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Reviewer: Read Rover Books| Date:2009-03-18

We actually bought this coffee maker for about $20, and it was a steal at that price! The only reason we bought this model was because it was the only 12-cup programmable unit we could find that had a low enough profile that it would slide under our upper cabinets.

My husband had been in the habit of buying distilled water to use in our old (more expensive) coffee maker in order to combat mineral build-up. Since this unit was so inexpensive, it became clear very quickly that even if we had to replace this machine every 3 months due to mineral build-up it would cost a lot less than buying 3+ gallons of distilled water every week. Surprise! We've had the same maker for over a year now and have not noticed any build-up issues at all.

The buttons aren't well designed and you often have to "mash" them "just right" in order to turn the machine on or off. The carafe isn't my favorite either as it tends to dribble when you pour unless you pour quickly with the mouth wide open the whole time. We like strong coffee and have not noticed needing to use more grounds than usual to get the right brew. Nor have we had issues with grounds making their way into the brewed product. We did smash the original carafe (which leaked too) and easily found a replacement. All in all, this was a great buy for us. It's one of those "no brainer" buys. Low cost, good features, reliable performance and a longer shelf life than expected.

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Reviewer: D. Yamanaka| Date:2009-02-02

I have always used Mr. Coffee coffee makers in the past. I am very disappointed in this one because it does not keep my coffee hot. It goes into warm mode and, when I pour the coffee into my cup, it is the temperature of warm water. So, I am taking it back tomorrow.

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Reviewer: Geo F. Wright| Date:2009-01-13

It is still in box, old one started working, will keep new one
in reserve - I have used Mr Coffee, many times. will always be my
pot of choice

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Reviewer: N. Trachta| Date:2008-12-23

I picked this up when our old coffee maker was slowly dieing. My experience with Mr. Coffee makers in the past was positive. Wish I could say the same here. While set-up and programming functions are user friendly, I can't say that about the rest of the product. First, you have to pull the coffee maker out because it won't clear the kitchen cabinets when placed on the counter under them. While not terrible, it's something of a pain. My next pet peeve about this one is how the carafe pours. Everytime I've poured water or coffee with the carafe I've managed to have a dribble of some size on the counter top. While I won't claim to be the most graceful person, I will say that I've never had a carafe that always leaked. My last dislike is that the coffee doesn't seem very hot. While I don't expect my coffee to be boiling, I also don't expect my cup to be cool to cold when I'm down to half a cup.

My rating: 2 stars, and that's only because the human factors for programming it are pretty good, otherwise, 1 star.

A suggestion for SunBeam; suggest either bringing back the original Mr. Coffee or getting a new test team for your coffee makers.

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Reviewer: CFH| Date:2008-12-20

We have owned the "Mr. Coffee VBX23 12-Cup Coffee Maker" for about 2 years and use it almost everyday. We have not had any major issues with it and our only complaint is that it drips a little when removing the pot.

It does make a perfectly acceptable cup of coffee and is easy enough for my 11 year old to use (and program). It would be nice if it had a battery backup for the clock since it loses it's programing when the power goes out in the middle of the night and then we wake up coffeeless :-( Having to reset the clock is a bit of a pain as well.

For the price it is a good everyday coffee maker.

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Reviewer: R. Curtis| Date:2009-06-23

A few detailed thoughts on issues raised by others as well as a few of my own.

LOUDNESS: This unit is pretty loud, though the rigidity of the countertop makes a difference. If you have it on granite it's a bit quieter than on formica. Formerly on granite, mine now sits on formica right next to my toaster oven and the thing vibrates so much that it rattles the toaster & it's rack. The effect is jarring, though I've gotten used to it. The noise seems more objectionable in the quiet early morning hours than in the evening. Keurig needs to address the loudness with internal damping and better feet on the machine.

COFFEE QUALITY: The coffee produced from K-cups is superb. Coffee I've made from my favorite bulk beans using the (optional) reuseable filter is excellent as well, though it ALWAYS has a slight scum/foam around the edge that stirs into the coffee but ends up as a very fine silt in the bottom of the cup. This happens no matter how fine or coarse the grind. I don't find this particularly objectionable, just a little unpleasant. The coffee still tastes very good.

If you tear open a used K-cup you see that it incorporates a paper filter, whereas the reuseable filter is steel mesh in a plastic cage which, I think, explains the silt. Shame someone doesn't manufacture an add-in paper filter for the screen filter. That may seem redundant, but the screen would serve as a good support for a paper filter and the coffee is otherwise slightly silty.

