Customer Reviews

Thermofresh Coffee Brewer

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We received this coffeemaker as an upgrade when our last Bunn was recalled due to a manufacturing defect. (NB: Bunn has excellent customer service and is conscientious about recall notifications, and I recommend the company highly. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this product.) We have been fans of Bunn coffeemakers for years; our first home machine provided us with at least 14,000 pots of fresh, hot coffee before it succumbed to the ravages of time and Minnesota's hard water. We tried very hard to like this model, but ultimately its flaws outweighed its benefits, and we are now shopping for a new coffee maker. The flaws include:

An incredibly drippy carafe. There does not seem to be any way to predict when it will drip or in which direction. Sometimes only a few drops fall from the carafe; sometimes, it spills 1/4 to 1/2 cup of coffee across the countertop.

The internal assembly (which Bunn fans will know is cleaned with a tightly coiled metal reaming spring) is much more difficult to clean in this unit than in our past ones.

This model also seems far less forgiving of our hard water than previous ones and requires cleaning much more frequently. We've had trouble with calcium buildup even with softened water in both the brewer and the lid of the carafe. This and the completely opaque carafe (in combination with our increasing age and forgetfulness) have led to some huge messes in the kitchen, with coffee running over and even into the cabinets below the coffee maker.

Like most thermal carafes, this one does not keep the coffee warm enough for us, and we go through coffee very quickly. I don't see this working at all for most people.

On the brighter side, you will have a fast cup of coffee most of the time, and you will be doing business with a company that deserves its good reputation. If you ask me, though, I'd suggest you buy the model without the thermal carafe unless you own stock in a paper towel company.

This Bunn thermofresh coffee brewer is the greatest. It operates as advertised and makes the best tasting coffee. The stainless steel container keeps the coffee fresh and hot for many hours. Highly recommend this coffee maker.

Been using for a few weeks now. It does make a fine tasting pot of coffee, and it does make it freakishly quick. This is the unit for the impatient. I also like the fact that it has no lights, buzzers, clocks, timers. Its a coffee maker...it makes coffee. you wanna know what time it is, look at your smart phone, eh?
The urn works well, and truly keeps the coffee hot for hours.

The negative is probably power usage. It keeps that water in the reservoir at proper temps 24x7 so it can accommodate your impatience and make delicious coffee in a couple minutes. The stainless "riser" piece that contains the reservoir is always quite warm to the touch, so you know its burning juice ($) all the time, I've considered wrapping it with this silver "bubblewrap-ish" insulation that I bought from Home Depot for my beer brewing efforts, but haven't bothered yet. Might save a few pennies/month. When you have company over is when the unit really shines. you make a pot, it gets consumed, in <3 minutes, you have another pot. no problem.

This unit doesn't really have an on/off button, but does have a "vacation on/off" to turn the unit totally off if gone for 3+ days. Once you go through the "priming process", you simply add the water you want through a hinged lid at front-top of unit. When you open this lid, a small plastic piece raises up due to being spring loaded. When you close the lid, this plastic piece is forced back down, and acts as an "auto-start". The coffee starts brewing, and nearly instantaneously starts flowing out to fill the urn. Make sure you always keep the urn in place!

I'd prefer a momentary push-button to start the coffee. Apologies to the real aficionados, but I prefer to grind the night before, have everything ready so in the morning I just flip the lid closed. So I have to leave the lid open all night, which has me imagining two things: a random nocturnal insect crawling inside (very unlikely); a random nocturnal person stumbling around in the dark at 2:00am for a glass of water, and bumping/dropping the lid on the unit, causing coffee to brew 4-5 hours too early. This is also unlikely, and even if it did occur, that urn would probably still contain very hot coffee 4-5 hours later. Perhaps the solution here is to curb my over-active imagination. For those who grind and add water right before they brew, this is a non-issue. My morning laziness outweighs my flavor discrimination.

I'm very happy with the flavor of the higher-end coffee I buy, and overall happy with the purchase.

I found this coffee maker at a thrift store and they didn't know if it worked or not. I bought it for $5 without testing it. When I took it home it dripped water all over my counter. I was able to take the top of the maker apart with six screws and found that it was leaking water where it drained into the holding tank. I was able to buy what I needed to fix it at the hardware store for $3.
Having fixed the leak I was ready to test coffee maker. The only problem was I didn't have a manual. So, I tried to brew coffee immediately and kept getting luke-warm coffee that was very weak. I decided to download a manual on Bunn's website and realized you have to let the water in the tank heat before brewing. I did that and it made a very hot pot of coffee. That means you can't just turn this coffee maker on and brew coffee. That's why the power switch is called the vacation switch. You have to leave it on to keep the coffee in the tank hot. That's how you get a hot pot of coffee in 3 minutes. The cold water you pour in goes into the tank and forces the same amount of hot water out into the waiting coffee beans. If you don't leave it on you will have to wait 10-15 minutes for the water in the tank to heat up.
I cleaned the pot and coffeemaker thoroughly before making any coffee in it, so I didn't have a problem with the carafe dripping right away. I did notice after a few pots of coffee that it began to drip when I poured. I have found that you can usually fix the drip by scrubbing the lid and the carafe paying close attention to the spout. I think most of the problem with drip comes from build up when you simply rinse the carafe instead of washing and scrubbing.
A similar problem I had when I first bought it was a problem with the coffee not draining fast enough into the carafe. It was brewing faster than it could drain. I inspected the drain hole in the carafe and found that it has a removable rubber insert. If it drains too slowly you can remove the insert and clean it thoroughly and scrub the drip hole in the carafe lid.
As far as the carafe keeping the coffee warm, I have brewed a pot of coffee and gone back an hour later for a second cup and it was still hot. I don't think that is going to vary from one buyer to the next. The only thing I can assume is that people who complain about it not keeping their coffee hot either go back for a second cup hours later or didn't make the coffee properly in the first place. The advantage of not having your coffee scorched by a burner far outweighs any disadvantage that the carafe may have for me. After all, if the coffee does get too cold you can just dump it and have a fresh pot in 3 minutes.
Overall I would say that this coffee maker does require a little more care than most others and has far less features, but when used properly it makes a very hot, good pot of coffee and it does it quickly. Just remember to leave it turned on and clean the carafe thoroughly.

