Braun MultiServe Drip Coffee, Single Serve Brewer, KF9270SI

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Love this coffee maker! It's the perfect pot for couples/ families who like their coffee differently! From hot to cold brew to iced, it does it all! It's easy to use and clean and sleek for any coffee bar or counter space. Love that you can make individual cup sizes or a whole pot. This coffee maker is a must need!

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I am absolutely thrilled to have been offered the opportunity to try Braun's new Multiserve Plus KF9270 Drip Coffee machine, sent to me for free for testing and reviewing purposes. This thing is a great alternative to my old Breville coffee machine. However, I don't know yet if it'll be replacing my Breville. Cons: Let's start with the cons of the Braun: my cherished Breville has a built-in automatic grinder, which is one of the two only functions that this Braun model is missing, that I wish it weren't. I love fresh coffee, and unless you're roasting your own beans, it doesn't get any fresher than grinding the perfect amount of beans just before you brew. It does taste better than buying pre-ground and brewing that. The other missing feature that I wish it had is a simple "hot water" button to dispense hot water, since I drink a lot of tea, and I know this same model in the upgraded version has that feature. Pros: That being said, there are quite a lot of "Pros" to this Braun model. The best features, in my opinion, are: • It has a "Gold" function that brews the perfect carafe (of half carafe) of coffee as certified by the SCA (Specialty Coffee Association). This means that if you select this function (only available for half carafe and full carafe sizes), you will be guaranteed a "golden cup" of coffee that is certified by the SCA to be perfect. I think this sounds more like a marketing gimmick than anything, so the very first carafe of coffee I made with this machine was using this "Gold" feature... and it turned out great! I still greatly prefer the cold brew, though. • It makes cold brew coffee in a fraction of the time normally required! I'd never had fresh cold brew before (only the store-bought premade Starbucks cold brew in a bottle, by which I was unimpressed). However, after making it once in this Braun, I was immediately hooked and am now a cold brew convert. IT'S SO GOOD!!! I dare say, I may never brew hot coffee again... Ok, that's a lie, but I'll be brewing cold brew WAY more often that I brew hot coffee. • It has a water filter in the water reservoir so you can use tap water, making it convenient to fill • It has the capability to auto-start based on a user-selected time. This means you preset a time and brew function, and at that set time the coffee maker will automatically begin brewing your pre-selected type of coffee; this is great for making your mornings more efficient, and it's really nice to wake up to the smell of fresh coffee! Since it doesn't have a built-in grinder, this process is quiet enough not to wake you, so you actually wake up to the smell of coffee, as opposed to the extremely jarring sound of the grinder suddenly turning on (the auto-start is nice on my Breville, but awakening in panic to the screaming gears of the grinder is not). • It comes with its own plastic coffee scoop (made of a durable, thick black plastic). The scoop is double-sided with one large scoop and one small scoop, and the handle ingeniously clips to the top of your coffee bag and clamps it shut! I was so excited when I realized what the handle was for and how the scoop doubles as a coffee bag clamp -- I'm a total sucker for efficient/genius product design. It's the little things that matter! • The inner basket is removable (not the filter, which is obviously removable, but the basket in which the filter sits), which means you can easily rinse it off and clean it; also, I'm almost certain most (if not all) the pieces to the coffee machine are top rack dishwasher safe, making it super convenient to clean! Neutrals: • The Braun has several different size settings for brewing. The user can select from: 5oz cup, 8 oz cup, 12 oz mug, 16 oz bottle, 20 oz bottle, half carafe, and full carafe. • The Braun has four different brew styles/functions from which the user may choose: "Over Ice", "Cold Brew", "Gold", and "Bold". • The Braun has a hot plate under the carafe that the user may turn on and off by pressing the "Keep warm" button. • The Braun has a no-mess "DripStop" switch that the user moves into position after each brew cycle, which stops the machine from continuing to drip coffee into the carafe, preventing coffee from splattering onto the hot plate and making a mess. Conclusion: This is a fantastic, simple but capable coffee machine that will brew a consistently delicious cup or carafe of coffee for you. I wish it had a "hot water" function, but their upgraded version of this model has exactly that function, so if that's important to you, get that one instead. I also wish this model came with a built-in grinder, but alas it doesn't. That's the one biggest drawback, in my opinion, and is the only reason I don't think it will replace my old Breville. However, I am absolutely in love with the Cold Brew function of this Braun, and the Gold function brews a very good carafe of coffee as well -- though I'm much more partial to the Cold Brew, and I'll die on that hill. This machine is fantastic at what it does, and I won't remove stars for not having features I wish it had -- my judgement of five stars is based on the features that it DOES have, and it does a fantastic job at that. I highly recommend this capable, consistent coffee machine!