Customer Reviews

Hamilton Beach 47454 BrewStation Deluxe 12-Cup Coffeemaker

5 star:		(145)
4 star:		(52)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(24)
1 star:		(42)

 

 

I just got this coffee maker today, after months of reading, looking around, and pondering whether ot not it was going to be worth the money. I've always loved the look of it, especially the cool blue glowing display, but would it work as great as it looks? Well, as I sit here enjoying my first cup of perfect hazlenut coffee, I can say that so far, it's wonderful!

Getting it all set up was very easy, but a bit time consuming, since you have to let it cycle through about 3 or 4 times total to clean and rinse, but well worth it! Once cleaned, I decided to give it a try and brewed a 4 cup pot of coffee. When it was done, I dispensed it into my mug with no messy dripping and am enjoying the first half of it now. I will let the other half sit to see if it will taste just as good at the end of the 4 hrs. The coffee I'm drinking now is great. No bitterness, not too strong or too bland, and the perfect temperature.

Overall, I think this is a great machine and would highly recommend it!

*UPDATE*
So, I've been using this coffee maker for a few weeks now and everything is still great! But, I wanted to throw a couple of things out there for anyone comtemplating their purchase. My only real complaint is that there's no audible signal to let you know that the coffee's done or that the 4 hour warming period is over. I know it's not a necesity, but my Mr. Coffee had this feature and I really liked it. Guess I'm just spoiled! Also, here's a tip. The instructions say that using a paper filter along with the gold filter is optional. However, I've found that if you don't use a paper filter, any very fine or powdery grounds will get through and end up in your mug. This happened the first couple of times I used it, but a paper filter easily solved the problem. If you're thinking about buying this unit, just do it! I love mine!

I was an owner of the original brewstation and its many faults (i.e. electrical, badly lit clock, turning on "magically" without my help. Well, I just bought the brewstation deluxe and Hamilton Beach must have listened to all the complaints about the original brewstation!It seems to be so much better than the original. It has sleeker look and is taller (for taller mugs) The clock just "glows!" It's great! It even has different brewing options, which is cool. It has an ice tea feature too! It also has a filter for a better tasting brew and a goldtone filter which is all standard(Just shake, open and pour!) I am crossing my fingers that nothing goes wrong, because I really like this newer version with all the kinks worked out of it. I hope everyone else has the same great results with it!

It's really totally out of character for me to write a review! It may just be because I'm still wired from my first two cups this morning from this wonderful convenience - I followed EVERY direction (also out of character!), right down to the 3/4 scoop of coffee per cup of water - yikes!

Seriously, yes I've only used it one day - but so far it's a "10" and here's why!

10. Each and every part is in place - snug and secure.
09. Parts are easy to remove and re-assemble.
08. Display is fantastic - no squinting or bifocals required!
07. Hot, hot, hot - even after 2 hours; flavorful, no burned taste!
06. Programming and set up is very user-friendly.
05. Hot Coffee/Tea; Iced Coffee/Tea! Two appliances for the cost of one!
04. No drips from dispenser or underneath so far.
03. Tank doesn't spill over when pouring.
02. Great to be able to use either regular-sized or travel-sized mugs.

And #1 - for me - is that it is equipped with little rollers on the bottom, which enables it to spin around without having to reposition, lift or drag it for filling. This was an unexpected and very helpful feature that I didn't see mentioned in the many reviews I read before ordering it.

Yes, HB should heed the suggestion for a fill line on the resevoir! Duh!

My last coffemaker is going into the dumpster - not even fit for a rummage sale! I'm delighted with the Brewstation!

We had a Hamilton Beach Brew Station for about 5 years before it died. It had a clock and a brew timer on the lower right side. We never used it because the time window was small and dim. Also it required one to read the manual in order to set it up. The new Deluxe version has moved the timer window to the top of the machine, enlarged it, and made the digital read out a bright blue. Now we actually use the clock on it and best of all we never used the manual once to find out how to set the clock or the automatic brewing. It is completely intuitive and user friendly.
Most importantly though the coffee pot does a great job. We love being able to put a cup under it and dispense a single cuppa joe. You can set the keep warm feature for up to 4 hours without scorching or burning the coffee. I have read some complaints from people saying this pot leaks. While I'm sure there may be an occassional defect in manufacturing, I am convinced that most complaints arise from operator error. It is important to make sure the pot is firmly seated above the water reservoir. If it is even a bit misaligned the seal may not be just right. Also, even more important, always check to be sure no coffee grounds have inadvertantly gotten into the coffee dispenser tank. Even one wandering coffee ground could cause the dispenser seal to leak if it gets lodged in the seal. That being said, in 5+ years of using Hamilton Beach Brew Station Coffee makers, we have never had a leak problem. We love this machine.

