What does it do well?
The coffee maker itself is deceptive at first. Initially, we were considering the fact that the coffee maker might just not work – true iced coffee is hot coffee which is poured over ice. Are you supposed to boil the kettle and place it into the brewing chamber? If that’s the case, then this is just a glorified v60 brewer, surely!
However, this isn’t the case. Instead, usability is the big thing in this coffee maker, and it’s something we’re really impressed with. The tumbler that comes with the coffee maker is designed to help you portion things out well, including the water. You add the water to the tumbler in the correct measurements, and then decant it into the base of the brewer. Add the coffee, and switch the machine on.
As you follow the directions, it becomes obvious what the machine is doing. It boils the cool water that you add to the base of the brewer, and then distributes it well over the bed of coffee that you added to the top. This, in turn, brews hot, fresh coffee which is decanted over the ice that you have added to the tumbler in the base.
Again, the tumbler has a helpful measurement for ice.
This extreme focus on usability is really impressive, and it’s honestly blown me away as I write this review. It allows for the user to totally not focus on anything that they’re doing in the coffee brewing process, and only pay attention to simple switching the machine on.
If you were to want a cup of iced coffee first thing in the morning, for instance, you would be able to add a filter, the coffee, and the water to the brewer the night before. Then, in the morning, add ice, and switch the brewer on. Before you know it, you’d have a great supply of cool, sharp caffeine ready to go!
On top of that, the price point is staggeringly affordable. At the time of writing, it clocks in at just over thirty dollars, which seems like a great price point to pay for something that will make you great iced coffee in a great ratio. What’s not to love?
What does it do poorly?
Okay, so there are always a couple of things that we might not love. There are only really two that we can spot in this product, however – the measurement system, and the water distribution system.
The measurement system isn’t something that’s intrinsically bad, thankfully, but rather it’s something that has a little too much rigidity to it. While you could technically add a little more or less coffee, that’s quite likely to lead to a strange taste when you finally brew the coffee.
This isn’t something terribly important for people that are happy to let the machine do all the work – Mr. Coffee is happy to claim that they’ve found a great ratio of water to coffee that will ensure that the drinks you’re making are always tasty.
While this may be the case, coffee fanatics like you and I might like a little more control. Being able to totally control the temperature and distribution of the water, for instance, would be a great way to ensure that the coffee you make is as tasty as possible. I would be a little hesitant to do that, though, since the machine itself is built to fit the certain measurements and increments of water and coffee that Mr. Coffee has specified.
This leads on well to my other bugbear – there is quite a lack of profound ability to control the distribution of water across the surface of the coffee that you’re working with. This typically won’t be terribly important to most people, as it’s the same as it would be in any other countertop brewing unit. In those cases, the odd flavors and tastes are typically disguised by the fact that the coffee maker is running for a long time – the large batch of coffee will even out, and have a roughly average flavor.
In the case of a cup like this one, though, the flavor might be a little more changeable – you’re only brewing one cup, which typically won’t give the coffee much chance to ‘even out’ as it might over the course of a large batch.
Thankfully, this is only really a minor concern. The main reason for this is that the coffee is going to be very cold, and drunk through a straw – both things which are known to reduce flavor intensity.
At the end of the day, if you like the drink in your cup, I wouldn’t want to change how it got there. However, if you’re a coffee fanatic, then this specific issue might bug you in the long run.
What’s the verdict?
The verdict is quite a simple one – I would definitely buy this machine! I love drinking iced coffee, but the pain for me is that it’s always such a pain to go through the motions of making it. To measure out ice, water, and coffee really specifically, only to get to the other side of brewing and have something that’s only mediocre.
Instead, this appliance, if it does what it says on the tin, will allow you to have a dependably good cup of coffee in very little time, leading to a very user-friendly appliance!