BUNN NHBX-B Contemporary 10-Cup Home Coffee Brewer, Black

First, the good: I love the simplicity of the Bunn. An on-off switch, a vacation switch (a safety measure for when you'll be gone for several days, although it seems you could just as easily unplug the unit), and that's it. I also like that the design of the Bunn has been around for years. Restaurants have used Bunns for as long as I can remember, and I've enjoyed some fine coffee brewed by those machines. But after three months of experiments and two more months of resolving to care less about coffee, I decided to retire my Bunn. Here's why.

Coffee loses some of its "coffeeness" in this unit. Bunn claims, I think correctly, that its rate of water flow from its sprayhead reduces bitterness. But it also reduces some of the distinctive flavor of coffee. The water spends too little time mixing with the grounds. (I don't know why this isn't a problem with the restaurant units; possibly they use more coffee than is possible in this unit.)

Because of this, the Bunn requires more grounds. I had to increase the amount by about 20% to approximate the strength of what I'd been been drinking. I also had to use a finer grind to increase the flavor extraction.

Overall, the Bunn seems to mute the differences between coffees. That's great if you buy mediocre coffee; it's lousy if you don't.

I also wasn't happy with the build quality of the unit, which developed a hairline crack near the sprayhead in its fifth month. (Perhaps we inadvertently knocked it somehow, but neither of us can think of when this might have happened.) Also, the carafe lid is attached by two tiny plastic nibs that look likely to break, although they didn't in its five months of life.

The unit does use more energy than a conventional coffeemaker since it keeps water heated constantly. Someone has suggested buying a timer to turn the unit off and on each day, but that seems a kludgey workaround (and would still consume more energy than a conventional unit, though not as much more).

If you are bothered by the acidity of coffee and aren't by the surplus energy consumption, perhaps the Bunn is right for you.

BUNN NHBX-B Contemporary 10-Cup Home Coffee Brewer, BlackGreat Coffee Pot. Bunn is the only Coffee Pot For us. Makes Coffee fast. Makes Great Coffee. It Came with a small crack on top... Not Happy about that. But didnt stop it for makeing good coffee

The Bunn coffe maker is just what I wanted and the service I received in purshasing it through Amazon was greated> I ordered it late on tuesday and it was here by 10am thursday. Faster service than I could receive at any of the stores in our area..

This is the third or fourth Bunn Coffee Brewer we have owned over a period of more than 10 years. We love them and wouldn't buy any other coffee Brewer. It is fast (3 minutes) and they have lasted about 5+ years. I highly recommend the Bunn.

Love this coffeepot, was a replacement for an older model. Still the same great coffeemaker.