I purchased the Hamilton Beach Brew Station Deluxe about a week ago after spending a couple of months of on-line product comparisons and reading customer reviews on Amazon and several other sites.
After spending 4 years cleaning up spilled coffee from the counter top, side of the cabinet and down to the floor from a badly designed pot/carafe and the leaking unit of my old Kithenaid, it was time. And I couldn't have made a better choice.
The Brew Station Deluxe offers 4 Brew Modes: Normal/Decaf (this does NOT decaffeinate regular coffee)/Flavor+/ and 1-4 cups.
You can program the Brew Station the night before to brew coffee for you for the next morning.
It has a programmable Auto Off so you can choose to have it shut off automatically after 1-4 hours and also has an illuminated clock.
For me, it took about 8 minutes to brew 12 cups of coffee set on Normal Mode.
After dispensing the coffee into a cup the temperature of the coffee in the cup was between 165 to 170 degrees.(Yes, I actually took a temperature reading).
The removable water tank holds 12 cups. You fill your water in this and then poor into the Water Reservoir in the bottom of the brewing unit. Add your coffee into the gold filter basket, place this on your coffee tank, slide onto the Water Reservoir, place the cover on and brew.
This model also comes with a water filter and de-scaler kit.
The parts and instruction booklet also give instructions on making iced coffee. The water and coffee level guide on the side of the coffee tank are marked with the proper fill lines for ice and coffee if making iced coffee.
The area containing the dispenser bar is large enough for a travel mug. At the bottom of this, there is a removable drip tray.
This unit would be great just for dispensing hot water for instant cocoa!
Our friends and family were actually enthused with the sleek design and simplicity of dispensing their own coffee straight into their cups.
I wouldn't go so far as to claim that our coffee tastes much better but it sure is hotter and stays fresher tasting longer with-out a hot plate giving it that scorched taste most of us coffee lovers hate.
I am very pleased with my new Brew Station Deluxe and I highly recommend this product for those struggling with badly designed pots/carafes.
And what ever happened to that Kitchenaid you might ask?
Well, we didn't have an Acme Rocket handy so we retired it straight to the trash can.

I agree that this is a good coffee maker, however, after three months of use, the little flapper control, the one that allows coffee to flow when the push bar pushed, broke rendering the coffee maker useless, no replacement parts to be found, silence from Hamilton Beach....
I have contacted Amazon, but my guess is this will also result in silence

I purchased this product, and it was great for a month. Then the plastic lever that seals the dispenser broke, causing coffee to run all over the place. Exchanged it for a new one, month later, exact same thing.

Hamilton Beach simply gives you a form to order an entire replacement tank on your own dime.

What a shame, it's a great concept.

I was getting tired of throwing out coffee after only 1 hour in the pot. That doesn't happen any more. This coffee maker will keep coffee hot for up to 4 hours. I'm fairly picky when it comes to having a burnt tasting cup of coffee. This coffee is still drinkable at the four hour mark, however, I prefer the 3 hours mark. After 3 hours, the coffee is almost identical in taste as if it was just made. The only thing I don't like about the maker is the steps it takes to make a pot of coffee. Due to the design, there is an extra step with 3 pieces on the kitchen counter (not including the coffee maker itself). I was used to the MR Coffee style pots that are much easier to fill. That's the only reason for the 4 stars. I will say, that this coffee maker has been worth the price. Even though it is a little expensive compared to a Mr Coffee style, the money saved by not throwing out coffee after only 1 hour, has more than made up for it.
021907 I must adjust the review on this item. I've had this coffee maker for some time now and have these additional comments. The coffee maker has slowed down dramatically since it was first purchased. I've cleaned it numerous times, changed the filters and screens and it's still very slow. This coffee make it taller than most, allowing for the filling of taller travel mugs. The only problem with this is, since the brewing time has increased so much, the amount of steam released close to the kitchen cabinets (due to the taller stance of this maker), it has caused steam damage (swelling of the cabinet wood) to my cabinets. I have changed to an old style percolator type coffee maker.

UPDATE2: November 20,2010 - Another year of no problems... and yes, it's used every day.

