Customer Reviews

Capresso 471.02 CoffeeTEC Digital 10-cup Coffeemaker with Stainless-Steel Vacuum Carafe and FrothXpress, White

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We have made *LOTS* of pots of coffee with the Capresso CoffeeTEC for months without any problems. It gives excellent coffee quickly, and without that "just burned" flavor other machines feature. We tried the included gold filter, but prefer using Melitta #4 brown filters. Possibly we are extremely picky as to what good coffee should taste like.

I might mention that we always set the 3-5 cup brewing dial to brew "slowly" to give the water more contact time with the grounds no matter how much water we use. Writing "slowly" seems odd, however, because it makes ten cups of coffee faster than any other non-restaurant machine we have ever used. Turn the knob and push the button, and out comes brown gold.

We do not use the FrothXpress system, and find it convenient to ignore. We wanted great coffee, and that is what we got. If we plan to keep a pot available all day we just preheat the carafe with boiling water. Of course, you do have to close the carafe lid to keep the heat in. :} It will not get easier than this until the Jetson's come of age.

I have no hesitation recommending this product for those who crave excellent coffee at home, even at its price. In reading the comments by people who complain the coffee is not hot enough, it appears they are unwilling to follow the simple English directions, which seems a tragedy. A hot cup of coffee is like a warm friend, and this machine never disappoints. It sure beats a drive-thru. You must use excellent coffee to get a good cup though. Possibly unsatisfied buyers used cheap stuff? There is nothing better at this price on the market.

Clean up is simple, and the machine fits nicely next to our microwave. What am I saying? We use this machine more than our microwave!

I researched and read reviews for weeks before deciding what machine to buy and I finally settled on the Capresso 471.02 CoffeeTEC. I was worried about some of the reviews that I had read and after making my first latte within 30 minutes of taking it out of the box I just had to write a review and comment. I placed the machine on my counter and popped in the brief but educational video. From there I made a latte!

One of the comments is that the carafe's opening is too narrow for cleaning. I wash my dishes with one of those sponges on a handle so it was no problem and this carafe's opening is more than twice as big as a typical thermos opening! There is no plastic taste to the coffee and the frother does a phenomenal job. I have been frothing milk with my Krups cappucino maker for six years and I thought I was pretty good at it - well - I'm a changed person! I'm so happy with this machine that I have no regrets about it's price. Buy with confidence!

It should go without saying that the most important goal of a coffee maker is to make good coffee. This unit meets that goal -- after experimenting with filter choices and the amount of coffee, I was able to get this machine to make an excellent cup of coffee. This was not true of my previous Krups machine, which always produced coffee inferior to what I could get at [other coffee shops].

On the plus side, this unit features a vacuum caraffe, which eliminates the need for a heating plate, and avoids having the coffee bitterly cooked over time. Some other reviews say the caraffe doesn't keep the coffee warm. I can only guess that they are using a broken caraffe. Mine keeps coffee hot for longer than advertised -- it's still acceptably hot even after six hours.

Both a plus and a minus is the unit's speed -- it does makes a pot of coffee very quickly. However, the water has contact with the grounds for a shorter amount of time, so you need to use more grounds to get the same strength coffee. I found that I have to use almost twice as much coffee grounds as my old Krups to get the same strength coffee. If you're using expensive beans, this is a significant factor.

The frother does a great job. I also noticed some other reviews which said it cut out before frothing enough milk. It's possible that they didn't follow the instructions for priming the frother before its first use. I have had no problems at all with frothing.

Cleanup is where the design falls a little short. The caraffe has a narrow opening, which makes it very difficult to clean. The small parts of the frother all snap apart easily for cleaning, but I can't help but think that over time, all the snapping and unsnapping will eventually loosen up the connections, and it will no longer work efficiently. They do provide a couple of spare controller pieces, but they don't provide spares for the other small parts. I think that in a year or two, I might have to order replacements for these frothing pieces.

Overall, an excellent product. It makes really good coffee, which is the most important thing. It goes through beans faster, but in the big picture, that's a small price to pay for good coffee.

Do not hesitate to spend the money on this coffee maker. It is the best machine we have ever tried (and we have tried a lot of them) in this price range and even a higher price range.
The coffee stays hot for many hours and the brewing is fast. If you use regular grind you will need to use a tad bit more due to the fast brewing time but if you grind use a bit finer grind and you won't need to up the coffee amount.
The frother works great and warming a cup under the steam nozzle makes for a nice bit of 'gourmet' coffee consumption!
I find that I need to use baking soda in the carafe every couple of days to keep that 'thermos' taste from developing but that is the only real maintenance other than simple cleaning.
A great machine and Amazon had the best price on the web!

I purchased this coffee maker 6 years ago. It has been used once or twice a day since then. It works perfectly. The brew cycle is fast and the carafe keeps coffee hot for hours. I could not do without the removable water container which allows the machine to remain against the back of the counter. Every so often I use Dip-It coffee maker cleaner. This is available in many grocery stores and does a superior job compared to white vinegar and besides, who wants their coffee maker smelling like a hot salad? If this machine were to stop working I would not even consider looking at another coffee maker regardless of the price.

Love this coffee maker! Love that I can steam milk easily for a classier coffee when I'm in the mood. Doesn't take up any more counter space than our old standard coffee maker. Brews really quickly. Can't figure out why they discontinued it, its great!

Great feature set. Everything works the way it should. It feels sturdy and worth the price. The frother involves a learning curve, but it works great once you figure it out. I've had it for a little over a month and use it to auto-brew my coffee everything morning.

I've been looking at the CoffeeTec for 3 years now and just couldn't bring myself to spending $200 for a coffee machine. Plus, over the time I spent considering this Capresso, it seemed that every glowing review was offset by a negative one.

I had looked at eBay, the Capresso site, and other coffee sites for the best price. By serendipity, I discovered that Amazon had the white CoffeTec at a much lower price than the black model and beat every other site's price by a mile. Being frugal and practical, I yielded on color to get the capability and am SO HAPPY that I did!

First, the white CoffeeTec blends better with my kitchen. Second, it makes fantastic coffee. While I am not a coffee aficionado, I know what I like, and the CoffeeTec delivers a hot cup of coffee with no bitterness. The steel carafe amazingly keeps the coffee warm for a few hours. This is probably heresy for coffee snobs, but I'll zap it in the microwave for 30 secs. to warm it if it's too cool to drink. Third, the latttes are great! Despite having several parts to clean after steaming milk for lattes, the task is not time-consuming or onerous.

I highly recommend this machine -- it's been great for the past month, and I hope it provides great coffee and lattes for years to come. I promise to update this review if the CoffeeTec craps out after a few months of use.