Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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75 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sleek Design. Great Coffee. A Keeper., May 2, 2004
Having been sorely disappointed with the Cuisinart Grind & Brew, I moved on to the Capresso MT500. I have not been disappointed.Aside from being a superior coffee maker, the MT500 is a sleek, elegant appliance that looks great on any kitchen counter. The keypad is simple and easy to use, and includes a digital clock for 24-hour programmability (a key must-have for me). The unit has a 3-5 cup small batch setting for fast and efficient brewing of smaller quantities (another must-have for me). Perhaps most importantly, the unit brews very satisfactorily hot coffee, unlike the Grind & Brew, which I found luke warm (less than 170F). The thermal carafe does an excellent job of keeping unused coffee hot, particularly when you pre-heat it with hot water. My only criticism would be that fill-level is inconveniently positioned and somewhat hard to read. All in all, I'm very pleased with every aspect of the MT500.
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48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Tried it! Returned it!, December 27, 2005
I love coffee! Unfortunately, for most of my life,
I have been drinking brew from the likes of Mr. Coffee.
Their machines, and most others in their
price range, provide adequate flavored coffee that is
never delivered hot out of the machine.
The ULTIMATE Question
Is there a PERFECT coffee machine in the $100-$200
range and is such a machine possible?
My needs were simple. I needed a maker that brews
piping hot coffee, does it quickly and effectively,
and is easy to operate and clean.
Based on recommendations I received from coffee
drinkers on many Internet discussion forums, I
decided to spend about $170 for the Capresso MT500.
The machine is certainly beautiful, but not without
design flaws, mainly the way your carafe must sit
pinpointed beneath the filter cup to avoid overflow.
I am not also very keen on the placement of the water
level meter. I have to pull the machine out from its
resting place and turn it just to see how much water
I have poured in.
The included Gold-tone filter basket is coned shaped
rather than round, which suits me fine as its deepness
allows more coffee capacity with less of a chance of
grinds spilling into the brew.
You really not need to even read the instructions to
figure out how to use the Capresso MT500 within minutes
out of the box, though not doing so would mean it was
not primed properly.
Does this coffee maker produce piping hot coffee?
Well, that depends....
The first thing I was instructed to do after plugging
in the Capresso MT500 for the first time was to install
the charcoal filter and run 6 cups of water through
the machine to activate. The water that came out into
the carafe was piping hot!
The problem is, those of us that only make a few cups
of coffee in the morning (I use 3 cups of water), are
going to be disappointed. The temperature of my
cup of coffee was lukewarm. The instructions even
suggest that if you are going to make 3-4 cups of
coffee that you should rinse the carafe with hot
water first.
This is a major disappointment.
On the other hand, I must say that the Capresso MT500
produced the absolute best coffee I have ever had. I
could not believe the smoothness of the flavor. It's
the same kind of coffee you would expect from a good restaurant.
I'm not quite sure if the secret to the Capresso's
great tasting coffee is the way it brews or the fact
that it has a charcoal filter that removes the impurities
from the water. I suppose in the end it doesn't matter. Coffee tastes damn good!
Though the Capresso MT500 comes with a single charcoal
filter, I would suggest stocking up on more. Amazon.com
sells Capresso 4440.90 3-pack Charcoal Water Filters for
about $10.
In Conclusion
I'm not exactly a happy camper over the Capresso MT500
for the simple fact that it can't produce piping hot
coffee for anything under approx. 6 cups. I am going
to go out on a limb and say that perhaps because of the
shortened brewing time, there is probably no coffee maker
in existence that can produce piping hot brew for a few.
On the other hand the Capresso MT500 produces outstanding,
flavorful, heavenly-smooth coffee that I have not been
able to bring to my home using something similar to Mr. Coffee.
UPDATE: I returned the Capresso MT500 to the retailer.
I just purchased a Technivorm KB-741 which is
identical in price to the Capresso, but rated at 125 watts
makes VERY HOT coffee in small amounts. I am in heaven!
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39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
You need to order the charcol filters too!, January 6, 2005
It's not mentioned anywhere here but this unit requires charcoal filters that are replaced every couple of months. Only found this out after giving it as a gift to my parents. A web search only turned up a 2-3 sites that sold them so I don't think they're very common. I would recommend that you purchase a goodly supply with the coffee maker. Amazon sells them as "Capresso 4440.90 3-pack Charcoal Water Filters" in case you're trying to hunt them down.
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