UPDATE: September 29, 2009 - Have been using the unit for 2 years now with zero problems with leaking or breaking of the valve mechanism (as others had reported). Highly recommend using a paper filter in the mesh filter which helps keeps all coffee "grit" out of the reservoir and valve (I expect the grit may contribute to leak problems because unlike ground "chunks" the grit will not flush out easily).
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I purchased this coffeemaker to replace a Melitta Grind and Brew model. That unit worked great, but was a pain to clean (because the grinding takes place in the brew basket - so you have to get the wet grounds out from around the grinder blades in the narrow, deep basket, which has to be that shape so the grinder works). I needed to replace the Melitta because the mesh in that dual purpose basket was starting to tear from the effort of cleaning.

Thus, one criterion I used in selecting this coffee maker was expected durability and ease of cleaning. [making good coffee was, of course, an absolute requirement!]

So far the 47454 has met my expectations. The coffee is good, etc. There are only four parts - the base, the reservoir, the reservoir lid, and the brew basket. The (loose) lid sits on top of the reservoir, brew basket sits in a matching hole in the top of the reservoir and the reservoir sits on top of the base (tucked behind the clock/control panel). There are no flimsy little plastic parts that swing in and out, no latches, no glass carafe; in short, no moving parts and no prone to break parts.

Other people have complained about leaking from the reservoir - most seem to have ignored the instructions that warn about leaking if you get grounds into the reservoir (and then into the valve) although one reviewer noted a problem with the metal insert not being tightly sealed (the metal insert is the connection to the warming plate).

In general it seems to be a well-designed unit. A nice touch is the wheels in the base that let you rotate the unit in place - important to let you remove/replace the reservoir, which loads from the back.

I gave the unit a 4 only because I think they could/should add a few design features. First, the reservoir should be designed so that it can be used to fill a serving pot or they should design an accessory that lets you drain the reservoir into a serving pot. The present unit warns that you should never remove the reservoir when it is filled with hot coffee (rightfully). This is a real problem if you need to serve your coffee at the table or need to make a second pot of coffee before using all the first.

Second, because there's no light inside the reservoir, the fill level window in the reservoir is hard to read, particular when the coffee is finished brewing (when you use the reservoir to get fresh water for making the coffee the top is open and room light gets in; when you've brewed the coffee the lid is on and no light gets inside). Often there is condensation on the window above the initial coffee level, but as the coffee is drained, no new condensation forms so it looks like the fill line is unchanged. If the plastic fill level window was made as a tube, with a white back wall, the true level would be easy to see.

Third, it would be nice to have an auxilliary fill tube - right now you put fresh water in by removing the reservoir and pouring the water in the base (the reservoir is normally taken to the sink, filled to the appropriate level using the water window, and poured into the base). There are times when there is a little coffee left in the reservoir but you want to make more. It would be nice to leave the reservoir in place, put fresh grounds in the basket, pour in water from a measuring cup, and hit brew - can't do that now since you have to remove the reservoir (with a little hot coffee in it) to pour the water into the base.

I'm glad I waited for this after reading the complaints about the first BrewStation. So far it's working well. I had a white one, and then exchanged it for a black one. (I bought it on sale at a local store.) My preference would be the black one with the white front so you could see the coffee coming out (against the black, the coffee is hard to see unless you use a white/light cup, which I may switch to). I noticed that the push mechanism was a bit stiff on the black one - it literally moved the coffeemaker when I pushed it to fill my cup - so I went to the store and swapped the small coil spring that operates it for the spring in one on the shelf after disassembling it (know what you're doing!) and noting that its spring was a bit shorter than mine, and now it works just like my white original did. The temperature of the coffee varies a bit, and if you let it get real low, some may burn on the heating element, but I haven't experienced any scorched coffee taste, nor does the coffee taste like the plastic it stays warm in (2 complaints about the first BrewStation).The coffee holder in the white one did stain (as does the first BrewStation, apparently, but it cleaned up with sponging with soap and white vinegar), so even though I can't see it in the black coffeemaker, I'll know to clean it thoroughly, too, when I clean the brew system once a month. The convenience of "push and pour" instead of having to grab a carafe is really, really nice. The four brew modes differ in terms of how long or slowly the water drips into the grinds, per the Hamilton Beach Customer Service rep I spoke with. I drink mostly decaf, and the decaf setting works well. If only I could find Eight O'Clock Columbian Decaf - top-rated (and cheap!) in a recent consumer magazine for decaf coffee; all the stores here carry only the regular Eight O'Clock Columbian, despite my attempts to have them order the decaf. It's a classy-looking unit, and garners lots of "Ooohs!" and "Aaahs!" from people in the office.