than one cup. It was great for making hot chocolate for the kid, but in the end, it made its way to my closet.Cuisinart DCC-1200 Brew CentralThis coffee maker made excellent coffee minus the richness I was missing from the Bunn coffee makers. I sacrificed flavor and richness for a timered unit. But it did the job, if you’re looking to pre make your coffee the night before. But what I was looking for was overall taste. It is next to the Bunn And Keurig in the closet. I will most likely sell this one eBay as well.Now while this list is an expensive list. And cost doesn’t always equal a good cup. Coming from a farming family I have grown accustomed to the flavor of the Bunn coffee makers and let’s be honest they do make a delicious cup of coffee. The coffee makers are quick and stay within the time frame for the Specialty Coffee Association of America brewing times, but not the water temperature constancy during the brew cycle. Needless say I still love the cup of coffee these makers put out. The Bonavita makes a much better cup of coffee than the Bunn or Technivorm. And for the cost you can’t go wrong. Sure the price in between the costs of the two, but it’s a lot cheaper than the Technivorm. I wish I would have had a review to read that was just made by a plain consumer like myself. So hopefully this helps someone with their decisions. Good luck!