COFFEE STRENGTH: With the K-cups the coffee is stronger than with the reuseable filter. This is due to the paper filter in the K-cup slowing water flow enough to create a brew slurry whereas the mesh reuseable filter allows the water to rush through. With the reuseable filter, toward the end of the brew the outflow into the cup is almost as pale as water. And when you look at the spent coffee in the mesh filter, it has a vertical tunnel bored through it by the water flow - the coffee doesn't mix well or evenly with the water.

Their engineers would probably argue that, because the bottom of the reuseable filter is solid and the walls are mesh, the water has to flow horizontally through the grounds. The evidence is that the bulk of the water actually tunnels vertically down through the core of the grounds and horizontally along the bottom until it flows out the mesh at the bottom. Again, an add-in paper filter would be useful.

EXPENSE OF USE: K-cups, purchased online, cost about twice the price of fine bulk coffee. I use the optional reuseable filter with bulk coffee for my own morning cup and keep K-cups on hand for guests.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: The K-cups I've used have a recycle symbol on the bottom, though you have to tear off the foil top (also recycleable) and tear away the paper filter. Non of this is particularly laborious and the flip side is there's none of the cleanup that you have with a traditional coffee maker.

A bigger issue is the amount of electricity it will use if left turned on. It's fast because it keeps a small internal reservoir partially heated, then boosts temp when it comes time to brew with a 1500-watt heating element. The energy efficiency paradigm with this coffee maker will be similar to that of on-demand water heaters, though this unit is probably built to lesser standards than water heaters. A partial solution is to not leave the unit turned on.

DURABILITY: I can't comment on longevity - I've only had mine for a few months. However this thing is built like a tank and weighs nearly as much. The plastic parts seem reasonably sturdy. RE the commenter who had a fire with hers, her description ('pop' sound, location of flames, damaged outlet) sounds like she had a problem with her house wiring/outlet. She may not previously have put enough load on the bad outlet to challenge it until she plugged this coffee maker into it (it's 1500-watts).

FINAL TAKE ON IT: This coffee maker makes quick, excellent single cups of coffee, which is great for small households and for offering guests variety of choice. In my opinion the convenience is worth the noise and I make accommodations to address the expense-of-use and environmental issues. Let's hope Keurig reads these reviews and fixes the issues.

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Reviewer: Carrie A. Deschak| Date:2009-06-17

I received this coffee maker as a gift at Christmas 08. It was great at first. The coffee had a great, fresh taste and hot. After several cleanings, going by the instructions provided, the coffee doesn't taste good. It is also colder. Most of the time, I have to heated it up in the microwave. Then, the cost of the coffee. It is so expensive for a big coffee drinker. It is not worth it!

I bought a 4-cup Mr. Coffeemaker to save on cost. I enjoy it alot better then the Keurig Elite single-cup.

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Reviewer: Robert J. Lanier| Date:2009-06-15

KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid.


Packaged one cup coffee makers.

$100 to create landfill in used $$$ K-cups? A tiny cup of coffee. One size coffee only?

I enjoy gadjets. Example: Commercial salmon fisherman for a season. I have managed a bakery coffee shop with toys for boys. The Hobart 32 quart mixer is a blast. Espresso machines are fun to operate yet a mess to clean. Fun to have free Double Mochas.

On the other spectrum i was a river raft guide. We heated water in a porcelain pot. Added coffee. Let it sit four minutes. Swung the pot around about ten times to settle the grinds. Added a bit of cold water to unsuspend the last grinds. Poured carefully. The idea fit in with the trip.

I looked at Keurig, Green Mountain Coffee (GMCR) as an investment. Most likely as a Short sale. I planned on buying one only for a test until I read Amazon reviews. No need to bother buying and returning it.

The five star? "It does not taste like instant coffee." At $100 and buying the $$$$ cups i hope not.

The one star. It rattles, makes noise, gets mold and breaks after a year.

OKAY make this a short sale. Other reviews wrote the K-cup was not watered fully.

Starbucks will tell you the best coffee is from a French Press. I had tried this years ago with failure. The beans must be ground very coarse. The filtering is the same as the metal drip filters. Meaning grind it at the store not with a home grinder unless you pay $100 for a good model.

A press is $20 to $45. Bodum makes the best. Starbucks contracted with Bodum to make the Art Deco model. Stailess steel with crafted cutouts. Clear Lucite handle and top.

A press is the smallest coffee maker. Also the simplest while offering complete control. No electricity required. You can use it camping and during power outs if you have a gas stove. Visiting friends and family i take it along.

At home you can move it off the counter to free space.

