Customer Reviews

Krups 625-70 10-Cup Combination Grinder & Brewer Coffee Maker with Programmable Timer, White

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(62)

 

 

I have had this Krups coffee maker since December 2000.
Net:
The coffee made is good, but
*Grinding motor is way too loud;
*Grinding mechanism CAN NEVER BE CLEANED. It is enclosed, and the so called "self-cleaning" is not good, so there are always OLD, CRUSTY grinds inside the grinder housing. You can easily test this out by brewing a pot without any beans and seeing how the carafe water is a light tan everytime;
*Old hidden grinds, as they dry and "crustify," do eventally slowly fall out of the grinder housing. If your filter basket and pot are not in place (such as if they are removed for cleaning), the grinds will fall out onto the hotplate and get in the seam around the hotplate making it impossible to thoroughly clean.
*Brewing is SLOW. For a full pot, don't be surprised if the brewing takes 20 minutes.

I've also heard the Cuisinart model is a pain and unreliable. If I were to do it again I'd try the Melitta Grinder/Brewer. That seems to get pretty good reviews.

That review was right on. This machine actually can make the best pot of coffee ever, but it doesn't work worth a darn 90% of the time. I've had it for six months, lived through countless coffee-grounds-and-water-everywhere disasters, had a broken filter (which Krups C.S. politely said they were out of three months ago but would get back to me when they had more), and tonight while in the middle of brewing a pot, the grinder inexplicably came on and we couldn't turn it off. So here I sit with a six-month-old $100 coffeemaker which is suitable to hold a potted plant. Just save yourself a headache-a-day and steer clear of this one.

This product is quite possibly the worst I've ever purchased -- for frame of reference, this list also includes parachute pants, chia-pet, and under-roos.

I knew something was wrong when the first pot took about 40 minutes to brew. I though I had a bad one -- but the person on the phone at Krups assured me that they knew it took a while but that the coffee was really great.

A local veterans group comes around every month or so to pick up donations for the needy. They say small appliances are needed --but I'd feel bad giving this to somebody. It would be like donating old underwear, socks, or that tea-shirt with paint on it -- some things just need to be thrown out.

As with all products, there are good things about this coffee maker, and there are bad things. We'll start with the bad things: 1. NOISY grinder 2. The Stop & Serve mechanism doesn't work very well 3. The amount of water that you put into the machine is about one or two cups MORE than what comes out as coffee (this is because of the steam cleaning system, which works well, by the way) 4. When you open the top up to clean it, beware of water running everywhere! Good things: 1. Makes GOOD coffee 2. Relatively easy to clean 3. Looks pretty slick on the counter 4. Very easy to use controls, and the manual wasn't written on a college reading level

All in all, this is a pretty good product, if you're looking for good coffee at a good price. However, if you have an apartment, be sure to buy pre-ground coffee.

Anything worth having in life is worth some effort. The coffee I have had from this machine is worth the effort. This coffee maker is not that difficult to master. If you are willing to forgive yourself a couple of times for things you forgot to do, or did wrong, then you should have no problem with this product. If your usual learning curve is fairly short you will enjoy the Krups combination grinder/brewer. It only takes about 10 minutes to brew 9 cups (I timed it) not the 20 I feared from reading other reviews. I also read a review that included complaints about the noise level of the grinder. (If you sleep in the same room with it, I would consider it loud.) I thought, from comments made, I could double it as an alarm clock but it is not loud enough for that. The day I tried that, I was awakend by the great smell of coffee, not the noise. So, I like my machine and would recommend it to friends. Thank you.

I bought this coffee maker about a year ago, and paid about [$$$] for it. It has been nothing but problems and is now ready for the grave (I assume this is why Krups stopped making it, and you can not get parts).

It made great coffee, but died too soon!

My Krups 625 Grind-and-Brew died this weekend. One year to the date that I bought it. I am a coffee connoisseur, and really loved the coffee that the Krups brewed. But the machine had its quirks.

I had been struggling with what to do next -- repair or replace -- until I came to this site and saw that nearly a hundred others have voiced the EXACT SAME complaints that I've experienced.

- Long brew time. It was this way from the start. The second time I used the machine it was for a full ten cups following a dinner party which I hosted. Forty five minutes. My guests weren't impressed with the time it took to get their coffee -- although it tasted great.

- Steam. This machine produces a LOT of steam. Even if you were lucky enough to find a cupboard to put this under (the machine is very tall), you wouldn't want to. The amount of steam produced can easily damage any wood it contacts.

- Ergonomics/construction. The reservoir is difficult to fill using the carafe. The many plastic lids are flimsy. The filter holder is oddly-shaped and can't stand up on its own. The "coffee sifter" filter is difficult to see. It's easy to get burned by steam when pouring the last cups of coffee from the carafe.

- Performance. The coffee isn't very hot, although it is usually very good in taste. But because so much steam is lost, I always had to add more water than was indicated.

- Coffee jam in the grinder. I'm a dentist, and I'm VERY good about keeping things clean. I dry the grinder every time, clean the "sifter filter" every time, and I've decalcified the machine three times in one year. But at least once every ten uses I'd get a jam in the grinder and water everywhere (and grounds in the reservoir). Based on the knowledge that I followed the instructions to the letter, I'm convinced this is a design problem rather than a user problem.

I've now decided to purchase a new machine. Since Krups hasn't replaced this with another model since they discontinued it, my next choice will either be the Melitta Mill & Brew or the Capresso 453. (I have two friends with the Cuisinart and they've been plagued with troubles.) Since I'm intrigued by the stainless steel thermal carafe, it will most likely be the Melitta.

Love the look, the grinder, and the taste! It just takes 45 minutes to brew the coffee whether from beans or ground coffee!

Even though previous reviewers capture many of my sentiments, I do have input from Krups themselves to add. I spoke to them last week about the fact that the coffee grinder is jammed, you can't get at it to clear it out, it takes 25 minutes to brew a pot of coffee, and yada, yada, yada. I was hoping they had already decided to recall the darn thing and I would get a newer model that doesn't have all the problems.
I was told that it does indeed take 25 minutes to brew coffee and that the grinder getting stuck is probably my own fault if I keep my beans in the freezer. I said it requires too much attention to work properly, and they countered that a Jaguar requires a lot of attention too. Believe me, this is no Jaguar. Like another reviewer, I currently use it to just brew, not grind, and am in the market for a new machine. Thinking about the Capresso.

I bought this coffeemaker in June. It makes great coffee, but there are too many hassles to make it worth it. The carafe is thin and rounded and will break at the slightest bump. I had to replace this the second day I had it. It does not come with a permanent gold filter. The steam cleaning is a nice idea, but you have to remove the bean filter and dry the chamber and blades if you want to make a new pot. It is slow to brew. The water filter is also a good idea in theory, BUT you must replace it and it is only available from Krups. The pause and serve on my unit broke off two months ago, Krups replaced it as a warranty item, but it took almost two months.
If you're in the market for a good grind and brew coffeemaker, I'd recommend the Cuisinart, my friend has one and has had no problems. I think Krups was in such a hurry to get all their good ideas into this coffeemaker that they didn't properly test and ended up with a costly and poor unit.