By 

Derek E. Schader –

  

Ok, in my family, I am the only one who drinks coffee. My wife does not. This coffee maker is perfect for myself. It allows me two full 14oz mugs of coffee without wasting an entire pot on just myself.

Most 10-12 cup coffee makers don’t do a good job of making smaller amounts of coffee for those of us that may have a single coffee drinker family. The coffee is either lukewarm or not strong enough when trying to make a smaller batch. My wife doesn’t like coffee so I am stuck either getting an expensive single K-cup style coffee maker, pod maker or a 4-cup drip brewer. However, thanks to the Hamilton Beach 48274 Brew Station 6-Cup Coffeemaker, I can end my search for the perfect solution.

The Brew Station makes an excellent, piping hot cup of coffee. It is said to be a 6-cup brewer and that may be the case for a regular 5oz mug. But for me, I use a 14oz mug and this brewer makes exactly two full mugs of coffee with none to spare. The coffee maker does an excellent job of keeping the coffee hot until needed, without continuously cooking the coffee or burning it. The programming is easy to use, and the overall design is simple enough once you get used to filling the water reservoir. I immediately ran three brewing cycles of just water once I opened the box and then made my first batch. There was no plastic taste or any other chemical taste to my coffee.

Other reviews have stated their Brew Station leaked, but mine does not. There is a little plastic arm that swings out over the coffee ground basket which dispenses the water. I could see that if this arm was not swung out over the basket, it might leak out the back. Also, the actual dispensing mechanism might be another place for leakage if there are coffee grounds or some object stuck between the valve and gasket so be sure to make sure this area has no coffee grounds in it prior to using. Again, I have not had this problem and don’t anticipate that I will as I am really careful to not get coffee grounds in the coffee reservoir and always make sure the arm is over the brewing basket.

Others have mentioned that 8-12 cup filters don’t fit this maker. The manual does not state which size filter to use either. I have found that 4-cup filters are a perfect fit for this maker and most likely what Hamilton Beach intended. Walmart sells 200 of these filters for around one dollar. If they aren’t on the coffee aisle at Walmart, then check where the coffee makers themselves are sold as Walmart tends to sell things in multiple locations inside a store.

Overall, I am very pleased with this maker especially considering the price.

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After reading the negative reviews, I was a little leery of buying this coffee maker, but my daughter bought it for me, and I’m thrilled. I have found that if I’m careful pouring the water in and if I pack the 4-cup filter in the basket before adding the coffee, I have no problem with leaks. The little arm that sprinkles the water over the grounds moves automatically in place when you close the cover, but I just position it myself to be sure. The programming function has worked great so far. The best part is that I no longer have to put the coffee in the microwave after pouring it-it’s nice and hot. I think the dispenser is cool, and I love the fact that there’s no glass coffee pot to play around with. I feel it’s very easy to clean-I just let the pot cool and then soak it for a few minutes and wipe it out. There’s hardly any water left in the reservoir after brewing which is great
A word of caution-the components are made of cheap plastic so you do need to be a little careful putting them in place. Don’t let the cover slam because it won’t close tightly and I think I may have displaced mine a little but it still works fine. It’s a little noisy-makes a soft perking type noise as long as there’s coffee left, so I know when it’s almost empty because the noise stops. There were complaints about it not really making 6 cups, but as far as I know, every coffee maker on the market uses the 6 ounce measure as 1 cup, even though there are probably not many people who use that in real life. What does a 6 ounce cup even look like???
I think there may have been some improvements since the earlier reviews-there is a picture guide inside the lid, and a very basic manual. One thing it does say is not to use more that 5 Tablespoons of coffee, probably because if you use much more, it will leak or get grounds in the coffee. I have had no trouble so far with using heaping spoonfuls

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 Comment

Made my first cup of coffee this morning in my new 6-cup Brewmaster. I read the reviews of the thing after I bought it (of course) and took note of the many complaints about leaking. It is an idiosyncratic little device. The coffee basket isn’t quite deep enough for standard 10-cup filters, so that when you close the top, the mashing action can push the water arm out of the way, which I’m guessing can lead to leaks. Thing is, I see no mention of a water arm–dripper–whatever in the instructions or in the diagram, and the part is movable. If it moves, you should mention it in the manual, especially if said ‘it’ needs to be in a certain position for unit to work properly. Because you have to move the water arm out of the way to take the basket and reservoir in and out, and if you don’t move it back in place after you put the reservoir and basket back in the machine, the water will not drip over the coffee but elsewhere. Given that the arm can also move around after you close the lid, it really needs to be mentioned in the directions. Too bad it doesn’t lock in place. It moves too easily.

The brand of coffee you use will help determine whether you can 1) fill the thing to capacity, and 2) get a decent cup of coffee. Instructions say to add 3/4 tbsp per 6 oz cup instead of the usual 1 tbsp (or 2 tbsp in the case of Starbucks coffee, which I tried first). Make note of your preferred coffee if you’re thinking of buying this. My first cup of Starbucks was definitely weak. I then made a cup using Eight O’Clock French Roast, and that tasted better but was still a little weak for me. My rule of thumb will be ‘more coffee, less water.’

During clean-up, I noticed dried coffee on the reservoir’s metal warming plate. Not sure how much flavor that would lend to any coffee left in the reservoir, but it’s one more reason to stick to one cup at a time.

I agree with the other reviewers who say that the coffee is not piping hot. Not much of a drawback for me, but if you’re one of those people who adds a lot of milk/cream to your coffee, you will wind up with a lukewarm brew.

Over all, the unit is a decent fill-in for someone who just wants a cup at a time–many larger coffeemakers have trouble when brewing smaller amounts. I like it because it’s fast, small, doesn’t take up much room on my kitchen counter, and there’s no carafe to worry about. As for the coffee-water proportions, every coffeemaker is different and you always need to work that out anyway.

One star for the manual, because it’s incomplete. If I hadn’t read the other reviews here, I wouldn’t have been on the lookout for leaks and wouldn’t have caught the fact that the water arm had moved after I closed the lid.

UPDATE (8/29/2010): Still using my Brew Station. It still makes pretty good coffee. If I fill to the 4-cup line, I add 6-7 level tablespoons of autodrip-grind coffee. Yes, it’s more coffee than the directions say to use, but that’s the amount needed to make a strong brew.

The unit has leaked since the beginning, but these aren’t signs of breakage or damage. It just isn’t a tightly closed system, so there are plenty of places for water to condense and drip. The underside of the lid especially collects water, which can drip down the back of the unit when you open it to remove the used grounds. Leaking also increases as deposits build up–it really is important to clean the unit regularly with a good descaler like CLR.

Still give it 3 stars, maybe 3 1/2 for lasting as long as it has. If it breaks down at some point, I would consider getting another.

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