Simple action:
Boil water in a pan. Add coffee to the Press. Add the water. Stir. (A bamboo chopstick works best.) Steep four minutes. Press it. Pour the cup and the remainder into a caraf.

If the few small grinds bother you then pour into a caraf first and decant it. If the coffee is bitter then reduce the steeping time.

You control the amount of water, coffee and brewing time. Easy to make a half cup. No cost in filters.

A press also makes a milk frother. I use a Mexican Molinino $4.50 or a separate frother press i got at Goodwill $2.25. I use my smallest press an Rx drug rep present for draining Sauerkraut for Ruben sandwiches.

(Yes i have a tortilla press also and every simple gadget made.)

Cleaning a press is simple. Pull out the glass caraf and press. Wash the glass container. Rinse the press part. Either a quick rinse or a simple spin and the filter parts come about. Without separating them do a rinse and screw it back together loosely.

Hold the shaft and spin the filter. Wash, then reverse in one continous motion.

No cost even for filters. The full oils are present. Coffee is used most efficiently. No trash of filters or K-cups.

There are a few powdered "grinds" in the botton of the your cup. Decanting solves this or separate your fresh coffee by size. Use the small particles for Espresso or drip.

A hint on retail coffee drinking. At Starbucks two large Venti are $1.95 x 2 = $3.90. You can order a pressed coffee eight cup equivalent for $3.50. Employees appreciating you know your coffee will give you ceramic cups.

The best part is you choose any coffee at the same price. SBUX will open a for sale pack. I get the $16 a pound which would cost about $2.50 to $3.00 if i bought the pound of coffee. Each time i can get a different coffee. Most important as Starbucks is pushing that horrid Pike Place Market brew. It tastes the way the Seattle Pike Market smelled in 1967.

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Reviewer: Mariposa| Date:2009-06-09

I have been using it six month now with reusable filter for my favorite coffee grain. I could give five stars if it don't make irritating noise.
I put a rubber pad underneath to mediate the noise. I wish it'd be a little taller for thermo bottle.

Review from Review from Amazon

Reviewer: Peace Frog| Date:2009-06-06

I read every single Amazon.com review for this item. And then read them again. I went to the Keurig website and researched the B40. Came back to Amazon and read the reviews one more time. If I was going to pay $100 for a coffee machine, I wanted to be sure I knew as much as possible about it. I finally purchased the B40, and after getting it today and having brewed four cups of coffee so far, I offer the following review (from a BLACK COFFEE drinker, no milk, no sugar):

I think the people who claim this machine is too loud and complain that it vibrates too much are your normal "Mr. Coffee" people. Yes, the machine makes noise. It's pumping pressurized hot water into the K-Cups. Of course it's gonna make noise. I counted each time the noise was made. It lasts five seconds each time, at most. And it's MUCH quieter than my Melitta Mill & Brew, which grinds the coffee beans with a high shrill. This machine also vibrates. But again, it's well worth the minor noise and moderate vibration. You shouldn't be shelling out this much money for a coffee machine if you expect a Mr. Coffee coffee maker. You are buying a "gourmet" coffee machine, and it has some cool features that require hot pressurized water to be pumped through the machine. Not a big deal!

I think a lot of the negative reviews that I read, and maybe all of them, referred to an older version of the B40 that only had one cup size setting. Indeed, when I purchased this machine at Target today, the display model for the B40 had only one cup size. I had to triple-check the box to make sure I was getting the B40 with the TWO cup sizes (and I was). So maybe they have improved the machine since that version.

I read negative reviews about this machine making weak coffee. I was so freaked out about those reviews, I wanted to brew every K-Cup (even the Extra Bold) on the small cup setting. As I was brewing the third cup, I put in a "regular" K-Cup and hit the "large" cup setting. I immediately went into Panic Mode, worried that I just wasted a K-Cup, because my coffee would be too weak to drink. Not true at all! Yes, the coffee was not quite as strong as I would normally like, but it was a very decent cup of coffee. I will not worry if I ever hit the large size on a regular pod again. Although I plan on buying all Extra Bold cups, so that I can brew a bigger cup.

I am extremely pleased with this coffee machine. So much so that I plan to buy two of this same model (or the B60 if it's on sale) as Christmas gifts for my mom and uncle.

As a former coffee house Assistant Manager and an avid fan of "gourmet" coffee, I highly recommend this coffee machine. Probably the best $100 I have spent in at least five years. One of my biggest concerns was that the beans had NO TIME to brew properly in such a short amount of time. But I was completely wrong. This machine brews a nice, bold, rich cup of coffee. Slightly less bold and rich if you brew the regular pods on the larger cup setting; but still very drinkable. I was also concerned that the pods would leak after removing them from the machine, but they are almost dry. I haven't had a single one drip on the way to the trash can, and I remove them seconds after brewing. I'm extremely pleased with the ease and cleanliness of using this machine. No filters to deal with, no messy coffee grounds, no dirty coffee pots to wash (and filter baskets). The convenience of the machine alone is well worth the minor noise and vibration.

