I am satisfied with the purchase of the newest HT Phase Bunn Home Brewer.CONS: You can''t be in a hurry with this maker. Ours takes a full 12 minutes starting with room temperature water. The carafe only holds 8 cups. This maker is very noisy. It boils, hisses and jiggles while brewing. Water drips out of the seams of the top if it is filled to the 8 cup level while it is heating. I tested the coffee temperature immediately after brewing by pouring coffee directly in a ceramic mug. The temperature was 172F. I was a bit surprised that it was not hotter than that if it truly brews around 200F+. I will have to due further testing and watch some control factors more closely. I hope that it registers a bit higher than that.
PROS: The automatic start helps to make up for the time of brewing if you simply can''t wait the 12 minutes for the brew cycle to begin. We prefer to grind our coffee just prior to brewing but it is nice to have the option! The thermal carafe prevents over heated, bitter coffee. I tested the coffee temperature directly after brewing and it was 172F. I tested a cup at exactly two hours later and it read 160F. I give the thermal carafe a nice hot pre-rinse and it holds it''s heat for a full two hours. I love the stainless steel brew basket. Our brew basket from our last coffee maker was plastic. It blistered causing me to have concerns about plastic leaching into our coffee. No worries about that with the Phase Brew.
Good Design
The design of this brewer was just what I was looking for: 8 cups, insulated carafe, reputable brand, full temperature (200 degrees F) brewing, and no "always-on" heating tank. After a frustrating and rather wasteful one-month break-in period, it''s operating as I originally hoped. If it weren''t for that problem, I''d give it 5 stars.
Good Support
I bought the Bunn Phase Brew HT despite problems reported by others because, apart from the Technivorm, there''s nothing else quite like it, and I had read the Bunn support is very solid. This turned out to be true.
Problem with Odor, Initially
The biggest problem was a nasty plastic smell and taste originating from the plastic tank. This was especially noticeable during the heating cycle. Eventually I ran about 20 pots of water through the thing over about three weeks, including two cleanings with vinegar and even a couple with hot bicarbonate of soda solution. At one point I called Bunn support, which was a reassuring experience. They offered to replace the brewer, no problem, but they said the smell would go away in a couple of weeks. I hung on the the brewer I had, and sure enough, in a few weeks it was making great coffee. Whether it was the passage of time that did the trick or the endless flushes with water, etc., I don''t know.
Not Wasteful of Energy
I always liked the Bunn brewers for their solid build, but I didn''t want to heat water in a reserve tank all the time, so the Phase Brew seems like a good answer.
Correct Water Temperature
The water temperature coming out of the spray emitter is about 204 degrees F, and the coffee in the pot at about 185 degrees (measured with a Fluke thermal probe). (I pre-warm the pot with hot tap water, but I don''t boil it or anything.)
Pot Stays Hot for 2 3 Hours
How hot is hot enough depends on who''s drinking the coffee, and whether they take cream (I don''t). For me, the coffee is pleasingly hot for a couple of hours; hot enough for three hours or so, and a little on the cool side after that, but still drinkable. Realistically, it''s empty before then.
The Carafe Doesn''t Drip (Much)
The carafe pours nicely until the last half cup or so. Then it takes some practice not to have it drip. I just remove the top and pour the last few ounces out.
Hot Plate Only Stays on for a Short While
Some have said that the hot plate under the pot stays on, but it seems to turn off shortly after brewing. This is good because the pot is insulated and hot plates ruin coffee.
Good Spray Head
I had read that some people had problems with the shower head emitter dribbling rather than distributing evenly in all directions. That''s not a problem with mine -the spray pattern is just right. The shower head is removable for cleaning.
The Clock Works
I haven''t had any problem with the electronics, but I don''t use the pre-set timer to start the brewing so I can''t say anything about that.
Noise isn''t a Problem for Me
The boiling water noise during warm up is about average for a drip coffee maker, and a bit louder than normal for the final couple of minutes while the water is dispensed into the coffee, but it doesn''t bother me. In fact the change in the rumble serves as a final warning that the pot needs to be in place.
Brewing Time is Fine
Brewing takes about 10 minutes. Unless you stare at the machine the whole time, it''s not noticeable. Personally, I pour in the water and hit the start button, then I grind some coffee and pre-heat the pot during the initial heating phase (when no water is coming out), so by the time I''m ready, the remaining brew time is maybe six minutes.
Filters Are Unusual, But Not Hard to Find
Bunn filters are taller than most, because it dumps the water into the coffee quickly, flooding the funnel and wetting the grounds evenly. Short filters might overflow. However, Lowes, Fry''s, and others stock them, and a pack of 1000 is only about $11 (plus shipping) from Bunn.
