Customer Reviews

Dualit 84022 Filter Drip Coffee Maker

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

 

 

First, I must admit I love the look of Dualit products. They just exude crasftmanship of a by-gone era. Made in England and built like tanks, I love their industrial form-follows-function look and feel. I've owned their 4 slice toaster and kitchen scale prior to buying their coffee maker. I am quite happy with the toaster and scale, but the coffee maker is totally unacceptable. I ended up returning it.

Here's why. Quite simply, the temperature of the water is not hot enough. Perhaps it has something to do with the Dualit only being 750W, but the water comes out of the machine at 180F and the coffee settles into the carafe at barely 170F. My Cuisinart(1100W) coffee maker was at 195F out of the machine. I sent an email to Dualit asking them if this was normal or perhaps I got a lemon. Well, not only did it take them over a month to reply (and, after sending them 2 emails), the reply was very kurt and they basically said, yes, it comes out at that (sub-par) temperature. I guess the Brits should stick with making tea!

The Dualit sure did look great. Too bad it made a lousy cup of joe. After a bit of research, I decided to return the Dualit and purchase the Zojirushi EC-BD15 Fresh Brew Thermal Carafe Coffee Maker from Amazon. It's a bargain (currently discounted at $49.99) and makes a fantastic pot of coffee. The water is a nice 195F coming out of the maker and stays hot in the thermo carafe (185F) for several hours. Because it doesn't need to continuously reheat the coffee, it stays fresher longer than in a glass carafe on the burner of a traditional drip maker. Zojirushi is a well-respected Japanese brand -- the coffee maker is made in China. Two other tea countries that at least know what temperature the water needs to be to brew coffee properly. I highly recommend the Zojirushi (1025W). The Dualit, unfortunately, was a total performance disappointment.

FYI, the "correct" water temperature for brewing coffee should be 197.6 - 204.8 degrees F. You might find this coffee faq useful: http://www.thecoffeefaq.com/1thebasics.html.

Yes, it looks good. As a matter of fact, it's quite a work of art. But is it worth the money? I would have to say a definite maybe. I had a Bunn home brewer for many years, and although it was faster at making the coffee, the brew was not nearly as good as what the Dualit makes. The Bunn was fast, that's for sure, but it sacrificed quality for speed. The Dualit is faster than most, and the coffee really is excellent. I'm drinking it now while I write this, and I still confirm. And boy, does it look nice and shiny on my kitchen counter...

We purchased this pot after several failed attempts to replace our old Krups with a newer one. Frustrated with quality problems with the Krups, we did some research and decided to splurge on the Dualit, hoping the price would be justified by the quality. We were instead very disappointed in the Dualit. It is a good-looking unit, and very solidly built. But it just didn't live up to our expectations. Here are the reasons why:
1. The coffee just is not hot enough. We don't want to burn our mouths, but it should at least start out hot! The burner shuts off after 30 minutes, so you'd better drink fast, too!
2. The water opening is positioned so that it's rather tricky to pour the water in without having it pour into the coffee. Also, it's supposed to have an "easy-to-read" water level indicator...darn if we could find it anywhere!
3. The cord on this unit is SO heavy duty and thick that you have to leave the pot about 3-4" away from the wall to accomodate it.
4. The lid on top would not stay down all the way. Every time you take the pot out to pour a cup, it pops up a little bit more.
5. This pot takes about 10 minutes to brew a full pot...not what I would call speedy.
Frankly, we just expected better after spending $240 on a coffee pot. We're back to the drawing board in shopping for a coffee pot!

I love coffee and I love my Dualit toaster, but the coffee maker is no better than a $30.00 Mr. Coffee machine. It doesn't keep the coffee hot( I have to use the microwave) and mine started spitting and sputtering and drawing air from inside and wouldn't fill the pot.The "chrome" sides are cheap plastic and it just doesn't have the fit and finish of the original toasters. This is another case of a company with a good product (toasters) trying to cash in on their reputation and make everything. Very dissipointed. If you want to impress your friends with your good taste in coffe makers, buy it. If you want good coffee and reliabilty, don't waste your money.

I bought this coffee maker and I regret it. This machine is heavy and awkward and the coffee is cold. Buyer Beware