I highly recommend this machine. Just do your research and make sure this is the coffee machine you are looking for. It takes time to research, but it pays off in the end. I couldn't be happier with the B40, and don't see why anyone else wouldn't be just as pleased.

Time for me to make another cup.

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Reviewer: michael vest| Date:2009-06-26

A real piece of Cheap Chinese Crap. Worked only 7 months - then the control knob broke off. This knob control both the power (on/off) and the steam valve (diverts steam to the latte steamer nozzle OR to the brewer). The plastic knob stem broke where it was attached to the steam valve - this should have been a metal part - not plastic. Another piece of landfill due to poor engineering. I suggest you avoid any Sunbeam (aka Mr. Coffee) products.

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Reviewer: chaosmomof3| Date:2009-06-11

I purchased this cute little expresso maker as the price was right and I needed something compact for our new camper. I opened it this morning to give it a test run and I couldnt believe how simple it was to operate. Of course I opened my manual and followed the instructions step by step the first time, and it really couldnt have been easier! I fresh ground my beans to the right consistancy which it tells you exactly how it should be in the manual. Not too fine like flour where it is powdery, but a little bit courser so it is more like salt. It literally took all of about 3 minutes start to finish. I filled the water reseviour, hooked on the filter with the coffee in it, put the cute little glass pot under the filter and turned it on. within minutes it starts to brew on its own, then stops and that is it! Fresh brewed expresso.

I personally think it is great that it does everything itself. I have a very expensive expresso maker which I also love, but doesnt make any better a cup of coffee then this machine in my opinion. This is actually much stronger coffee out of the Mr. Coffee then anything I get out of my costly expresso maker, and its much less labor intensive! I dont have to wait around watching the coffee express and manually start and stop it so it doesnt overflow the little coffee shot glasses that I normally use with my professional machine. I can set the Mr. Coffee..turn it on, and walk away for a bit, and return to a perfectly brewed pot of expresso waiting for me! I LOVE IT.

I also want to mention that in regard to people that say this is made cheaply or breaks easily, I dont see how that could be, the pot is glass, yes, and it isnt terribly thick glass, but anyone would know when working with glass you just need to be delicate and not bang or crack it against anything, as with ANY glass container. I would say this seems like a very sturdy well built machine, but is also very light weight, and takes up little space on a counter top. I give it two thumbs up!!

And most importantly, aside from ease of use, the coffee is great!

Worth EVERY PENNY!

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Reviewer: Lee| Date:2009-05-30

Se gradite il caffè espresso italiano autentico, questa è la macchina per voi. Produce il caffè espresso squisito, appena come fanno a Milano. Premi appena il tasto ed allora prenda una sorsata e pensate che siate in Italia. Grazie il sig. Coffee per il salvataggio della mia unione.

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Reviewer: Libertine Venus| Date:2009-05-01

This is my second mr. coffee espresso maker. While people say it's not well made, I *MUST* disagree. Both this model and the one before, lasted me for 8 mos to a year... at 3 to 4 runs per *day*! For the price, this little machine is a workhorse!

The caveat is... it doesn't make real espresso. Still, I love the extraction because I like my coffee very strong... and it is very difficult to find a cheaper machine that will make a strong cup.

I find it odd that so many people say use a medium grind, but I am willing to guess that they never used a tamper to compact the grinds in the portafilter. Personally, I prefer grinding my beans either at espresso settings.... or even turkish, depending upon the result I'm looking for. With a tamper, the finely ground beans will not drip through into your extraction... but it will make a very strong cup!

As for the design of the model, I did not find the nob or the top difficult. I have to wonder if it's just a manufacturing error for others who are complaining. The carafe is real junk... put that's just par for the course. Even krups come with terrible carafes... the answer being to get a stainless steel cup for the extraction... the same type of cup used for frothing milk.

Regardless, for the price, this is a steal... provided you're not a total coffee snob. Then again, a true coffee snob wouldn't bother with such an inexpensive machine... knowing that it does have its limits.

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Reviewer: Emilie S. Hance| Date:2009-01-23

I am enjoying using this product. At a reasonable price, it provides good espresso coffee and the the foaming wand produces the "dry" foam or "crema" I prefer on my capuccino.

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