Customer Reviews

DeLonghi DP12ST 12-Cup Electric Percolator

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I've been making coffee with a drip coffee maker for years and I've always been frustrated that the coffee never tasted like Starbucks. Well, those days are over. This percolator makes wonderful coffee! The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because it doesn't have an automatic shutoff timer. If you leave the pot on it will cook the coffee to a crisp - literally! What I suggest is to pour the hot coffee into an insulated carafe so the coffee doesn't burn in the percolator.

This is a very pretty coffee pot. However it does not work well. Turned itself to warm after just a minute of brewing. I had to try 3 seperate times to make coffee and it came out cold and very week. Not good at all.

I have found that this coffeemaker makes better tasting coffee than a drip coffeemaker and it is fast! The only problem I found is, if you want to make a second pot, you must wait for it to cool completely or it will not brew the second pot properly.

We received this as a Christmas gift a year ago (2002). For the first few months, we were dazzled; the coffee was terrific and it perked up fast. Then the plastic top cracked (at about 6 months). At about 9 months, the top could only be rested on the metal portion of the lid, so of course coffee leaked out during the perking. At 13 months, the heating element died and we're now in the market for a new cordless percolator. However, after reading customer reviews of the few other cordless models on the market, they seem to suffer similar weaknesses, so perhaps we'll just go back to a non-cordless model.

Purchased this item about 6 months ago. Although good looking, continually had to pour brewed coffee back through the unit to get results, the glass top separated from the metal ring, the warm setting would burn the coffee, and finally a pin hole developed in the side letting water leak from the unit.

Looks cool, but so is the coffee.

Sawzall (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
I almost never write a negative review on a kitchen appliance unless the experience has been truly dismal -- and in this case it has. When I bought my Delonghi Retro-style percolator I was looking forward to a bit of nostalgia, listening to that comforting ka-bloop-bloop, like I remembered hearing in my gramma's kitchen.

To begin with, when the pot arrived it seemed waaay FATTER than expected. I figured never mind its fattitude, what counted was the coffee it would make.

I noticed immediately that the perking was weak and erratic, sort of bloop-bloop...(silence)...bloop, then too quickly the green ready light came on. Not enough water had showered over the coffee to produce anything resembling coffee.

After checking the counter with a level, going over all the parts and trying different water levels, I tried perking more pots of coffee over a period of weeks, all with the same poor results. In desperation I started pouring cups of heated water over the top of the coffee basket. The grounds always got into the coffee because the basket holes were too large. I switched to a coarser grind but a lot of grounds still fell through into the coffee. I started using filters with a finer grind but that meant I had to stand there patiently pouring water over the basket. With the filter in it took a long time to drip. If I poured too fast the foamy mass bubbled over the basket edge sending more grounds through the side slits. Finally, to make it drinkable I'd have to strain the coffee into a cup -- then reheat the lukewarm mess in the microwave.

This frustrating routine took 3 times as long as it should have. On top of that the lid was hard to pull off and the knob kept coming unscrewed. It had to be tightened often.

The water level window was also inconvenient to read because of its location inside the handle area.

After giving this infernal percolator 6 months of real effort I gave up and ordered a Cuisinart DCC-1200. I read some Amazon reviews where others loved their Delonghi percolator. I'm happy for them -- either they got lucky or I got a lemon. I would just as soon not buy another to find out.

I was pretty happy with this percolator first, however it has its flaws:
1. The dial control does not seem to be doing much.
2. You can't keep the coffee warm over a longer period of time, the kettle does not keep it that warm and the base will burn the coffee (true for any coffee maker I have had). The coffee is pretty good only when you serve it freshly brewed.
3. THE MAJOR FLAW: after a bit over a year (warranty does not apply anymore) the plastic part of the top cover broke - NOW IT IS USELESS, the steam and boiling watter would come out. I may try to get the spare part.

The machine functions fine, but the coffee lacks the subtle degrees of smooth flavor achieved with a dip coffee maker. That's probably endemic to percolators and not a fault of this particular model.

We bought this Delonghi at least 3 years ago. It was so cute, sitting there on our counter. Has worked perfectly during that time. we used it every day. Got great hot dark coffee.

Recently, I had to epoxy the plastic handle back on to the metal body as the rivets had loosened. Cost me $5 for the epoxy. Then a week later, the thermostat quit, and the unit only percolated for one minute, producting tepid water with no color. The next day, it worked fine. Since then, the unit works one day but not the other. It's destined for the great trash heap of history. I will be buying the Cuisinart 1200.