The Coffee is Really Good
With the hotter temperature of the Bunn, I found that using a medium grind produced smoother results than the fine grind I had previously used to get flavor with my aging Braun coffee maker. My expectation that I could save 20% of my rising coffee bill by switching from a 10-cup to an 8-cup brewer hasn''t been fulfilled though, because the coffee is so good that I often have to have another half-pot later (but at least it''s nice and fresh).
Buy BUNN HT Phase Brew 8-Cup Thermal Carafe Home Coffee Brewer Now
I was excited to see that Bunn had a new brew technique and was in the market to replace my old Mr. Coffee unit. I preordered the Bunn HT and got it on December 30, 2010. Initially, I thought that the Bunn HT made a good cup of coffee and was easy on the eyes, easy for set up, and easy for clean up. However, on January 17, 2011, my coffee maker quit heating water and I did not get my morning coffee which upset everyone in the household! I contacted Bunn and they sent me out a new unit and asked me to ship the broken one back to them. In 2 days, I received the new unit and peace was restored to the family.
Then, on February 1, the same problem occured no heating of the water!! I contacted Bunn and told them of my unhappiness and asked if they were experiencing a rash of failures. They said that they had only had a few but for one person to have 2 failures in month is completely unacceptable!
Although I like the unit, I could not recommend this to anyone as long as it continues to go belly-up in such a short amount of time. I could understand one failure, but two??????????? BTW I use filtered water for the coffee maker so it shouldn''t need cleaning in less than 2 weeks.
Not impressed with the reliability and durability of the product.
UPDATE-March 26, 2011!!
Woke up this morning after a terrible nights rest and pressed the button on my 2nd replacement machine and ............ nothing!! It indicated that it was heating the water but no heat, no gurgling, no nothing! This is the third failure that I have had with the Bunn HT Brewer and I am at my wits (what''s left of them) end. I am struggling to believe that a company like Bunn can''t build a reliable machine. Maybe I''ll just get a stove top percolator!
Read Best Reviews of BUNN HT Phase Brew 8-Cup Thermal Carafe Home Coffee Brewer Here
I wish I could kiss the people who made this coffee maker. Where do I start? Maybe with my supposedly nice Cuisinart story. Last Christmas I received a Cuisinart coffee maker with a thermal carafe. The thing was a menace from the start. The lid never closed all the way, the entire thing was plastic except for the carafe, which almost immediately started to seep water between it''s walls even though it had never been near a dishwasher or submerged in water. Plus, it always overflowed unless we pressed slow brew. To make it more annoying it screeched out five ear-shattering beeps when it was done brewing that woke us up from downstairs even with our door closed. Who needs an alarm? Not us!
After all this I was left thinking big companies don''t care about their end product as long as they sold a bazillion. By the end of this year the crappy thing was more than toast.
Now THIS coffee maker is amazing!! Bunn seems like they want to design and build something of quality. Really? Do companies still do this? First, the coffee maker is tall, nearly as tall as my stand mixer so make sure you have room. The reason is because there''s a reservoir on top for water to boil to an exact temperature before spraying down on the coffee. And the coffee filter is made of stainless steal, not plastic! I about jumped for joy when I saw that. They also fixed the too flat pour spouts everyone complained about in previous years. It has a nice dip now so coffee doesn''t splash out. Does that mean a company actually takes suggestions? (Sorry I''m feeling a bit cynical after my Cuisinart experience.)
This Bunn is solid, seriously. It''s a well-built machine that looks great in my kitchen. And the coffee? Fantastic! There is only one small thing it doesn''t have. A built in water filter. We have very hard water here, but it''s not a big deal for me to filter the water beforehand. Oh, I nearly forgot. No ear piercing beeps! In fact, no beeps at all. Just a peaceful LED sensor that turns off when my coffee is done.
Bunn you earned yourself a new loyal customer. Thank-you!
Update 16 Feb 2011: Coffee maker still looks brand new and works just as well as the day I bought it. Water is still heating properly. I do have to turn the pot upside down to get the last of the coffee out, but it doesn''t leak or drip when I do. It''s as if it was designed to be able to be tipped that way. Still the best coffee maker I''ve ever owned.
Update 01 July 2011: I found when I fill the water reservoir above the black line the water can''t boil and just leaks out cold. So now I take care to fill the water holder to just under that 8 cup line.
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Very disappointed. I just received the second unit and after one brew cycle it is non functioning. there is obviuosly a major design flaw with this model.
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