Since the first brew this coffee maker has been making the very best coffee we have ever had!

I'VE OWNED A BUNN COFFEE MAKER FOR SEVENTEEN YEARS. (THE SAME ONE) BEFORE I BOUGHT IT EVERY TIME I BOUGHT A NEW COFFEE MAKER IT WOULD ONLY LAST FOR A FEW MONTHS AND I WOULD HAVE TO BUY A NEW ONE. SO I KNEW WHEN THIS ONE WORE OUT IT WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED WITH ANOTHER BUNN.
I SHOPPED AROUND LOOKING AT PRICES AND THE DIFFERENT MODELS.I FOUND THE BEST PRICE AT AMAZON.COM.

I BOUGHT THE BUNN-O-MATIC BTXB (THERMAL) ITS EASY TO OPERATE,IT STARTS MAKING AS SOON AS YOU POUR THE WATER IN THE TANK,MY OLD ONE DID THAT ALL SO,BUT IN THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE NEW BUNN ITS SAID WOULD MAKE IN 3 MINUTES AND MY OLD ONE WOULD MAKE IN A BOUT A MINUTE. SO I WAS A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED THINKING THAT IT WOULD TAKE LONGER TO MAKE.

MY REVIEW ON THIS NEW BUNN IS SO FAR ITS WONDERFUL,ITS EASY TO USE,IT LOOKS GREAT,THE THERMAL POT KEEPS THE COFFEE WARM UNTIL UP IN THE DAY, IF IT LASTS JUST HALF AS LONG AS MY OLD ONE I'LL BE HAPPY.

Have owned Bunn Coffee Makers for almost 15 years....thought this one would be great...NOT. It still makes great coffee quickly..BUT the insulated theraml carafe doesn't keep the coffee hot for more than 15-20 minutes. With no heating burner underneath to continually give off heat..coffee gets cold way too quickly. Got it as a gift for x-mas & don't have the heart to tell the generous giver how bad it really works. Will go back to BUNN ...but sadly this one was a waste of money. Wish I could have changed my mind before this purchase..

I did a lot of research prior to deciding on this coffee maker by Bunn. My Cuisinart Coffee on Demand finally died after almost 4 years so I wanted to try something new. I wasn't completely sold on the fact that it had no timer and you couldn't make the coffee until the morning but I figured even I could wait the 3 minutes brew time.

But by the time you preheat the carafe with hot water, fill the filter with coffee, pour the water in the maker, pour out the hot water from the carafe and wait for the coffee to brew, it was a lot longer then 3 minutes. Seems like hours when you're waiting and wanting that first cup of coffee of the day.

I tried an experiment of boiling water right before bed and filling the carafe with the boiled water. Then covered the carafe with a towel. In the morning the water in the carafe is still extremely hot so all I have to do it prepare the coffee, pour out the hot water and start the coffee. It has cut down wait time in the morning by a lot. Coffee is piping hot.

The coffee does taste very good although I'm still working on getting it perfect. I do use the Bunn filters since they're taller and it is suggested to use them so the coffee grounds don't overflow.

You can not prepare the coffee maker the night before by filling the maker with water and just not closing the lid to start the brewing since it will leak out within a couple hours. (Tried that the first night) I also don't have the problem of spilling/leaking coffee from the spout as others have. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.

I also think it's a bit odd that the maker is full of water at all times and heated. You'll have to remember to drain the water when you leave for a few days otherwise it stays heated in the maker. There is a 'vacation' button to drain the maker if you do not have coffee for a few days or go on vacation.



I'm adding to this on 8/16/10: Now the coffee spout or somewhere around it drips coffee on the counter when you pour. So I wasn't one of the lucky ones.

This was purchased as a gift to my daughter. She loves it! The shipment was so fast I couldn't believe it--it was here in just 2 days! Unbelievable! But---through Amazon you always get the best and fastest service. Thanks for your great service--and the follow-ups--
always a pleasure dealing with Amazon!

This is a great coffee maker, but the carafe is terrible. It's amazing they can make such a quality product and screw it up with something as simple as the carafe.