Hamilton Beach Black/Steel BrewStation Summit Ultra 12 Cup Coffeemaker

Pros: Easy to set up. The user interface is quite intuitive. Makes very tasty coffee. Coffee is kept hot for several hours with no brunt taste. No glass carafe to replace after cracking/dropping. Uses standard “basket” coffee filters. “Beeps” when brew cycle is complete. Indicator light signals that heating cycle is running (0-4 hrs) Has “reheat” function. Cons: When lifting the lid to remove coffee grinds and clean the containers, care must be taken as condensation on the lid can drip behind the coffee maker. Overall Review: While the BrewStation does fit under my kitchen cabinets (it is 15″ tall) it must be pulled out to the counter to accommodate lifting the lid for preparation for brewing and for removal of components for cleaning.

Pros: Nice looking coffee maker, some might even say it’s pretty. Easy to use controls with a nice large easy to read LCD display. Very nice feature set which should satisfy even the most critical of us coffee drinkers out there. Definitely will “not” burn your coffee, ever! This brew station does it all except grind the beans and wash the dishes. I really like this coffee maker, but I don’t love it! Cons: Even with all the bells and whistles, this BrewStation pales in comparison to my last one when it comes to just making coffee. This one makes “warm” coffee, but not “hot” coffee and I find that a bit annoying. Also it makes “weak” tasting coffee even though I use the same amount of water and beans as I have always used. The strainer/filter container has TOO many holes in it, so the water runs through like Niagara falls and doesn’t spend enough time absorbing the coffee flavor before hitting the pot. The end result is weak coffee even on the bold setting! To bandaid this, I have doubled up on filters which slows down the flow of water, but the actual problem is too many holes. My old BrewStation had one hole in the center of the strainer, this has about 15 all around. Also, this thing makes a mess every time you open the lid. Condensation of the inside of the lid will always find it’s way to your counter top! Overall Review: This is my second BrewStation in 7 years and I have NO problem with that. But this one is quite a different animal by comparison. It’s very cumbersome to add water and very easy to make a mess, my old one didn’t have any of the issues I’ve mentioned. If this thing lasts us as long our old one did, I’ll be happy enough to purchase a 3rd when the time comes. I do like this BrewStation, but again, I don’t love it! I would have repaired our last one which still half way functioned, but where does one purchase heating elements for one of these? All in all I’m fairly happy with this purchase and Newegg was AMAZING with getting it to my door. From the moment of purchase to my first cup of coffee in well under 24hrs, who can beat that?

Pros: none Cons: all